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CONTENIDO
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FICHA TCNICA
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SINOPSIS
(obtenido de http://www.aragob.es/san/cineysalud)
George Khan es un paquistan orgulloso, propietario de una freidura de pescado y
patatas (la tpicamente britnica fishand chips). Lleg a Inglaterra en 1937.Gobierna
a su familia con mano de hierro, actuando de forma autoritaria y, a veces, violen-ta.
Cree que est criando a sus siete hijos para quesean unos paquistanes respetables,
pero estn en Salford, norte de Inglaterra, en 1971. Ella, la esposa Inglesa de
George, a pesar de que ama e intenta honrar a su marido, tambin desea que sus
hijos sean felices.
La pelcula comienza con una procesin catlica por las estrechas calles de ladrillo
rojo de Salford. Los hijos participan en este desfile junto a Annie, una amiga de la
familia. Evitan ser vistos por su padre dando un rodeo y cargando con las imgenes
que resultan totalmente ajenas a la cultura paquistan.
Nazir es el hijo mayor y va a contraer matrimonio segn el rito del pas oriental. Pero,
llegado el momento, sale corriendo y abandona el domicilio familiar. George deja de
considerarlo como un hijo, adems del ultraje de la huida ante toda la comunidad
hay que aadir su relacin con Etienne Franois, un francs que tiene una tienda de
sombreros.
La vida de la familia transcurre entre la feroz persecucin que el padre hace de sus
hijos intentando mantener los valores de su cultura: la religin musulmana, la lengua (urdu), el aspecto fsico, la circuncisin, la obediencia ciega... y la vida real de los
hijos que se debaten entre la falsa obediencia para que su padre no se enfade y la
deleitacin oculta de los placeres de la sociedad que les ha tocado vivir: comer salchichas, bailar, llevar el pelo largo, evitarlas prendas de vestir musulmanas (sari),
salir con chicas blancas
Finalmente, el conflicto estalla porque George Khan concierta el casamiento de Abdul y Tariq con las hijas del Sr. Shah. Los hijos se rebelan sin llegara someter la voluntad paterna y ser la madre laque afronte definitivamente el conflicto enfrentndose
a la familia Shah y a su marido, pero sin con-sentir que los hijos pierdan el respeto
por George, pese a discrepar con algunos aspectos de su cultura. Ella quiere que
sus hijos sigan teniendo libertad de elegir. Por eso sigue queriendo compartir su t
con George.
Sinopsis!
DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
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go through with the marriage. He runs out at thestart of the ceremony in front of all
the family and guests much to the chagrin of his father and distress ofhis mother. The
perceived shame that this brings on the family results in George disowning his son,
tellingpeople who ask about him that he 'is dead'.
The next crisis to fall on George is the discovery that the youngest son Sajid was accidentally nevercircumcised which is preferred in Islam. Sajid is promptly taken to hospital to get circumcised. When Ella sees the pain her son has suffered from being
circumcised we get the first insight into the conflict betweenher clear love of her husband and her inability to stand up to him. Left alone, the other children eat baconand
sausages, which is forbidden by Islam. When Meenah sees that her parents are
coming back with Sajidshe warns the others and they try to hide the evidence. Ella
comes into the kitchen and smells it and keepsGeorge away just long enough for
them to get rid of everything.
Meanwhile, marriage is still on George's mind, and he accepts an introduction to Mr.
Shah, who is lookingfor good Pakistani bridegrooms for his two comically unattractive
daughters. Despite having seen thedaughters' photographs, George promises Mr.
Shah that his second and third sons, Abdul and Tariq, willmarry them. Sajid accidentally overhears George's plans and reveals them to the other brothers when he
ispressured by Meenah, Tariq and Saleem.
The arranged marriages infuriate Tariq. He ceremoniously destroys the clothes and
watches that his fathertraditionally buys for all his sons' weddings. When George
later sees the desecrated items he attacks andbeats the wrong son for refusing to
tell him the culprit. Ella stands in between the two. This is the first timeshe has stood
up to him. She tells him that George's pig ignorance has caused the alienation of his
children,the reason that they are so much 'trouble' to him. George only hears this as
Ella calling him a pig, a terribleinsult to a Muslim. His uncontrollable rage turns on her
and he beats her badly. In response, the childrenattempt to flee to their brother,
Nazir, in Eccles who, as it turns out, is gay. Nazir drives back toManchester to sort it
out but leaves after his mother begs him to go as his father will go mad. Nazir,desperate not to see his mother hurt only leaves after she begs him saying that
she can always come to himif she needs to.
The final showdown between George and his family occurs during the meeting
where both familiesdiscuss the arranged marriages. Ella knows she has brought up
her children well. The potential parents-in-law make constant subtle attacks on her
and her way of life. There is uncomfortable tension in the roombetween all parties. A
comedic plot piece in the story causes grave offence to the potential mother-in-
Sinopsis!
George sees his world around him collapsing and resorts to draconian measures. He
is losing the controland respect of his family whom he is trying, with his best intentions, to bring up in an Islamic way, atradition he sees as the only choice, where all
are equal, a 'special community' which he expects hischildren to continue. They see
themselves as British, not Pakistani and they get increasingly frustrated withtheir father's attempt to mould them in his image.
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law.She directly insults Ella and her sons calling them 'half breeds'. Ella does not take
this abuse andunceremoniously ejects them out from her home. As Mr Shah leaves
he says to George "Your wife is adisgrace." George attacks Ella once again for this
insult on his dignity and to his name but the childrencome to the defence of their
mother and stop him this time. He becomes a broken man. He has lost hisposition as
man of the house.
Sinopsis!
Despite this, Ella still sees George as her husband, someone she will remain faithful
and loyal to till theend. The film ends on George and Ella having a cup of tea together , a very British form of reconciliation(with George having half a cup, to show
his is half British). It is presumed that all members of the familywill be fine.
DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
CARTELES
Carteles!
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Director!
DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
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Rory O'Shea Was Here (Inside I'm Dancing)(2004). Reino Unido. 100min.
Color.
Director!
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Notas sobre la cada de las hojas (2004) fue estrenada en el Teatro de la Corte Real
en 2004, y su obra msreciente es Rafta Rafta (2007), una adaptacin cmica de
Naughton 1960 la historia de Bill, todo en buentiempo . Gan un Premio Laurence
Olivier a la Mejor Comedia Nueva en 2008.
Ayub Khan-Din tambin trabaja como actor, y ha aparecido en pelculas como Mi
hermosa lavandera y Sammyy Rosie se lo montan .
Guionista!
En sus dos obras de teatro hasta la fecha, Ayub Khan-Din ha representado las luchas de las personas a llegara un acuerdo con sus legados culturales en conflicto. Su
aclamado Oriente es Oriente (1997), adaptado conxito por el propio Khan-Din para la pantalla en 1999, se centra en la mezcla de razas anglo pakistan vida delas
familias-a en un barrio obrero de Salford en la dcada de 1970 en el momento de la
India -Pakistnconflicto y Powell poltica Enoc de la repatriacin-. Su segundo trabajo,
Last Dance en Dum Dum (1999), quefue recibida con menos xito, se centra en un
grupo de ancianos anglo-indios que viven en la casa colonial endescomposicin de
Dum Dum, en Calcuta, en la dcada de 1980. Los dos grupos mixtos en Din juega a
serobjetivos obvios de racistas y nacionalistas, britnicos en Oriente es Oriente y la
hind en Last Dance a DumDum , pero tambin sufren el precario equilibrio que su
identidad guin conlleva.
Oriente es oriente es decididamente autobiogrfica. Cuando todos los acontecimientos histricos que formanel juego del fondo fueron sucediendo, "yo viva en una parka, Khan-Din, afirm en una entrevista, por lo que laidentificacin con el personaje
ms joven de la obra, Satjid, que es inseparable de esta prenda. En la mismaentrevista, el dramaturgo sostuvo que los personajes de los padres fueron modelados
directamente sobre suspropios padres y que las cuestiones principales y las relaciones fueron muy similares a sus antecedentes.Tales afirmaciones autobiogrficas no
slo dan autenticidad a la historia, sino tambin proporcionar al autorun escudo fren!
DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
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te a las crticas: "estoy seguro que la gente tendr algunas crticas acerca de cmo
representara mi padre. Pero al final, estoy representando a mi padre, l no es un
hombre comn paquistan. Hastacierto punto, este es un hombre que abandon su
cultura y se cas con una mujer Ingls, y luego decidique sus hijos deban casarse
con mujeres paquistanes. As que ya sabes, haba una gran hipocresa all. Era una
historia personal. Yo no estaba escribiendo acerca de cualquier comunidadespecfica,
estaba escribiendo acerca de mi padre".
Last Dance en Dum Dum devuelve a los problemas de la gente dividida entre su pasado y sus tradicionesculturales e histricas configuracin actual, aunque la accin se
traslada desde 1970 a 1980 en SalfordCalcuta cuando el fundamentalismo hind fue
apoderando de la sociedad india. Los personajes de la obrason un grupo de ancianos y solitario anglo-indios que viven en una casa colonial en decadencia, un lugar
querefleja su condicin fsica y espiritual. Permanentemente plagado de problemas
financieros, los inquilinos soncada vez ms incapaz de pagar el alquiler al Sr. Chakravatty, el propietario y el extremista hind que tiene laintencin de desalojarlos de su
propiedad para convertirla en un lugar sagrado. Chakravatty afirma que elmismo
Seor Krishna tropez con una roca en el jardn y por lo tanto quiere construir un
templo para el dios.Con el desalojo inminente sobre ellos, los anglo-indios deciden
subarrendar una habitacin a una mujerbritnica ricos, Lydia, y organizar un ltimo
baile que les recuerdan sus das de gloria imperial. Sus accionesdemuestran que de
poco consuelo para ellos. Su primera decisin que cuenta con ms tensiones que
eldinero ya que se sienten resentidas hacia los britnicos por su difcil situacin actual
y tomar esto en Lydia. Encuanto a la danza, que nunca se lleva a cabo como
Chakravatty provoca un motn en contra de sus inquilinos.En ltima instancia, sin em-
Guionista!
La obra retrata los conflictos entre George Khan, unpaquistan padre autoritario que
cree que l puede trasplantar las tradiciones de su patria a Gran Bretaa, suesposa
Ingls y sus siete hijos que, habiendo sido criados en el occidente, rechazan la creencia del padre de queencontrarn su felicidad en la religiosas y culturales convenciones sociales del Oriente. Los nios seconsideran como ingleses, no como "pakis", y no
tienen intencin de casarse dentro del grupo tnico de supadre. El texto llega a su
clmax dramtico cuando Khan arregla el matrimonio de dos de sus hijos sin decirles.Este lgrimas ms a su esposa entre la devocin a su marido y el compromiso
con los nios la felicidad de ella.As, a travs de su desarrollo de la trama, la obra
trata temas que siguen siendo muy sentido en nuestrasociedad contempornea,
tales como los matrimonios concertados, la situacin de la mujer y la diferencia degnero, el conflicto entre cristianos y las creencias musulmanas y los retos a los procedentes de las fuerzas dela secularizacin. Paradjicamente, George Khan, en primer lugar no es el de seguir sus propios principiosortodoxos, afirma, en palabras de
los estudios culturales erudito Paul Gilroy, la identidad no 'como un procesocontinuo
de decisiones y la interaccin social propia, sino como "una cosa que a posea y que
aparecen ".Para l, la identidad se convierte en "una seal silenciosa que se cierra la
posibilidad de comunicacin atravs de la brecha entre una fuerte defensa isla de la
particularidad y su bien fortificada vecinos por igual,entre un campamento nacional y
de los dems (entre los campos: las Naciones Unidas, las culturas y el Allurede la
Raza , 2000).
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bargo, el propietario fundamentalista se convierte en una vctima de su propiaconducta como la mafia se vuelve contra l tambin. Last Dance en Dum Dum es casi
unnimementeconsiderada una obra de teatro segunda decepcionante. A pesar de
su irona y momentos ingeniosos, latrama es a veces confuso y sin consecuencias.
