Questions to be answered about Pressure

WHAT EVENT OCCURRED IN THE 1970s AND 1980s THAT REPRESENT THE PRESENCE OF RACIAL TENSION?
Between these years were the beginnings of what turned out to be the Race Riots in 1981. These were caused by the distrust in the police and authority. In 1979 the Conservative Party were elected and gave the Police new powers (under the Vagrancy Act of 1824) in which they could stop and search people based only suspicion that an offence had been committed.

WHY DO YOU THINK PRESSURE WHAT MADE?
I think Pressure was made to change up the way black people were represented in films. Tony is a very interesting character in that he isn't your typical Black teenager. It shows the influence your surroundings have upon you and how he is so far from his roots.

WHAT EXAMPLES OF RACISM ARE REPRESENTED IN PRESSURE?
The main example I remember from watching the film was where there was a black man in a car who was being attacked by a group of white men. This was physical and emotional as they were beating the car and hurling verbal abuse at him.

HOW DOES THE THEME OF COLLECTIVE IDENTITY COME ACROSS IN PRESSURE?
There isn't a complete collective identity in this film, as Tony doesn't fit the stereotype. Black people are still bundled together and not seen as individuals, however. Black people are portrayed to be very segregated from the white community, by showing that they have different norms, beliefs and a different lifestyle. For example, the food differences, the clothing differences, the difference in accents.

HOW DO YOU THINK PRESSURE DIFFERS FROM MAINSTREAM REPRESENTATIONS OF BLACK BRITONS?
In this film, white people aren't all seen as racist as Tony has many white friends and the girl he likes is white. Also, Tony engages in which could be suggested to be 'white' behaviour, which goes against the norm. The rest of his family are portrayed as typical black people who eat rice with vegetables

FOOD

• Avocado - Used to pick them off the tree in Trinidad.
• Avocat (how they used to say it in Trinidad)
• "Black man gotta eat black food or else you'll end up looking like them"
• "Don't forget he born here, he not like us" "So what, that make him a white man?"

Tony's character was very much that of a typical white boy, although he was black. This seemed to show that there wasn't always a stereotypical black person image of eating rice all the time like the rest of his family. He preferred chips which showed that he was brought up into the British culture and even though his parents encouraged him to eat the same food as him, he wouldn't give up the chips.

WINDRUSH VS POST-WINDRUSH

• Native roots are shown/Boy is more 'white English'
• "Dat aint working, dat is slaving"
• Tony going to buy fish and chips
• Tony is friends with both black and white people

In this film it seems that there is conflict between Tony and the rest of his family. Their generation respects their culture and it holds an importance to them, whereas Tony seems to be less interested in his roots, which causes tension between them. Tony's relationship is a lot better with his white friends as he acts like they do.

RACIAL TENSIONS

• Boss seems to expect to be interviewing a white guy.
• "How long have you been in this country?" "I was born here."
• Uninterested in church - Yawning/falling asleep.

In Tony's interview there was definitely racial tensions. The whole of the office when he first entered was full of white people, which showed that he was the minority. When he entered the Boss' room you could tell that he wasn't expecting a black boy. The above quote shows how ignorant the boss was in that he seemed to think that all black people were immigrants. 

INVESTIGATE WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN BRITAIN BETWEEN 1948 - 1962

Between 1948 and 1962 workers from the colonies could migrate to Britain without restriction. Until 1962 every Commonwealth citizen was entitled to enter the United Kingdom at will.

This right had been freely exercised for many years but it was only in the 10 years from 1952 onwards that substantial numbers of people from the Commonwealth began to think of settling in Britain.

Under the British Nationality Act 1948, citizens of British colonies could simply apply to the Home Office for registration of British nationality and were issued with certificates.

The South Asian citizens who could obtain certificates included many who came to Britain from other colonies, such as indentured labourers from the West Indies and families who had settled in East Africa.

HOW WAS THE SOCIAL LANDSCAPE CHANGING?

The social landscape was changing quite drastically as many ethnic minorities were coming to Britain. Any Commonwealth citizen who wanted to work and settle in the United Kingdom had to obtain Ministry of Labour Vouchers. These were issued under the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 and 1969. The vouchers were issued in three categories:

• Category A: For applications by employers in this country who had a specific job to offer to a particular Commonwealth citizen.
• Category B: For applications by Commonwealth citizens without a specific job to come to but with certain special qualifications (such as nurses, teachers, medical doctors)
• Category C: For all others

HOW DID THE CHANGING SOCIAL LANDSCAPE LEAD TO A ‘RACIALISATION’ OF BRITISH POLITICS?

There were fears that the influx of immigrants could have negative impacts upon the amount of jobs available for British citizens. Between 1962 and 1971, the British government tightened reigns regarding immigration. They introduced a law which meant that only British subjects who had strong links with the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, had the right of abode, the right to live and work in here.

REPRESENTATION WORKS THROUGH CONSTRUCTION – HOW WERE BLACK PEOPLE REPRESENTED IN THE FILM?

Whilst watching both the films Flame in the Streets and Sapphire, the overall theme was that Black people were represented in a negative way. In Flame in the Streets, there were both white people against black people, but also a white character who was in love with a black man. This showed that stigmas were changing and the daughter who was in love with a black man didn’t care what other people thought of her. In the factory scenes, it was shown that Black people were able to get good jobs, as there was a black man with a high-ranking position. Also, most of the workers were white, which showed that whites aren’t always best at everything.

 Also, the father was only against the daughter’s relationship because of the negative impacts it might have upon her life, not because he had a problem with her being with a black man.

CONSIDERING YOUR RESEARCH AND FILM ANALYSIS – HOW DOES THE FILM PUT ACROSS A SENSE OF COLLECTIVE IDENTITY OF BLACK BRITISH PEOPLE?


The overall theme from both research and the film suggests that there was generally a negative stereotype surrounding black people. This puts across a sense of collective identity of black British people as it puts every single black person into 'the same boat.' It scoops Black Africans and Black Carribeans all together and ignores that they both have different cultures and aren't just the same. It's like suggesting that I am the same as a white American teenager purely because we're both white; It may be that we have similar values as we are both Westernised cultures, but we may have completely separate interests so therefore cannot be grouped together.