Adems, mientras que el texto es potencialmente un desafoen su intento de retratar
a un grupo de personas rechazadas por dos culturas, la caracterizacin de los angloindios ha sido expuesto como confiar demasiado en los estereotipos tpicos de la
ficcin britnica colonial,como la histeria y la impotencia.
A pesar de que es a travs de las distintas situaciones y entornos, Last Dance en
Dum Dum se enfrenta a losmismos temas que Oriente es oriente . En ambas obras,
la lucha de los personajes para encontrar un equilibrioentre las dos culturas a ninguno de los cuales pertenecen plenamente. Ambas obras presentan el peligro deperder la propia identidad y tradicin a travs de la hibridacin, pero el estrs que la
separacin no es unasolucin viable. Ayub Khan-Din reconoce, a seguir la formulacin
de Paul Gilroy, que la identidad, lejos de seruna categora fija, puede convertirse en
un problema en s mismo. En sus dos textos, el dramaturgo hadramatizado las dificultades y tensiones que surgen cuando "la gente busca para calcular la tcita quepertenece a un grupo o comunidad puede transformarse en ms estilos de solidaridad activa, cuando sedebate en el que los lmites en torno a un grupo debe ser
constituido y cmo - si acaso - que debe serejecutado(entre los campos: las Naciones Unidas, las culturas y el encanto de la Raza , 2000).
ENTREVISTA CON AYUB KHAN-DIN
A QuickChat withAyubKhan-Din
by Mark Olden
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ingPakistani dad and an English mum. In East isEast, five out of the six kids spurn
Islam andtheir father's world view; in real life, all Khan-Din's brothers and sisters did.
Fresh fromGibraltar, where he just got married, Khan-Dinis throwing himself spiritedly
into the publicitymachine as it cranks itself up prior to the film'sgeneral release. His
status at the vanguard ofAnglo-Asian artists moving into the culturalmainstream
(Asian Dub Foundation, Meera Syal,Talvin Singh...), is a far cry from the days when
he left school with only three CSEs, followed bya period as "the worst hairdresser
inManchester". Although Khan-Din entered thebusiness through acting (he had parts
in MyBeautiful Laundrette and Sammy and Rosie GetLaid), he began writing East is
East while still atcollege. Despite its stage success - it was thefirst ever debut to sell
out at London's RoyalCourt Theatre - its passage to celluloid wastortuous. In the film,
Khan-Din is representedby the permanently parka-clad Sajid, playedcompellingly by
Jordan Routledge.
How did you get into writing?
When I left school mid 70s, I was thick as twoshort planks. I managed to scrape three
CSEs:Biology, Religious Knowledge and Art. I hatedschool and I was bit thick. So I got
me a job asa hairdresser and I was the worst hairdresser inManchester. I never got
further than sweepingthe floor and washing people's hair. One day, inthe hairdressers, I picked up David Niven'sbook, The Moon's a Balloon, and read that hewent from
being in the army to being an actor.So I thought if someone can go from onediverse
job to another, why can't I? So I justrang the local college, Salford Tech, and askedif
they did a drama course. They asked whatqualifications I had and just laughed. But I
gotin and started writing East is East there.
What was your involvement with the film?
I was involved right from day one, and reservedthe right to say yes or no.
Among the film's running themes are theIndia-Pakistan war and Enoch
Powell. Arethey particularly vivid memories for you?
When all these events started happening, I wasSajid. I was living in a parka. Enoch
Powell wasalways being thrown in my face as a child, andthe whole Bangladesh
war of independence hada big effect on our household, because whathappened in
the house always revolved aroundthe TV news. In a way, it was almost as if thedisintegration of Pakistan was happening in ourhouse at the same time. It affected everythingthat was going on.
Guionista!
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CONTEXTO
Contexto!
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Los primeros resultados detallados sobre la etnicidad y la religin del censo de 2001
revelan que el 87,5 por ciento de la poblacin de Inglaterra y Gales (siete de cada
ocho personas) dieron su grupo tnico como blancos britnicos. Las proporciones
ms elevadas que describen a s mismos como blancos britnicos en el Oriente
Norte, Gales y el suroeste (todos por encima del 95 por ciento).
La gente blanca irlandesa constituyen un 1,2 por ciento de la poblacin de Inglaterra y Gales en su conjunto, con la mayor proporcin en el barrio londinense de Brent
(6,9 por ciento de la poblacin). La mayor proporcin de blanco otro (es decir, no
blanco britnico o irlands Blanco) est en el centro de Londres, en particular el
distrito de Kensington y Chelsea (25,3 por ciento).
Londres tiene la mayor proporcin de personas pertenecientes a minoras tnicas.
Los que se identificaron como de origen paquistan la mayor proporcin estn en
Yorkshire y Humber (2,9 por ciento) y la regin de West Midlands (2,9 por ciento).
Dos por ciento de la poblacin de Inglaterra y Gales son indios, con Leicester tiene la
mayor proporcin (25,7 por ciento). Bangladesh form un 0,5 por ciento de la poblacin de Inglaterra y Gales, con la mayor proporcin en el distrito londinense de
Tower Hamlets (33,4 por ciento).
Contexto!
En Inglaterra y Gales, un 1,1 por ciento de las personas son Negro del Caribe, el
0,9 por ciento son africanos negro y otros 0,2 por ciento son de otros grupos de
negro. Los negro caribeos representan ms del diez por ciento de la poblacin
de los municipios londinense de Lewisham, Lambeth, Brent y Hackney. Ms de diez
por ciento de Southwark, Newham, Lambeth y Hackney son negro africano. Ms
de dos por ciento de las personas se describen como otras negro en Hackney,
Lambeth y Lewisham.
Los chinos representan ms del dos por ciento de la poblacin en Westminster,
Cambridge, Ciudad de Londres y Barnet.
DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
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Contexto!
En Inglaterra y Gales 7.700.000 personas han indicado sin religin (14,6 por ciento
en Inglaterra y el 18,5 por ciento en el Pas de Gales).
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CRITICAS
DIRIGIDO POR, 287, febrero 2000, pg. 14 (ver texto original en el Anexo)
Este artculo se muestra ms crtica con la produccin. Hacer revisin del cine britnico
de la lnea de las comedias dramticas suburbiales y multirraciales que proliferaron
en esta poca. Compara a Damien ODonnell con su colega Stephen Frears que en
1985 haba dirigido un filme ms conocido de esta tendencia: Mi hermosa lavandera
(My Beautiful Launderette) y una posterior pelcula: Sammy y Rosie se lo montan
(Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, 1987). Las dos pelculas de Frears, al igual que la de
ODonnell, cuentan histrias de jvenes pakistanes que viven en Inglaterra. Las dos
pelculas de Frears fueron escritas por el novelista y autor teatral Hanif Kureishi y,
Oriente es Oriente escribi Ayub Khan-Din que, por su parte interpretaba a un protagonista en Sammy y Rosie se lo montan. De esta manera, Khan-Din da vida a un
nuevo personaje cuyo prototipo es l mismo: George Khan incluso lleva su apellido.
A diferencia de las anteriores pelculas, donde los personajes estn muy adaptados
a la forma de vida occidental, Oriente es Oriente nos cuenta una historia de una familia mixta: de un hombre pakistan casado con una inglesa y sus siete hijos. Entre el
padre extremadamente tradicional y el resto de familiares se desencadena la lucha
que no slo se puede calificar como lo tradicional y moderno o entre Oriente y Occidente, sino tambin como intergeneracional. Khan, que puede adaptar su nombre al
ingls (George), se casa con una britnica y se gana la vida con fish and chips, Sin
embargo, no deja a sus hijos optar por una vida correspondiente a donde viven y la
cultura de su contexto: les obliga ser buenos musulmanes, comportarse segn los
deseos del padre e incluso contraer matrimonio segn la eleccin de ste con unas
chicas pakistanes.
El crtico Quim Casas considera algo agotado y moribundo esta manifestacin de la
esttica del cine, entre documental y televisivo y califica el filme como poco aportador
ms all de escenas cmicas en torno a las diferencias entre Oriente y Occidente.
Tambin fija nuestra atencin en el estilo suave y disciplinado a lo largo y spero, en
el final, de la pelcula, segn la necesidad.
FOTOGRAMAS Febrero 2000, pg. 147 (ver texto original en el Anexo)
Crticas!
La crtica de esta revista se dedica un poco a contar una corta sinopsis de la pelcua
Orient es Oriente de Damien ODonnell. El conservador George Khan, vecino Norte
de Inglaterra pero de origen paquistan pone su puo de acero para conservar las
tradiciones en la familia de una mujer inglesa y 7 hijos nacidos en Inglaterra. Insiste
en que los hijos contraigan matrimonio concertado y se choca con la resistencia de
ellos.
Segn las palabras de la productora Leslee Udwin, citadas en el artculo, el filme es
un alegato contra la intolerancia.
DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
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El artculo describe los intentos del director de mostrar algo anticuada la vida de esta
familia debido a no estar en la vanguardia y la colaboracin de un asesor musulmn
para evitar fallos. Es de destacada la interpretacin femenina de Linda Bassett, por
la que la actriz recibi un premio.
FOTOGRAMAS, Marzo 2000, 1877, pg. 29 (ver texto original en el Anexo)
Presenta la crtica positiva de la pelcula. La considera ligera, honesta y ecunime,
una comedia realista y acogedora.
Se destaca la imparcialidad por parte del director Damien ODonnell, que exactamente por el desconocimiento del mbito anglo-paquistan estuvo dudando acerca
de si aceptar o no la oferta de Ayub Khan-Din, que por su parte s que haba tenido
implicaciones directas con el contexto y la trama del filme. Khan-Din, que haba interpretado un papel de un paquistan en Sammy y Rosie se lo montan de Stephen
Frears anteriormente. Ms tarde realiz una obra teatral Oriente es Oriente, cuya
adaptacin en el ao 1971 se convertira en una simptica tragicomedia.
CINE PARA LEER Pedro Miguel Lamet, 2000. Oriente es Oriente. En Cine para leer.
Enero junio. Bilbao. Ediciones Mensajero. Pp. 241-243. (ver texto original en el
Anexo)
Segn Pedro Miguel Lamet, Oriente es Oriente tal vez no es de calidad de primer
premio del festival, pero es una pelcula bien realizada, libre y ligera entre las obras
de su gnero. El dramatismo se compensa con la excelente comicidad, aportando de
este modo una sencillez y ligereza al filme. El crtico considera como mejor cualidad
de ODonnell como director la frescura y naturalidad con las que ha rodado el film,
dndole una sensacin de haberlo hecho un pakistan, desde dentro.
Se agradece al director que en vez de centrarse en los conflictos culturales como de
entre inmigrantes y los del pas de acogida, lo enfoque como problemas internos
dentro de la familia, intergeneracionales y ms personales. La tolerancia es una de
las mayores reflexiones ofrecidas y provocadas por la pelcula.
Se destaca la interpretacin de los protagonistas Om Puri y Linda Bassett, respectivamente.
Crticas!
Paquistanes de Manchester
C.S.F., ABC, 28701/200, 143
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re. El padre, que se ha cambiado el nombre de pila por el ingles de George, aunque a sus hijos les impone el uso de nombres pakistanes, pese a haber nacido en
Inglaterra y de madre britnica, tiene un pequeo negocio familiar en el que prepara
y vende fish & chips y es un acrrimo defensor de las costumbres ancestrales de
su pas de origen, incluida, adems del odio eterno a los ingleses y a los indios, la
de los matrimonios concertados sin que los futuros contrayentes se conozcan. Con
uno de ellos, roto al comienzo de la ceremonia, se inicia la trama, que se desarrolla
con el lento proceso de emancipacin, ms moral que fsica, de los hijos y la madre.
Tratada en clave de comedia no solo cida sino al borde de la tragedia. el filme, si
hubiera sido escrito por un occidental -su realizador, el debutante Damien O'Donnell,
si lo es hubiese sido calificado de reaccionario, por criticar tan severa como humorsticamente el atraso milenario de un pas. Pero la acusacin no es de recibo, al
estar hecha la critica desde dentro. Y la pelcula es muy divertida, en ocasiones emocionante y con personajes, aunque lejanos, crebles y vivos, e interpretaciones soberbias de cuantos integran el reparto.
Crticas!
El gnero anglo-paquistan
Quim Casas, Dirigido por, 287, febrero de 2000, 14
Las piezas encajan. East is East (Oriente es Oriente), debut de Damien ODonnell en
el largometraje, se inscribe en la lnea de las comedias dramticas suburbiales y multirraciales que proliferaron en el cine britnico de la segunda mitad de los ochenta, al
estilo de la cadena televisiva Channel Four. Stephen Frears fue uno de los ms aventajados y aprovechados cultivadores de aquel cine de crnica social, ansiosamente
realista, que disgust tanto al gobierno de Margaret Thatcher que la dama de hierro
termin por liquidarlo por las buenas mediante recortes presupuestarios y leyes en
consonancia con su poltica derechista. El film ms conocido de esta tendencia, Mi
hermosa lavandera (My Beautiful Laundrette, 1985), se centraba en los avatares
domsticos, sentimentales y sociales de un joven de origen paquistan experto en el
arte de la manipulacin, tema por otro lado muy comn en las pelculas de Frears. El
segundo trabajo de ambiente paquistan-londinense del director, Sammy y Rosie se
lo montan (Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, 1987), escrito igual que el anterior por el
novelista y autor teatral Hanif Kureishi, presentaba las andanzas de otro joven paquistan perfectamente integrado en el modo de vida ingls, Sammy, al que daba
vida el actor Ayub Khan-Din. Nueve aos despus, Khan-Din decida seguir los pasos
de Kureishi y estrenaba, con considerable xito, la pieza teatral en la que se basa
East is East, un retroceso temporal en relacin con las dos pelculas citadas de Frears
-aqu la accin acontece en 1971, en una localidad al norte de Inglaterra- y que, por
esta razn, narra lo que en Mi hermosa lavandera y Sammy y Rosie se lo montan
era slo un vestigio del pasado: si en los films de Frears los personajes no tienen
problemas de desarraigo cultural, adaptados a la forma de vida occidental, a sus
geografias urbanas y modos afectivos, en el de ODonnell los jvenes intentan:
romper con la tradicin celosamente guardada por su padre, para: quien el cambio
de pas no supone el olvido de los ritos religiosos y las i leyes familiares en las que
creci en su tierra de origen, Pakistn. La pelcula de O'Donnell, con guin del propio
Khan-Din, revisita, pues, un cine conocido que cay en desuso, sustituido en cierta
forma por el estilo ms documental y de aparente doctrinario poltico de Ken Loach,
DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
!
21!
!
y emplea idnticos argumentos para mostrar el choque cultural. Puede resultar simptico este retorno a las tragicomedias naturalistas del cine britnico, a medio camino del film televisivo y el temario ms documental del free-cinema, pero, por esta
misma razn, porque aquella esttica y aquella forma de contar las cosas lleg en
poco tiempo a sus lmites expresivos, un film como East is East nace moribundo, sin
pocas cosas que aportar mas all de un par de situaciones cmicas bien hilvanadas
en torno a las diferencias entre Oriente y Occidente, las esperadas secuencias de
choque dramtico y el trabajo de un grupo de actores prcticamente desconocido
que estn representando en pantalla vivencias personales o demasiado cercanas
para que no se note, en definitiva, el carcter de exorcismo colectivo de viejos fantasmas que propone la pelcula. Sin demagogia, ausente por lo general en este tipo
de productos de vocacin poco moralista, discurre la historia entre el cada vez ms
violento George Khan, el padre de la familia, y sus hijos e hijas, enjaulados sin remisin en un mundo que debera ser el suyo, pero que han de filtrar a travs de las
ideas tradicionalistas del padre. El orgulloso paquistan, apodado con sorna por sus
vstagos como Gengist (Khan), no tiene reparos en ganarse la vida con aquello que
ms gusta al conformista paladar de los ingleses, el plato de fish and chips, pero no
admite que sus hijos puedan decidir por si mismos con quin se casaran. OIDonnell y
Khan-Din liman algunos aspectos para no acelerar los procesos dramticos del conflicto: uno de los hijos es homosexual y desaparece rpido de la historia, por voluntad propia, incapaz de seguir viviendo bajo unas normas anticuadas, y por decisin
de los autores de la pelcula, que se ahorran un tema peliagudo. Esa es la pauta de
la pelcula, suave y disciplinada durante su recorrido y spera cuando, al final, toca
serlo ms por necesidad que por conviccin expresiva.
Oriente es oriente
Fotogramas, Febrero de 2000, 147
Oriente es Oriente
Jordi Batlle Caminal, Fotogramas, Marzo de 2000, 1877, 22
Crticas!
George Khan es un orgulloso paquistan que lleva muchos aos viviendo en el norte
de Inglaterra. Casado con una inglesa y padre de siete hijos, esta empeado en que
estos conserven las tradiciones de su pas de origen, entre las que se incluye la de
casarse con la persona elegida por el mismo. Los hijos, nacidos y criados en Inglaterra no estn por la labor. Si yo tuviera que resumir el argumento de la pelcula, dira
que es un alegato contra la intolerancia, asegura la productora Leslee Udwin. Para
el director debutante Damien 0'Donnell el mundo retratado en la pelcula estaba muy
alejado de su propia experiencia. Tuvimos un asesor musulmn porque no quera
tomarme ninguna Iibertad, comenta. El terreno en el que hice la mayor aportacin
creativa fue en la estructura y visualizacin. Aunque la accin de la pelcula se desarrolla en 1971, O'Donnell prefiri darle un aire ms de los 70. La comunidad en la
que est situada no est precisamente en la vanguardia, as que su modo de vida
tendr que parecer algo anticuado, segn el director. La pelcula fue presentada en
el festival de Valladolid, donde consigui la Espiga de Oro y el premio de interpretacin femenina para Linda Bassett.
22!
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ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!
Que el personaje que encarna, admirablemente, Om Puri (contradictorio: es un paquistan Edan Routledge. orgulloso de su cultura pero, quiz sin darse cuenta, se
vende al enemigo ingls: regenta un negocio de fish and chips) en Oriente es Oriente es el personaje negativo de la peli parece claro a primera vista: los dems llevan
la razn, son tolerantes, flexibles, de espritu abierto y moderno. Pero convendra ser
tambin nosotros algo ms comprensibles y atisbar, como creo que atisba O'Donnell, la dignidad (herida de muerte) de esa criatura pattica. No hace falta blandir el
tan socorrido lema renoiriano para darse cuenta de que, en el fondo, este Gengis
Khan del Norte de Inglaterra tambin tiene sus razones, su corazoncito, su bondad.
Una de las virtudes de esta comedia realista y acogedora es, pues, su ecunime
mirada. O'Donnell cuando Khan-Din le ofreci la direccin de su obra teatral, dud
razonablemente; nada saba l del ncleo anglopaquistan objeto del retrato. Luego
reflexion y acab creyendo que su desconocimiento de ese mundo poda fructificar
en una mirada objetiva, imparcial y limpia. As ha sido: Oriente es Oriente acaso no
sea una gran pelcula, pero s una pelcula honesta, donde los hechos y quienes los
protagonizan se afronta con tacto y penetracin. Algunas cosas ajenas a ella, eso s,
le han hecho pupa. Por un lado, los claros antecedentes de las pelculas de Frears
(Mi hermosa lavandera y Sammy y Rosie se lo montan -donde, por cierto, Khan-Din
tena un destacado papel- tocaban los mismos temas). Por otro, el auge de ese cine
britnico que toca llagas sociales con un bao de costumbrismo y otro de humor: hoy
todas las pelculas britnicas quieren ser Full Monty, y Full Monty solo hay, una. Afortunadamente.
44 FESTIVAL DE VALLADOLID
ngel Fernndez-Santos, El Pas, 27/10/1999
Crticas!
La Seminci ha organizado una gran exposicin de bocetos escenogrficos de Alexandre Trauner, uno de los genios de la decoracin en el cine. Es una maravilla. Y el
concurso continu ayer con Nadie est a salvo de Sam, ltima pelcula del estadounidense Spike Lee, que vuelve a meterse en un fregado ambicioso y de nuevo lo
compone de forma falsaria y hueca. En cambio, el britnico Damien O'Donnell borda
en Oriente es Oriente una comedia magistral.
Si uno se entera despus de haber visto Oriente es Oriente de que es el primer largometraje de su director, el britnico Damien ODonnell, la sorpresa est ms que
fundada, porque todo en esta pequea pelcula coral, hecha con bajsimo presupuesto y altsima autoexigencia, es magistral, desde la escritura hasta la direccin,
pasando por la fotografa y por todas y cada una de las composiciones de los 15 o
20 intrpretes, que parecen haber nacido para hacer lo que aqu hacen. Cuenta
Oriente es Oriente la vida cotidiana de una familia paquistan que vive en un arrabal
de Manchester a finales de los aos setenta. Nada ms que eso. El padre, casado
con una inglesa, sigue aferrado a las tradiciones que se trajo en la mochila de su
pas y de su religin, que chocan frontalmente con los modelos de vida y de conducta de la ciudad europea donde han nacido todos sus hijos, que son ingleses y no
paquistanes. La colisin de mentalidades echa chispas desde las primeras escenas
de la pelcula, chispas que son en realidad ms que eso: autnticas ascuas incendia-
DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
23!
rias, pero que la gracia del relato, la viveza de los personajes, la exactitud del trazado de las situaciones y las continuas sorpresas que nos ofrecen sus esquinas y sus
variantes, reducen a puro humor de la mejor estirpe britnica. Una delicia, pero nada
epidrmica, sino llena de continuas cargas de profundidad, que convierten este juego minimalista en una de las pelculas ms serias vistas aqu estos das.
Si todo es explosivo en la sencillez de Oriente es Oriente, en cambio todo es plvora
mojada en la explosin que Spike Lee quiere contar, y no cuenta, en Nadie est a
salvo de Sam. De nuevo la emprende Lee con un asunto extremoso y lleno de dificultades ms aparentes que reales, como el que se aprieta en la crnica del verano de
1977 en Nueva York, donde se cruzaron sucesos tan espectaculares como el apagn
de la ciudad, los saqueos que lo siguieron, los crmenes en serie del psicpata David
Berkowitz en el Bronx, los linchamientos racistas de las cuadrillas vecinales de defensa, el estallido de las discotecas punkis y otros jalones de la crnica oscura de Manhattan. Resultado: un barullo de imgenes mentirosas, un frentico ir y venir de personajes huecos y acartonados, una pedrea de distorsiones pticas, de encuadres
retorcidos, y todo un almacn de recursos para engaar al espectador, que cuelan si
uno les deja colarse, pero que basta la punta crtica de un alfiler en la mirada para
que revienten hechos aicos como consecuencia de lo que son, un globo hinchado, el
ensimo de este tramposo director empeado en encubrir su vaciedad con asuntos
tonantes y frenticos, destinados a dar la impresin de que se est viendo cine importante cuando lo que hay en la pantalla es nada ms que cine irrelevante, cine
fingido. Al margen del concurso, en la seccin retrospectiva se estn proyectando
algunas de las pelculas que decor el gran Alexandre Trauner. Este formidable decorador, indispensable en la obra de Billy Wilder, Joseph Losey, Stanley Donnen,
Marcel Carn, Howard Hawks y tantos otros eminentes cineastas, tiene aqu la presencia de algunos de sus principales bocetos escenogrficos. Esta muestra justificara
por s sola la existencia de esta edicin de la Seminci. Es, como veo, tal como salieron
de su mano, una de las esencias del cine clsico
Oriente es Oriente' gana la Espiga de Oro y el director Kitano el premio al mejor
actor
ngel Fernndez-Santos, El Pas, 31/10/1999
Crticas!
24!
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ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!
Crticas!
Damien O'Donnell cree que se engaa al pblico para que acuda al cine
Yolanda Blzquez, El Pas, 24/01/2000
La pelcula Oriente es Oriente, que gan la Espiga de Oro en la ltima edicin del
Festival Internacional de Cine de Valladolid y el premio a la mejor actriz (Linda Basset), empieza a ser un filme que mantiene el tipo en la taquilla britnica con ms
firmeza de la que se le auguraba. El guin, la historia en tono de comedia de los
problemas de una familia paquistan en Manchester, haba ido de productora en
DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
25!
Teatro
Otra de las dificultades de Oriente es Oriente era el trasladar lo que hasta entonces
era una obra de teatro al cine, con el lenguaje del cine, sin construir la trama entre
las cuatro paredes de una casa. Linda Bassett, en el papel de esposa que se debate entre la sumisin a su marido y la actitud contestataria de sus hijos, haba representado este mismo papel en el teatro, lo cual le ayud a encarnar el personaje con
toda facilidad. "Mucha gente me ha comentado que los problemas que se reflejan
en la pelcula no son exclusivos de una familia paquistan sino de una familia con conflictos generacionales". "Lo que se cuenta en el filme de la mezcla de razas y de la
integracin de distintas comunidades africanas, o rabes en la pelcula es un fenmeno que se est produciendo en estos momentos, el mestizaje en nuestra realidad
de todos los das", contesta ODonnell sobre la vigencia de un tema que est centrado en los aos setenta, hechos reales vividos por el guionista, Ayub Khan-Din. El
nio protagonista de la pelcula no se desprende de su parka, el chubasquero que
slo se quita cuando empieza a aceptar su origen y relaciones con los dems.
Crticas!
26!
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ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!
"El guionista hizo su pelcula, su historia. Habla desde su verdad personal", comenta
Bassett de que Oriente es Oriente trate algunos temas ms a la ligera, como los
matrimonios de conveniencia en el caso de las mujeres, lo que las obliga a volver a
su pas. El resultado es una comedia agridulce con momentos muy duros que se insertan cuando el espectador est familiarizado con el chiste.
Crticas!
Boca a boca
"Precisamente, se eligi al nio para la publicidad para que la gente se animara a
verla. Era necesario vender la pelcula como una comedia. Es un engao como ocurre
con todas las publicidades de las pelculas. Si hubiramos puesto a Bruce Willis a lo
mejor habra entrado todava ms gente en las salas pero estamos satisfechos con
el resultado. No ha podido ser mejor. Nos engaan para que vayamos a ver las pelculas", matiza ODonnell. "Lo que funciona realmente es el boca a boca", aade
Bassett.
DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
!
27!
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COMENTARIOS ACADMICOS
Robson, Peter. 2002. Fade to grey: portraying the ethnic minority experience in
British film. International Journal of the Sociology of Law, 30, pp 235257. Glasgow.
Este artculo trata sobre una cuestin, que segn el autor, no parece haber recibido
mucha atencin en la literatura sobre etnicidad, a saber, la representacin de las
minoras tnicas en el cine. Aade que estas cuestiones tienen una importancia social
fundamental, aunque hayan aparecido su estudio de forma limitada en la cultura
popular britnica. A continuacin realiza un anlisis que pretende incluir el contexto
histrico y poltico de las pelculas analizadas. Para ello, muestra varios ejemplos como el caso del film To Sir With Love (1967) de James Clavell, en el cual se retrata el
racismo en la post-guerra de Gran Bretaa de una manera ms suave que en la
fuente literaria original en la que se inspira.
Tambin analiza como se representan jovenes que son parte de dos mundos muy
diferentes, en pelculas como My Son the Fanatic (1997) y East is East (2000). Concretamente, en este ltimo film, destaca como un padre de origen paquistan intenta
imponer las costumbres paquistans a sus hijos, frente a unos hijos que quieren vivir
sus vidas dentro de la comunidad inglesa, tomando cada uno decisiones diferentes.
El autor sugiere que para conocer mejor el proceso social producido por el fenmeno
multicultural es fundamental examinar el contexto social y poltico en el que las pelculas en cuestin se hizo en lugar de simplemente concentrarse en las diferencias estticas y estilsticas entre la fuente escrita y film, como si se trata de procesos puramente artsticos descontextualizados de los procesos sociales que representan.
La autora, a partir de la pelcula inglesa East is East (2000), reflexiona sobre varias
situaciones y conflictos que se presentan en el film, desde la perspectiva del Derecho
internacional privado y su comparacin con el Derecho espaol. Destaca en su comentario tres cuestiones que aparecen en East is East: la integracin de la inmigracin, los matrimonios concertados y la violencia de gnero.
Respecto a la integracin de la inmigracin, seala las diferencias entre el modelo
pluricultural o liberal de respeto de las diversidades culturales (Ruiz Sutil, 2010: 4),
que fomenta la autonoma y separacin de los grupos tnicos, frente al modelo
universalista francs de aculturacin. Aade que la adscripcin de culturas a territorios es simplista, como muestra el retrato de esta familia de origen pakistan en la
Inglaterra de los aos setenta del siglo XX.
Otra cuestin fundamental para la autora es el tema de los matrimonios concertados, eje dramtico que articula gran parte del film. Muestra como la situacin planteada sirve para contraponer las tradiciones pakistanes del padre con las costum!
Comentarios!Acadmicos!
28!
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ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!
bres inglesas de sus hijos, simbolizadas en el rechazo de los matrimonios concertados de los hijos, especialmente con la huida de la boda de uno de ellos, lo que lleva
a ser repudiado por su familia paterna. Adems, indica que en el Derecho espaol
los matrimonios se rigen por las leyes de los pases de origen de cada contrayente,
este tipo de matrimonios estn prohibidos, aunque son contrarias al orden pblico
internacional espaol todas las Leyes extranjeras que admiten el matrimonio concertado por padres o familiares de los contrayentes, sin que stos hayan emitido su
consentimiento matrimonial (Ruiz Sutil, 2010: 4).
Finalmente, reflexiona sobre las diferencias entre violencia domstica y violencia de
gnero en la legislacin espaola, a travs de como el padre pakistan del film acta
de forma violenta con sus hijos. Lo que lleva a concluir a la autora que, siendo todo
violencia rechazable, estamos ante un caso de violencia domstica y no de gnero
segn el Derecho espaol.
Shirley R. Steinberg, 2002. Fries, Fezzes, and Minstrels: The Hollywoodization of
Islam. En Cultural Studies Critical Methodologies 2002 2: 205. SAGE.
http://csc.sagepublications.com
Comentarios!Acadmicos!
DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
29!
Rachel Holmes, 2007. East is East: using film disrupt university classroom narratives
around childhood and identity. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 15:3, pp. 367 384
La profesora Holmes redacta su artculo describiendo su trabajo realizado en el aula,
con los estudiantes de la universidad. Se trata de las reflexiones acerca de las nociones de niez retratadas a travs de la pelcula Oriente es Oriente. La pregunta en
cuestin es: si la pelcula Oriente es Oriente trata de convencer los auditorios de los
blancos en que la suficiencia prctica de la cultura y sociedad occidentales. Se opta
por esta pelcula porque cubre el tema de la lucha bicultural dentro de la familia de
un hombre musulmn y asitico, casado con una mujer blanca y ni musulmana y
los hijos de los mismos.
El valor del trabajo consiste en que visibiliza las particulares maneras en las que pueden ser interpretados los conceptos de ser britnico-blanco, britnico-asitico, sureo-asitico y britnico-musulmn. Recoge los datos del aula multirracial, ideas tericas y escritos deconstructores que contribuyeron a su trabajo en la clase, ayudaron a
revelar las lecturas de la narrativa visual tanto por parte del alumnado como de la
de la profesora. Las reflexiones sobre el concepto de raza, de pertenencia a la raza
blanca o a la otra, ser musulmn o blanco-britnico son fundamentales aportaciones del trabajo.
Comentarios!Acadmicos!
La participacin mucho ms activa por parte del alumnado de identidades britnicoasitica o musulmana en comparacin con los blancos y no musulmanes. La autora
hace hincapi con esto en el hecho de que muchas veces la posicin hegemnica de
la raza blanca hace callar su existencia y la invisibiliza. Se contempla el distanciamiento por parte del alumnado blanco y ni musulmn de los personajes de la pelcula, observada por la autora como posible autoproteccin y, la construccin de cualidad de asitico (Asianness en ingls). En la autorreflexin la profesora tambin
encuentra como un impedimento su propia invisibilidad racia, que de alguna manera
obscureca sus habilidades de captar y leer algunas caracterizaciones en el filme
Oriente es Oriente.
Identidades culturales
y minoras tnicas
en Europa
David Turton
Universidad de Oxford
2001
Universidad de Deusto
Bilbao
Indice
Introduccin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
David Turton (Universidad de Oxford) y Julia Gonzlez (Universidad de
Deusto)
23
37
45
53
59
65
75
85
93
1. Antecedentes
Europa se ha convertido en un espacio multicultural cada vez ms
amplio y existe una considerable bibliografa que explora la variedad de
respuestas hacia la creciente diversidad tnica de los estados nacionales
(WRENCH/SOLOMOS, 1993; HECKMAN/BOSSWICK, 1995). Y la agitacin terica provocada por los razonamientos posmodernistas ha quedado reflejada en un cada vez ms complejo anlisis de las identidades
tnicas; incluso con conceptos tales como relaciones de hibridez o de dispora disfrutando casi de un estatus en boga (RADHAKRISHNAN, 1996;
WERBNER/MODOOD, 1997; YOUNG, 1995). Al mismo tiempo, el papel
de los sistemas y los medios de comunicacin de masas a la hora de
crear identidades y de construir valores ha quedado enmarcado dentro
de un debate terico relacionado con el papel de la globalizacin (ROBERTSON, 1992; HANNERZ, 1996; FEATHERSTONE, 1995), con un cada
vez mayor reconocimiento de la compleja geografa cultural y filosfica
de la Dispora (BRAH, 1996; LAVIE/SWEDENBURG, 1996). Todos estos
fenmenos, junto con los debates tericos relacionados con los mismos,
constituyen el amplio esquema de trabajo del presente artculo.
En Gran Bretaa, el desarrollo de las comunidades tnicas minoritarias ha quedado perfectamente registrado, ms recientemente por parte de MODOOD et al. (1997), y existe una extensa bibliografa sobre el
tema. Sin embargo, el papel de los medios de comunicacin con respecto a la formacin de relaciones tnicas y como parte integrante de
un proceso de movilizacin poltica y cultural de las minoras ha conformado un pequeo subconjunto dentro de este campo. Desde el estudio inicial de fondo de Hartman y Husband (HARTMAN/HUSBAND, 1974),
ha tenido lugar un proceso activo de anlisis acadmico en torno al
94
1 Los fondos para esta investigacin han sido aportados por un proyecto englobado
en el Programa de Investigacin en torno a la Economa y la Cultura de los Medios de
Comunicacin. El equipo del proyecto estaba compuesto por el profesor Charles Husband y el Dr. Yunas Samad (Unidad de Investigacin de Poltica Social e Identidad Etnica, Universidad de Bradford), as como por la profesora Annabelle Sreberny y D. Adom
Sabondchian (Centro para la Investigacin de los Medios de Comunicacin de Masas,
Universidad de Leicester).
95
El primer objetivo tctico era generar un modelo descriptivo de la demografa actual de ambas comunidades. Para ello, era importante ser capaces de establecer la existencia de poblaciones iranes y pakistanes en
Londres y Bradford respectivamente como comunidades subjetivas e igualmente como patrones demogrficos. Estas tareas supusieron un grado
desigual de dificultad en ambas comunidades. Mientras que en el caso de
la poblacin iran apenas exista documentacin, por el contrario, existe
una extensa documentacin acerca de la poblacin pakistan de Bradford
por parte de las autoridades locales, al haber sido objeto de innumerables
investigaciones. Hemos sido capaces, a travs de una diversidad de enfoques, de desarrollar un retrato descriptivo de la demografa de la muy dispersa poblacin iran de Londres, al mismo tiempo que hemos conseguido
identificar las interconexiones subjetivas de identidad que sirven de nexo
de unin a esta comunidad disgregada en el espacio, en tanto que, en
Bradford, a tenor de la documentacin disponible, era posible dibujar una
imagen muy precisa de la distribucin demogrfica de la poblacin pakistan as como identificar los modelos de organizacin social perfectamente
desarrollados que operan en el seno de esta comunidad demogrfica.
No obstante, un perfil demogrfico en s mismo ofrece nicamente
un modelo relativamente estril y esttico de cada poblacin; por lo tanto, estbamos obligados a realizar un estudio complementario para poder generar un enriquecedor entendimiento social y cultural de la historia de la migracin y del establecimiento de cada poblacin, al igual que
de sus perfiles polticos y socio-culturales en el seno de sus respectivos
asentamientos urbanos. Para avanzar en nuestro proyecto necesitbamos
trazar un retrato descriptivo del entorno de los medios de comunicacin
de cada poblacin. Para definir este objetivo en esta etapa, conseguimos dibujar el perfil de la infraestructura de los medios de comunicacin
actuales en lugar de adoptar cualquier medida de utilizacin de los mismos. Al abordar este objetivo, el equipo fue ms all de la identificacin
de los medios de comunicacin escritos y de radiodifusin, consiguiendo
asimismo identificar otros emplazamientos de reproduccin cultural e interaccin social. Una vez ms, este proceso fue muy diferente para las
dos comunidades objeto de estudio, puesto que la poblacin pakistan
de Bradford disfruta de una ms amplia y diversa gama de medios de
comunicacin que la poblacin iran de Londres.
Uno de los objetivos centrales del presente proyecto era dibujar un retrato dinmico del comportamiento de cada individuo en el seno del contexto social y del entorno de los medios de comunicacin dado que sustentan su identidad y se ubican dentro del espacio subjetivo de una dispora.
Mientras que las etapas anteriores permitieron a los investigadores anticipar la variedad de destacadas identidades y la potencial relevancia del en-
96
torno globalizado de los medios de comunicacin, esta fase pretenda generar un mbito de informacin cualitativa que permitiese esclarecer la
candente relevancia de los medios de comunicacin en relacin con la reproduccin de identidades subjetivas en los individuos. Para ello se emplearon dos mtodos: por una parte, un cuestionario para perfilar una lnea bsica de informacin comn a lo largo de la muestra de investigacin y, por
otra, grupos de estudio para generar un conjunto de informacin ms fundamentado que revelara la articulacin de identidades y la utilizacin de los
medios de comunicacin relacionados con las mismas. Aun cuando la informacin del cuestionario era factible de manipulacin numrica, no obstante, constitua igualmente una informacin esencialmente cualitativa a
pesar de que los procedimientos de seleccin de los encuestados y el tamao de la muestra no permitiesen considerar de ninguna manera los mencionados cuestionarios como muestras representativas adecuadas.
El equipo de investigacin utiliz grupos de estudio para generar
una informacin cualitativa que permitiese esclarecer nuestro entendimiento de la construccin de identidades, incluyendo la relevancia del
Islam en dicho proceso, la utilizacin de los medios de comunicacin y
la interaccin de ambos. Los dos equipos consensuaron un esquema de
actuacin comn con objeto de guiar la gestin de los grupos de actuacin. Los grupos de estudio fueron seleccionados tomando como
referencia un muestreo que haba considerado el sexo y la edad como
variables fundamentales. Sin embargo, la logstica de la construccin
de dichos grupos dentro de las dos comunidades no ha hecho posible
cumplir estrictamente con este marco de trabajo. Ambos equipos buscaban utilizar grupos existentes que ofreciesen un perfil distintivo en
trminos de asociacin y que garantizasen, al mismo tiempo, un reflejo
de la diversidad de opinin en el seno de cada una de las comunidades.
Aun cuando muchos miembros de la comunidad iran recibieron
con reservas la idea de esta investigacin, result una ardua tarea encontrar las fechas y los lugares apropiados para que los participantes se
sintieran preparados para tomar parte en las discusiones de los grupos
de estudio. En las escuelas de idiomas los padres disponan de muy
poco tiempo libre, mientras que los participantes en las asambleas de la
comunidad pensaban que stas eran tan escasas que no podan permitirse el lujo de renunciar ni siquiera a parte de una sesin para participar en la investigacin. La gente se mostraba suspicaz con respecto al
propsito de la investigacin y a quien la subvencionaba, mostrndose
asimismo preocupados acerca de los controles y sanciones por parte de
las autoridades tanto del Reino Unido como de la Repblica Islmica.
Por lo tanto, empleamos gran cantidad de tiempo en tranquilizar a la
gente asegurndole que la participacin era completamente annima y
97
98
99
100
101
nas catalogadas por las autoridades locales como zonas de gran conflictividad social. Debido a incidentes tales como el caso Honeyford,
el caso Rushdie o la Guerra del Golfo, esta comunidad tiene una
sensacin de estar sujeta a un riguroso examen externo y a estereotipos hostiles por parte de organismos y portavoces de la comunidad
blanca mayoritaria; si no constituyen una comunidad acuciada por los
problemas, al menos s una colectividad con conciencia de su propia
identidad.
La mayora de los inmigrantes de Pakistn en Bradford proceda de
Mirpur y eran personas profundamente conservadoras provenientes de
una de las zonas ms subdesarrolladas del Pakistn rural. Las mezquitas
construidas en la primera fase del proceso de migracin y los asentamientos eran frecuentadas sin establecer distinciones de sectarismo,
casta o lugar de procedencia. Pero con la reunificacin familiar tuvo lugar un proceso de fisin, dando lugar a una segmentacin motivada
por razones sectarias, de casta y lugar de procedencia. Esto tuvo como
consecuencia la proliferacin de mezquitas, escuelas islmicas y organizaciones poltico-religiosas. La religin constituye un aspecto esencial
de la organizacin social en el seno de la comunidad pakistan. Las
mltiples divisiones dentro del Islam pueden observarse tambin en
Bradford, siendo los Shiahs, una especie de grupos Sunni que incluye
las rdenes de los Barelvi, Deoband, Jmat-i-Islami y Tabligh-i-Jamat y los
Sufi, uno de los ms activos en la ciudad. Estas divisiones religiosas internas se ven a menudo revestidas de identidades lingsticas y regionales, as, por ejemplo, una mezquita Barelvi puede tener su rgano de
direccin e Imn de una regin concreta y hablar un determinado idioma
o dialecto (SAMAD, 1998). A fin de contrarrestar esta fragmentacin y
con el activo apoyo del Consejo del Distrito Metropolitano de Bradford,
se constituy el Consejo de Mezquitas de Bradford como una especie
de presencia institucional coordinadora en la ciudad (SAMAD, 1992;
REX/SAMAD, 1996). Sin embargo, sera incorrecto asumir que el Consejo de Mezquitas de Bradford representaba a todas las corrientes de
opinin dentro del mundo musulmn en Bradford. Existen otra serie de
organizaciones de militantes, como el Hizb-ut-Tahrir, que tambin han
mostrado una gran actividad en la ciudad.
Es importante constatar que, como poblacin tnica minoritaria establecida y concentrada demogrficamente en Bradford, los miembros
de la comunidad pakistan poseen todos la nacionalidad britnica. Por
consiguiente, tanto en trminos jurdicos como en relacin con la percepcin de esta comunidad de su derecho a la igualdad de tratamiento, debe observarse que disfrutan del estatus de ciudadanos de pleno
derecho, as como de limitados derechos poli tnicos (KYMLICKA, 1995)
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
clave: Minoras
Abstract:: The study of the ethnic minority communities in the city of Sheffield
shows the ethnic, demographic, socio-economicand culturel diversity, what is more
the spatial diversity of her population. These constitute a very representative
component of the new society which is forming in the european urbane
metropolitan areas/regions as a result of the immigration.
Key Words: Ethnic minority
segregation/concentration.
communities,
the
migrations,
spatial
INTRODUCCION
La movilidad espacial de la poblacin constituye hoy un aspecto de
importancia fundamental en la Geografa de la Poblacin como determinante de
procesos de crecimiento o declive en ciudades, regiones o incluso pases, bien a travs
de la movilidad residencial, o indirectamente por sus efectos en el crecimiento natural,
y por tanto en la estructura y composicin de la poblacin, as como por su incidencia en
diversos aspectos de la vida cotidiana: mercado de viviendas, servicios, economa,
etc. (CHAMPION & FIELDING, 1992).
148
T.RICA PREZ
Poblacin ii~cludaen los grupos triicos considerados en el Censo de poblacin del Reirio Unido, el1 1991 :
- White: Wlzitc (griegos, turcos, otros europeos) y Wiiite niistos.
- Black-Caribbean: del Caribe, Guyai-ia e Indias Occideritales.
- Black-Africari: del coritinente africaiio (excepto del Norte de Africa).
- Black-Other: Blnck ( ingleses y otros), Blilck/Wliite, Blrick "niixtus".
- Iridian: Hi~ides.
- Pakistani: Pakistaiies.
- Barigladeshi: Bangladesis.
- Cliinese: Cliinos.
- Other Asian.
- Otros: Norte de Africa, Arabia o Irari, Wliite/Blnck/Wiiite de Asin.
149
1).
Migracin
de
trabajadores
Reunificacin
familiar
2
Movimiento
Post-industrial
3
xjaores de
cualificacin
"
/
"
/
Solicitantes
de Asilo
Tiempo
Figura 1.-Oleadas de inmigracin internacional en ciudades europeas.
Fuente: WHITE (1993).
Despus de la 11 Guerra Mundial, el Reino Unido ha soportado dos grandes olas
de inmigraciones internacionales: la "Migracin de trabajadores" (Labour migration);
y la "De reunificacin familiar" (The family reunification). En la actualidad se est
produciendo la llamada "Ola de movimiento post-industrial "(The zvnve of the postindl~strinlmovement).
La cresta de la primera ola se alcanz entre 1950 y 1970, y se caracterizaba por
sus conexioiies coloniales y la gran diversidad de procedencia de los inmigrantes. Se
trataba fundamentalmente de trabajadores que dejaron a sus familias en el pas de
origen. La segunda ola comenz hacia 1970, producindose en muchos casos en un corto
espacio de tiempo. Y la tercera, conocida como "De movimiento post-industrial", que
se est produciendo actualmente, presenta, a su vez, tres corrientes principales: la de
150
T.RICA PREZ
152
T.RICA PREZ
153
PAKISTANI
*/o
*/o
CHINESE
BANGLADESHI
BLACK CARIBBEAN
BORN i
h' IRELAND
156
T. RICA PREZ
157
-SHEFFIELD 1991-
Total
70.1
29.9
(~otal
47.82
52.18
OACTIVOS
SINACTIVOS
-GRUPOS ETNICOS-
70
O ACTIVOS
INACTIVOS
60
so
40
30
20
10
-GRUPOS ETNICOS
Figura 4.- Poblacin activa e inactiva por sexos en los grupos tnicos.
Fuente: Sheffield Census-1991. Elaboracin propia.
158
T.RICA PREZ
Lenguas de uso frecuente en Sheffield, aparte de la oficial, y procedencia de la poblaciii que las utiliza
- Punjabi-Urdu: India, Pakistn.
- Bengali: Baiigladesl-iy Oeste de Bengala-Ii~dia.
- Somal: Comalia.
- Arabe: Yemen, Iraq, Irn, Palestina y algurios somales.
- Creole-Patois: Islas del Caribe, Jamaica.
- Cantonese: Cl-iina.
159
de cada grupo, llegando a contar con mas de 1.000 alumnos, jvenes fundamentalmente,
durante el curso 1994-95.
0
L-'J
u
u
m
l a
11 n
10
28
Poblacion pdkistani
29 a 199
200 a 5096
10422 a
13200
132U1 a
15b30 a 18708
le709 a 475977
10 a
39 8
38
67
68 a 230
231 a1127
,O
Poblacion ' ~ h l t0
~
2 a
8
9 a 13
1 4 n 4 7
48
12b
P ~ h l a ~ i u "r ~i l a c hAfrican
a
O
10 a
19 a
31 a E0
SDoISb
O
E3
4 a
'"
18
30
Pohldcion indu
14
Poblarion ctiii3
27
7r
44
43
281
161
la discriminacin racial es frecuente que sucedan en las escuelas entre alumnos, y en los
lugares de trabajo donde se contrata preferentemente a trabajadores de la Comunidad
White.
El desempleo afecta de modo desigual a los diversos p p o s tnicos y a l a
poblacin masculina y femenina. Es la poblacin masculina de las comunidades BlaclcAfvicniz (40155%), Pnkistnni (39'15%) y Blzlzglndeshi (38'88%) una de las ms afectadas,
y tambin la femenina de las citadas Comunidades Pnlcistnni (41'78%) y Banglndeshi
( 3 9 ' 4 3 ' ~ j ) Por
~ . el contrario, en el caso de los varones la Comunidad Clzinese (8'14%) es
la menos afectada, y en el caso de las mujeres la Comunidad W h i t e (7'36%). Es ste m
importante problema para algunos grupos tnicos minoritarios como reconocen
diferentes asociaciones de la ciudad, aunque la intensidad del mismo vare entre unos
y otros: bajos valores en la Comunidad Clzinese y altos en la Pnlcistnni y Banglndeshi.
Las porcentajes iio se refieren al total general de poblacicii si110 al total de poblacirr actizai de cada grupo
Gtnico.
163
CONCLUSIONES
La ciudad inglesa de Sheffield es un buen ejemplo de la heterogeneidad tnica
que tiende a crecer cada vez ms en las reas urbanas europeas, debido a 1a
importancia creciente de la movilidad internacional de la poblacin. Las diferencias
entre la Comunidad nativa, mayoritaria, denominada W h i t e y los grupos minoritarios
que representan el 5'04% de la poblacin total, se reflejan en sus caractersticas
demogrficas, sociales, econmicas y culturales y en una localizacin espacial
diferenciada en el plano de Sheffield.
La tendencia al envejecimiento es la caracterstica demogrfica ms
sobresaliente del grupo mayoritario, a diferencia de la mayora de Comunidades
mucho menos numerosas que tienen una considerable poblacin joven. Se constatan
diferencias sociales que tienden a acortarse a medida que aumentan las uniones
intertnicas, a excepcin de las Comunidades asiticas que suelen ser ms cerradas.
164
T. RICA PREZ
BIBLIOGRAFIA
BAIMBRIDGE M. et al. (1994): "The Maastricht Treaty: exacerbating racism in Europe?". Etlznic
and Rncinl Stiidies. 17, 3, 420-436.
BERRINGTON, M. (1995): "Marriage and family formation among the White and ethnic minority
population in Britain". Ethnic and Racial Stlidzes, 17, 3, 517-544.
C.P.S.C. (1993): 1991 CENSLIS. Coiintui~report: Soiifli Yorlslire(Part.l/2). Ed.C.P.S.C. London
CHAMPION, T. & FIELDING, T. (Eds.) (1992): Migration processes pntterns. Vol. 1. Belhaven
Press. London.
de
International
Journal of the
Sociology of Law
www.elsevier.com/locate/ijsl
Abstract
This paper is principally concerned with a matter which does not appear to have received
much attention in the literature, namely the representation and adaptation of the ethnic
minority1 experience in film. These issues have, for the reasons explained below, only appeared
in a limited way in British popular culture. The imperial and inter-cultural experience of race
has appeared in a variety of forms over the years. This paper seeks to place this film coverage
in its historical and political context. It does this by looking in some detail at how one
particular representation of ethnicity in Errol Braithwaites autobiographical To Sir with Love,
fared in its adaptation for the screen. A much blander portrayal of race and racism in postWar Britain emerges from the film of To Sir With Love than that of the original literary source
with the background of racism largely removed from the film. The paper suggests that to
obtain a better purchase on the process of adaptation it is crucial to examine the social and
political context within which the films in question are made rather than simply concentrate on
the aesthetic and stylistic distinctions between the written source and film2 as though these are
pure processes to be assessed in some kind of artistic vacuum. This examination is premised on
the basis that there is significance in examining the cinematic portrayal of such developments.3
r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
236
Cripps (1978).
Annual Abstract of Statistics (HMSO), 2002, Table 5.6.
6
There is of course the slavery link with enforced removal from Africa to the West Indies. Slavery as a
social institution within Britain as opposed to the colonies was a feature of British life between the 17th
and 18th centuries. Estimates are not essayed in the standard work on slavery of the number of slaves in
BritainThomas (1998), The Slave Trade.
7
Race in Britain 2001, Observer, November 25, 2001 Special Reportthe median answer of the 1000
adults in the ICM telephone research conducted in September and November 2001 suggested an ethnic
minority population of 24% or 14.3 millionp. 12.
8
Table 5.6; Population by age and ethnic group: Great BritainAnnual Abstract of Statistics, 2002.
HMSO, London, 2002. The major groupings of ethnic minority citizens are as follows: Black Caribbean
529,000; Black African 440,000; Black Other 129,000; Black mixed 178,000; Indian 985,000; Pakistani
675,000; Bangladeshi 257,000; Chinese 151,000; Other Asian non-mixed 242,000; Other non-mixed
219,000; other mixed 240,000.
9
Population Trends. HMSO, London, Autumn 2001, p. 15.
10
Target: England The Guardian, April 27, 1999, p. 15.
11
The more notable BNP performances in the Oldham East bye-election and subsequent local elections
of 2002 seem more attributable to specific local factors than a widespread upsurge in support for the far
right agendaThe Guardian, May 15, 2002.
5
237
On the face of things there is no necessary link between immigration and colour.
There was no suggestion that the inter-War Italian or post-War Polish and
Lithuanian communities threatened to dilute the national stock or that they
posed a threat to British culture. Anti-Semitism produced a slightly different
reaction.12 Concerns about the national stock were expressed as fears about the
politics of European immigrants before the Great War. The threat to jobs of these
individuals fleeing pogroms was the moral panic, which led to the control of entry
into Britain in the first place.13
Until the outbreak of the First World War there precious few limitations on who
could enter and leave Britain. Control over entry into Britain from 1913 was initially
exercised under the legislation dealing with aliens. The entry into Britain depended
on whether a person was a British subject. In the immediate post-Great War era,
however, there were race riots in a number of British seaports resulting in a handful
of deaths. The Government paid a sum of d5 per head for some 1500 seamen to be
repatriated to the Caribbean and West Africa.14
In the inter-war period the number of non-white faces in Britain remained small. It
has been estimated that there were some 10,000 black inhabitants in Britain in 1948
when some of the earliest attempts to restrict black workers rights were attempted
through the National Union of Seamen.15
As the 1942 Beveridge Report on welfare reform made clear one of the concerns of
the Government in the years of war and reconstruction was the lack of numbers of
the workforce.16 This problem was met by immigration from the colonies,
particularly from the West Indies. They were actively recruited by those with
worker shortages like London Transport. Numbers of immigrants in response to the
demand for workers rose from the late 1940s over the next 30 years from the low
base indicated to 836,00017 in 1966 and 1.1 million by 1971.18 The response of the
host population was negative, as it had been during immigration from Ireland during
the 19th century. The common colour and tongue of such immigrants, however, led
to assimilation in Britain with extensive intermarriage.19
Immigrants from the new Caribbean and Indian sub-continent were, however,
more easily identified. Serious race riots took place in 1958 in Notting Hill in
London and Nottingham as far right groups sought to use the issue of race to
supplement their traditional concern with the alleged International Jewish
Conspiracy.20 There were calls for repatriation from both politicians in mainstream
12
Holmes (1979).
Lloyd (1970, p. 8).
14
Humphries and Gordon (1990).
15
The Solution that started a problem Cashmore (1989).
16
Report on National Insurance and Allied services (Chairman Sir William Beveridge) Cmd 6404
(HMSO), para 15, p. 8.
17
Social Trends (1970, Table 17).
18
Social Trends, (1974, Table 13).
19
Swift (1990), Davis (1991), and Handley (1964).
20
For an account of the shift of the far rights concerns from a concentration on anti-semitism to black
citizens in the post-War era, see, Martin Walker (1980).
13
238
parties as well as traditional racists on the right.21 This bore fruit in the
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 whose real objectives were admitted by one
of those in the Government of the day
The Bills real purpose was to restrict the influx of coloured immigrants. We were
reluctant to say as much openly. So the restrictions were applied to coloured and
white citizens in all Commonwealth countriesthough everybody recognised that
immigration from Canada, Australia and New Zealand formed no part of the
problem. 22
It was in this context that Braithwaites book, To Sir With Love, documented his
experiences as one of the earlier post-War Service immigrants. Apart from UK
passport holders, other Commonwealth citizens were required to obtain a Ministry
of Labour voucher to enter the UK. Irish citizens were exempted. Vouchers were
limited and the number issued fell from over 30,000 in 1963 to fewer than 2500 in
1972. The 1962 Act was denounced by the Labour Party when introduced but not
altered when they achieved office in 1964. They had accepted the notion that good
race relations was best served by limiting immigration. As the Labour MP for
Birmingham Sparkbrook, Roy Hattersley, put it in 1965
Without integration, limitation is inexcusable; without limitation, integration is
impossible.
Given the small indigenous non-white British population, the subsequent
Immigration Act 1971 with its notion of patriality23 effectively allowed in white
Commonwealth citizens while excluding non-white ones.24 The numbers of
immigrants was reduced.25 This is the context in which one needs to situate the
legislation protecting those already in Britain from racial discrimination.
1.1. Eliminating discrimination
National legislation was introduced in 1965 by the Race Relations Act, which
sought to outlaw discrimination in public places like cinemas and dance halls. An
overt colour bar had not been a frequent feature of British life. Discrimination had
tended to be private and not publicly advertised as Braithwaite found when trying to
obtain a job and accommodation. In place of signs saying No Coloureds, rooms
21
239
tended to have been already let. The scope of the protection offered through a
discrimination approach was extended to housing and jobs with the introduction of
the Race Relations Act 1968. The principle was retained in the updating of this
protective legislation in 1976. The Race Relations Act 1976 operates principally
through an individual complaints framework. There is the option for individuals to
take action through tribunals where they have been discriminated against on the
grounds of race, colour, ethnic or national origin. These actions may be supported
by the official body set up to promote good race relations, the Commission for
Racial Equality. This body is also charged with working at the structural level to
address systemic discrimination by investigations and more recently with other
public bodies requiring to promote equality of opportunity and good relations
between people of different racial groups.26
The legislation has not been an unqualified success in the workplace.27 In addition,
ethnic minorities form a disproportionate proportion of the prison population. They
are more heavily and crudely policed than the white population. They are
underrepresented in the machinery of law and order. They form only 1.8% of the
police force and none of the senior judiciary. Concern is widespread that systemic
racism operates in the operation of the law against ethnic minorities.28
240
principally after World War II in the Indian sub-continent in 1947, in Africa and the
Far East throughout the 1950s and 1960s.30 Films were made in the inter-war period
which embraced the notion of Empire as a civilising force and which were still found
in the 1960s.
Typical of this approach to other ethnic groups as uncivilised but mouldable is the
filming of Edgar Wallaces story of a District Officer restoring peace amongst the
child-like natives Sanders of the River (1935). Thus, we have the film starting with a
tribute to the notion of civilising colonialism and the role of men like Sanders.
Africa...tens of millions of natives under British rule, each tribe with its own
chieftain, governed and protected by a handful of white men whose everyday
work is an unsung saga of courage and efficiency. One of them was Commissioner
Sanders.
The tone of interchange and relationships between Sanders (Lord Sandi) and the
chiefs is typified by Sanders pep talk to his assembled chiefs prior to taking a 12month sabbatical
In my place the Lord Ferguson shall stay and give the law to all the peoples of the
river. I want you to obey him as if you were his own children.
The condescension and obviously assumed inferiority of the natives is the crux
of this story about how the tribes are unable to respond to anything other than a
mighty charismatic white man. He, Sanders is the fount of all order and when other
unscrupulous foreigners seek to subvert this control for their own profit they do so
by putting out a cryptic message which underlines the limited and child-like nature of
the native tribes
Sandi is dead. There is no law any more.
His successor, Ferguson, is urged to treat the natives as you would unruly school
children when they run amok on discovering that the charismatic white ruler is no
more.31 The main star of the film, Paul Robeson is reputed to have been outraged at
the final portrayal of Africans in the final version of the film.32 In fairness, without
going into the rest of the film, the lines, which he himself was provided with, make it
pretty clear that his character was going to be portrayed as a wheedling self-serving
servant of imperialism, albeit with charm.
The same contrast between the western and native culture is found in Song of
Freedom (1936). This seemed to offer a rather more significant role for Paul Robeson
by providing him with the chance to do more than sing and smile. The accidental
overhearing of London stevedore John Zingas stunning voice by the Opera
impresario, Donozetti, results in Robeson touring the world. By chance he discovers
30
India and PakistanAugust 1947; Ghana, 1957; Malaya, 1957; Cyprus, 1960; Nigeria, 1960; Sierra
Leone, 1962; Tanganyika (Tanzania), 1962; Somaliland, 1962; Uganda, 1962; Nyasaland, 1963; Northern
Rhodesia (Zambia), 1963.
31
The self-serving nature of this portrayal did attract oblique criticism at the time notably in the Will
Hay spoof Ol Bones of the River (1938).
32
Bourne (1998), p. 16.
241
that he is a descendant of Queen Zinga and is the lost King of the West African
island of Casanga. This unusual film, nonetheless, despite having a black actor in the
leading protagonist role still portrays African tribal life as riven with ignorance and
superstition.33 Contentment is to be found by acceptance of Robeson as the true
King of the islanders whence his ancestors came so that he can lead them with his
Western ways from being backward, uncivilised and impoverished.
A related later feature of the Empire is the relationship between colonisers and
colonised in the dog days of the colonial era. In Bhowani Junction (1956), 34 Victoria
Jones, a woman of Anglo-Indian parentage discovers that she is tolerated but not
fully accepted due to her half-caste status. She rejects the suits of her Anglified
fellow half-caste, Patrick Taylor and of Nationalist activist Ranjit Kasel, and
becomes the mistress of a white Army officer. Told in flashback, we see the way in
which Britains military and gubernatorial withdrawal from the Indian sub-continent
is reflected in the problems of identity she experiences due to this racial status. The
conclusion of the film suggests an upbeat ending with love winning out against
prejudice from both communities. The dominant mood in the film is of an isolated
and problematic situation for the young couple in the new India and for AngloIndians generally rather more in keeping with the John Masters original text and the
analysis of Ranjit Kasels mother
Have you ever met an Englishman that didnt insult you. Havent your own
people worked for them for a hundred years and how are they going to reward
you. They are going to leave you here with us. And what do you think we are
going to do with Anglo-Indians? Were going to make you realise that you are
Indians. Inferior Indians. Possibly disloyal because you spent the last hundred
years licking Englands boots and kicking us with your own boots.
A number of films during this late colonial era looked at these cross-cultural
relationships including the British The Wind Cannot Read (1958). This rehearses the
notion of forbidden love between Suzuki, a Japanese female translator, and Dirk
Bogardes military student during the Second World War. The problem of social
disapproval that the couple seeks to overcome is elided by the death, from a
mysterious illness, of Suzuki.35 Thus, the trope is played out in these films
superficially as one of culture clash with the crucial problem being acceptance by the
dominant white society.
2.1.2. Foreignness on the home frontfunny foreigners and laughable minorities
There has continued to be a strong adherence in local situated family comedy
and drama to racial and ethnic stereotypes. From the 1940s through to the
1970s Scottish, Irish, Welsh and English stereotypes abound along with funny
33
242
243
244
treatment of gays. Here, the father of the child of the pregnant Jo-Rita
Tushinghamis black. The reaction of those around her ranges from condemnation
to support. The boyfriend of Jo is Jimmy, a coloured naval rating from Cardiff.
He has proposed marriage and when Jo is left by her feckless mother they have sex.
He duly disappears not knowing of Jos pregnancy. On discovering that Jo is
pregnant her mothers concern is crude suggesting either that the child be adopted by
the black midwife or Put it on stage and call it a Blackbird. This resignation
indicates rather less faith in integration than the liberal Ted Willis had implied in
Flame in the Streets where the young couple were left facing the difficult future
together.
It is in the context, then, of these cultural and political developments that the
adaptation of To Sir with Love (1967) needs to be seen rather than as some feeble
British version of The Blackboard Jungle (1955) which had led to riots when
screened.54 To Sir with Love has a very mild underlying theme that the outlook for
humanity is broadly positive. Erroll Braithwaites British Guyanan teacher wins over
his unruly class of mildly rebellious young students with his personality.55 Strangely
enough for a London-set mid-1960s film, apart from Sidney Poitier,56 there are only
three other non-white faces. This reflects the situation when Braithwaite wrote about
in the early 1950s but not 15 years later. One critic of the film was scathing
The sententious script sounds as if it has been written by a zealous Sunday school
teacher after a particularly exhilarating boycott of South African oranges.57
As indicated below, race does not feature through most of the film until the
question of flowers for the dead mother of Seales, the mixed race boy in the class,
emerges. No one is initially prepared to deliver these because they would not want to
be seen visiting such a house. In an unlikely seeming denouement all the children
caste off their bigoted views and turn up at the house for the funeral. This scene is
not, as the above film critic implies, a nod towards a strained liberal agenda, but a
faithful re-enactment of Braithwaites original text.58
The issue of bigotry between old and new Britons was covered in an explicit way in
a feature film of the early 1970s derived from a half-hour situation comedy series
running between 1972 and 1976Love Thy Neighbour (1973). The situation derives
from the premise that the two bigoted factory workers, Eddie and Bill are
neighbours. Eddie is a white Trade Unionist and Bill is a black boss-orientated
54
Apparently, as a result of the inclusion in the soundtrack of Bill Haley and the Comets Rock Around
the Clock.
55
Slightly more obliquely racism emerges in a film where the issue is avoiding assumed racism by
passing whiteSapphire (1959).
56
A follow-up To Sir With Love 2 takes Poitier out of retirement after a further 30 years in education in
Londonto south side Chicago in 1997released straight through to budget video. Lulu retains a cameo
role singing the title song.
57
Quoted in Halliwell 1999, p. 816.
58
Chapter 20the author had made a similar assessment until checking back with the original text. In
his entry in the Cambridge Guide to English Literature Braithwaites third volume of autobiography is,
however, described as self-congratulatory.
245
Conservative. They insult each other with gusto. Beneath the insults there is both a
permanent standoff as well as a possible resolution awaiting. There is the symbiosis
of mutual entrapment in their jobs and houses. In addition, there is the promise of
ultimate respect for each other since the obviously sensible wives get on just fine. The
actors, Jack Smethurst and Rudolph Walker, reviewed this work 25 years later after
the rise of racist politics and racial attacks and murders in the interim. They
suggested that this series and film did nothing to support racist abuse since each use
by Eddie of the word coon, nignog or sambo was balanced with Bill getting
to say honky and spook59 Despite the 1958 riots and Enoch Powells prophecy
of rivers of blood in 1968 the actors suggested that racism and racial issues had
not really surfaced when the series started in 1972.60
246
247
Brian McFarlane in The More things ChangeyBritish Cinema in the 90s (Murphy, 2001, p. 277).
248
The essential ease of making choices between cultural demands is a feature of the
most recent exploration of the British Asian experience, directed and co-written by
the director of Bhaji on the Beach, Gurinder Chadha. In Bend it Like Beckham
(2002), a light, almost sitcom touch is brought to the tale of a young girl, Jess
Bhamra, who has a talent for playing football. Football does not fit in with the
submissive marriage orientated path prescribed by Sikh culture and being taken by
Jess older sister. The dominant aspect of both Sikh and lower middle class English
cultures which the film reveals is the need to keep up appearances and pay attention
to what the community will think. There is also a complicating love interest for Jess
in the shape of her football manager, Joe, across the racial divide. This, however,
comes from a man from a minority group himself, as Joe is Irish. Jess family came to
Britain from East Africa and her father was a keen cricketer and it turns out the
discrimination he suffered on arrival in relation to playing cricket has caused his
opposition to sport. This then segues into a Hollywoodesque touch with a magical
melting away of all other opposition to the proposed California football scholarships
of both Jess and her white teammate Jules. The tidy happy resolution might seem to
smack of target audience expectations but Hanif Kureishis Parvez would have fully
approved.
From the black perspective there has been no real equivalent to the blaxploitation
films of the 1970s or the canon of work of Spike Lee which have achieved wide
distribution or video status.63 The number of British films produced as a whole
reached an all-time low at the start of the 1980s rising in the 1990s to just over 80. 64
Much of the limited work has suffered from the increasing concentration of
advertising and promotion on a handful of films.65 Young Soul Rebels (1991) and
Babymother (1996) were, however, produced with the financial support of Channel
Four Films and are available in video format. Like British Asian films, they are
concerned with the experiences of individuals from ethnic backgrounds and their
inter-relationships. These films are as close as we get to a black British cinema in the
terms indicated by Cripps66. The status and issue of citizens of mixed race is briefly
raised in Young Soul Rebels where one of the two main soul D.J. protagonists has a
white mother. Racism and homophobia within the black community are touched on
as in the discussion of the identity of the murderer of a young man found in a park
shortly before the 1977 Silver Jubilee celebrations.
Carlton
Cant trust dem alf caste bwoy ye no. Ye dont know which side them on. I could
well believe it was one a dem kill that black bwoyy.as far as I and I concern,
musa be a white bwoy, an if it wasnt a white bwoy, Ill lay on money it was a alf
castey.
63
Distributionthe burden of the filmmaker and Why are black films so poorly distributed both sides of the
Atlantic Black Film Maker (April/May, 2002), 14although this refers more to theatre showings than
video availability.
64
BFI Film and Television Handbook, 2001, p. 23.
65
The British Film Industry in the 1990s Peter Todd (in BritishCinema of the 90s), p. 17.
66
Cripps (1978).
249
Caz is suspect because he associates with Chrisson of a black father and white
motheras well as white people. Which is more problematic between race and
homosexuality is left uncertain
Caz
Youre fulla shit Davis! The bruvva dat got killed on the parkhe was what you
call an anti-man, a bwatty bwoy. Dat make it alright no? You concerned bout
who did it now?
Davis hesitates, he has no quick answer
Caz throws down his cloth, leaves the garage, not waiting for one
The marginalisation of black interests in white dominated culture is, however, a
much more extensive focus in the film. The white world is peripheral in the daily lives
of the protagonists except as the force that moulds black experience.
Similarly in Babymother (1995) the struggle of Anita to escape from the influence
of her partner, Byron and to make it as an artiste in her own right in the world of
reggae is not mediated by race or the white world. The conflict is between traditional
male chauvinism and her perception of a womans role and potential. She finds
strength from the successful struggle of her supposed sister Rose who managed to
obtain professional employment through support from her own mother and selfbelief after giving birth to Anita.
This is a cinema of self-confidence which does not rely on the validation of the
dominant white culture. Themes centring around how the cultures intersect are dealt
with principally from the minority viewpoint. The issues of interest in Asian and
black British cinema are how those communities relate to each other. This is not to
say that racism and the impact of white Britain is not important. This is something
which may either be merely sketched in as in the car park taunting in Bhaji on the
Beach or which is so much a part of life that it hardly needs emphasising. Explaining
his decision to cut the pub fight scene in East is East, director Damien ODonnell
explained
The whole idea of them being surrounded by racism is made abundantly clear
earlier on in the film and done with humour so why should we have it again in a
serious sense67
3.1. Adaptation and the simplification of social issues
In order to locate film more firmly within their socio-political context it is
proposed to examine the changes which emerge when adaptations are undertaken
from literature to film. Historical surveys of developments in British social issues
cinema have tended not to concern themselves with literary sources as a discrete
topic of analysis68. They have tended to focus more on the relationship between the
67
68
250
cultural zeitgeist and the kinds of films, which have been able to secure funding. In a
work on the new realism in the British cinema from the mid-1950s to early 1960s
John Hill explores the social and economic context of the production of such films.69
The concern is more particularly with the relationship between film and ideology.
Lola Young in her examination of both race, gender and sexuality in British film is
concerned with the development of ideologies about race, gender and sexual
orientation to see how these have been mediated in films dealing with these aspects of
otherness.70 In much the same way John Hills work on the 1980s traces the
relationship between the cultural cinematic artefacts produced in this decade and the
core features of Thatcherism.71 Notions like class, gender, sexual orientation and
ethnicity and the various struggles around their interpretation provide the context
against which films of the 1980s are assessed. They are seen as major factors both
informing the making of film as well as being vehicles for the elaboration of distinct
versions of the nation and politics. The focus in these works however is solely on the
films and there is very limited coverage of the relationship between the screenplays
and any source they may have had in plays or novels.
The principal focus of adaptation studies, for their part, has been on how
literature or major works of fiction have fared when they reached the screen, with
particular emphasis on the question of fidelity.72 This has not been without its
critics, of course.73 Given the major cinematic and televisual coverage of some
writers it is not surprising that the treatment of the work of writers like Shakespeare,
Dickens and Thackeray has dominated.74 Different ways of categorising adaptation
have emerged from the writers in this area drawing on the works examined. Thus,
Wagner produces a triple category of adaptation covering transposition, commentary and analogy denoting the distinct ways in which the cinema industry has dealt
with literary sources.75 They have sometimes simply rendered their content in a
visual form. Wuthering Heights (1939), Jane Eyre (1944), Madame Bovary (1949),
Lord Jim (1965) are amongst those which fall into this category of Wagners. On
other occasions filmmakers have altered the original, either deliberately or
intentionally. Here, the fictional work is a point of departure for the new creation.
This may involve re-emphasis or re-structuring. Catch-22 (1970) and A Clockwork
Orange (1972) are examples of this relationship between fiction and film. Finally
Cabaret (1972) and Death in Venice (1971) are put forward as representing the
method which involves using different techniques to make a very different work of
art from the original. This may involve shifts in time, location or characters. Wagner
even provides a way of seeing the early James Bond films as fitting into each of these
categories. Sinyard, for his part talks of adaptation as criticism. He suggests that the
69
Hill (1986).
Fear of the dark (1996).
71
Hill (1999).
72
Sinyard (1986), Orr and Nicholson (1992); Writing and Cinema, Bignell (1999, Part 3); Adaptations:
from text to screen, screen to text Cartmell and Whelehan (1999, Part II).
73
McFarlane (1996, pp. 811).
74
Giddings et al. (1990), Davies and Wells (1994).
75
Wagner (1975, Part 3).
70
251
best adaptations of books for film involve the adaptation being seen not as a
pictorialisation of the complete novel but rather a critical essay, which stresses what,
is perceived as the main theme.76 The best adaptations, suggests Sinyard, provide a
critical gloss on the novels and a freshly imagined cinematic experience that enrich
the appreciation of anyone sincerely devoted to film literature.77 In his fascinating
essay78 on To Kill a Mockingbird, for instance, Colin Nicholson does not explore the
wider background of lynching or official courtroom murder prevalent in the
Southern United States which put Finchs actions into context.79
More recently Brian McFarlane has stressed that this concentration undervalues
the intertextuality of film.80 He notes that the non-literary, non-novelistic
influences at work on any film are often crucial. Such matters as conditions within
the film industry and the prevailing cultural and social climate at the time of the
films making are major determinants in shaping any film. McFarlane notes that
such notions are difficult to formalise as opposed to questions of narrative
faithfulness. This paper seeks to engage in such a process in the context of To Sir
With Love.
It is the authors contention that the transformation in the adaptation process can
best be understood by looking at the specific pressures and influences operating on
filmmakers. This context provides a richer picture of the constraints on filmmakers
rather than seeing this principally as an abstract artistic process. Further the
relationship between social and economic developments needs to be examined to see
what kinds of parameters informed writers and filmmakers in their work.
3.2. Adapting Erroll Braithwaite
To Sir With Love documents the experience of one black teacher in post-war
Britain. It is based on the autobiography of the same title of Erroll Braithwaite
published in 1959. Braithwaite traces his first 6 months as a general class teacher of
15 years olds at a tough secondary school in East London in the early 1950s. He
describes his experiences as a well-qualified and educated black engineer seeking
work in post-War London after working extensively in South America and the
United States. The question of colour makes several appearances in the book.
Braithwaite devotes a significant section of the early part of the book to explaining
the reaction of potential employers to discovering that this well-qualified applicant
was black.81 Jobs that were open have suddenly been filled. Braithwaite even checks
the veracity of this with a white friend who is informed that indeed the job is still
vacant when he applies. We see how it is that Braithwaite has ended up teaching.
Some messages are mixed. On his way to his new school he comes across the
76
252
resistance of one passenger on a bus to sitting next to him mixed in with the
disapproval of this behaviour by the bus conductor.82 Similarly, at school his colour
scarcely figures. His struggle is with the children as a teacher/authority figure rather
than as a black man. At this time racial awareness is limited. It seems to be limited to
parents and one of his fellow teachers.83 For instance, the possibility of his renting a
room founders on the racial prejudice of the mother of one of his pupils. His attempt
to rent is met with a withdrawal of the room Im not letting and an explanation
that theres some darky here asking about the room. It turns out she is the mother
of one of his pupils. She changes her mind when her daughter puts her under
pressure to rent to Sir. By this time Braithwaite has thought better of the
advantages of living nearer his place of work.84
Braithwaite also has to endure mild racial humour when he cuts his hand and
one of the boys, Potter, expresses surprise at his blood being red. Potter is upbraided
by one of the girls, Pamela Dare who has a crush on Braithwaite. The latter brushes
over the incident agreeing with Potter that it shows that colour is only skin deep.
There is, however, a confrontation between Dare and the boys about their
insensitivity in asking all sorts of questions about Sirs otherness
Do you ever wash Sir? Do you feel the cold, Sir? Do you ever have a haircut,
Sir?85
She challenges them to reconsider whether the teacher might not be hurt by their
remarks and that perhaps it is not just a joke. Finally she turns on Seales, the child
of a black father and white mother, and points out that at least he should know
better. He replies that he did not say anything and she turns on him
You never say anything. Youre coloured too, but you just sit back and keep your
mouth shut.
Braithwaite, nonetheless, appears to be making progress in widening the cultural
horizons and also racial awareness of his poor East End pupils taking them on a trip
to the museums in the West End of London. One of the girls is bold enough to
verbally challenge the disapproval of other travellers at the sight of a black teacher
with white school students in the subway.
In addition, one of the central dramatic conflicts of the book does centre on race.
It is not, though, concerned with Braithwaites colour. Instead it involves the funeral
of Seales mother. The class voluntarily takes up a collection for a bouquet of
flowers. Delivering these flowers is not something, however, which the class are, at
first, willing to do. More importantly, nor is there any question of them attending the
funeral, as this would involve going to the home of a black person. Braithwaite is
82
Chapter 1.
The other male teacher, the unpleasant Weston takes opportunities to make a series of pointed
remarks referring to Braithwaite as our sunburned friend, being a black sheep to the slaughter and his
working black magic. Weston is, however an unpopular loner in the staffroom where all other teachers
are supportive.
84
Chapter 13.
85
Chapter 14.
83
253
amazed that the tolerance and colour blindness which the class have shown towards
him are really so superficial. He loses faith in the project which he has been engaged
in treating them as adults. When he turns up on the day of the funeral at the street
where the Seales family live he is moved to tears when he discovers that the whole
class have in fact taken heed of his obvious disappointment and are there outside the
house.
Racial intolerance also appears in a part of the book devoted to the development
of the romance between Braithwaite and fellow teacher Gillian Blanchard. They
receive rude treatment when they go out in public together and there is an absence of
parental support for their relationship. Her father urges them in the interests of any
children they might produce to reconsider their relationship. His concern, he
explains, is based not on prejudice but on realism.
Hence, the initial impetus of Braithwaite into teaching, his location when teaching,
his relationship with his pupils as perceived by the outside world and his civics
teaching are all crucially mediated by his otherness. His blackness in a racist white
world provides much of the narrative drive coupled with his negotiation of a pupil
crush by the pupil, Pamela Dare.
The 1967 film version written, produced and directed by James Clavell retains only
limited fragments of this juxtaposition. The action is updated to the contemporary
setting of the mid-1960s. There are more ethnic minorities in Braithwaites classin
addition to Seales there is an Asian girl and a Chinese girlboth of whom have nonspeaking roles. On the other hand, a number of features of the book disappearthe
racists in the bus and later on the subway are not included; the racist employers who
caused Braithwaite to give up seeking world in his chosen profession receive no
mention; the romance with the white teacher, their experience of going out in public
together and the reaction of her realist/racist father is absent from the screenplay.
What is left are two incidentsthe funeral flowers dispute with its positive
conclusion about racial harmony remains along with the cut hand incident. What we
have in the film is a story about young people maturing and coming of age with the
help of a sympathetic adult. The role of Sidney Poitier could almost have been as
easily played by any actor. Teachers are the strange other rather than anything
more complex involving ethnicity. This notion was in fact adopted in the TV series
made in the wake of To Sir With Love. The same characters appear in Please Sir. The
teacher becomes an ineffectual but nice Northern white man in his first teaching
post.86
Some of the changes in emphasis stem from the absence of the main protagonists
inner thoughts ever being expressed. The driving force is the narrative rather than
the combination of reflection and narrative found in the book.87 The overall removal
of much of the meat of the Braithwaite book, however, does not stem from the need
86
LWT 19701978; the characters continued into post-school world in The Fenn Street Gang. The
school based TV series itself spawned a 1971 film of the same name. There were four ethnic minority pupils
but they occupied minor roles with minimal speaking parts.
87
Stuart Laing in The fiction is already there: Writing and Film in Blairs Britain (Bignell, 1999)on
Nick Hornbys adaptation of his episodic thoughts into a narrative structure in Fever Pitch.
254
to insert a narrative structure. This is there already. It can, rather, best be seen not
simply as Clavell taking artistic licence with Braithwaites text but as part of British
cinemas representation of race and ethnicity as an issue. This in turn has altered
over the years as race has signified a different role in British society as Britain has
been transformed into a multicultural society. The emphasis in the 1960s was either
to airbrush racial minorities out of the scene or to concentrate on the reaction of the
white majority community. With the emergence of a significant British-born
population the focus has shifted to the problems of those who, like Meenan Khan in
East is East have a different racial identity from that ascribed to them by either their
families or new neighbours. She indicates she is not prepared to accept the direction
of her father towards an arranged marriage and declares she is not marrying a
fuckin Paki
Im not Pakistani. I was born here. I speak English not Urdu.
3.3. Conclusion
The Filmography in Representing Blackness88 is revealing. In none of the essays in
that collection do any of the films referred to in this essay feature.89 From Sanders of
the River through Flame in the Streets and To Sir With Love down to My Beautiful
Laundrette and Young Soul Rebels nothing appears. Work in the British cinema has
been on British issues. It has been determined by Britains own quite specific
historical and political history. Many of the themes in writing on black American
cinema do not easily resonate in Britain. The stereotypical Uncle Tom portrayal
of British citizens has not been a feature of British film.90 By contrast, we have Paul
Robeson treated on his merits in The Proud Valley (1939) and being accepted
unquestioningly into a Welsh coalmining community. They are keen to win a singing
competition and they have noted that Robeson scored highly in the singing stakes,
and taking the pragmatic view that down the mine colour does not signify. Rather
there has been the rather different agendas of colonialism or post-colonialism. The
post-bellum, post-servitude adjustments of the South from decades of Jim Crow laws
have no simple equivalent within the British experience.
In addition, British cinema has faced its own problems in terms of competition
from the dominant English language film producing country, the United States. This
has been a long-standing issue since the beginnings of film91 with various
protectionist devices like local quotas used over the years.92 The numbers of British
films seen and distributed has always been limited in comparison to the United States
where some 400 films are produced annually. In the 1990s the number of films
88
Smith (1997).
The index of Reel to Real tells a similar tale with only two passing references to British film.
90
Richards (XXXX, Chapter 3, p. 60). The black man as hero.
91
Victoria de Grazia, Mass Culture and Sovereignty: The American Challenge to European Cinema 1920
1960. Journal of Modern History 61(1), 1989, 53.
92
Toby Miller in The Film Industry and the Government: Endless Mr Beans and Mr Bonds? (Murphy,
2000, p. 37).
89
255
produced in Britain with financial involvement averaged just over 80.93 Not
surprisingly, the major proportion of films exhibited were American68% with a
further 16% joint US/UK productions.94 Although the number of cinema
attendances rose steadily during the 1980s and 1990s to 139 million from the 1984
low point of 54 million95 the range of films on offer continue to be dominated by
Hollywood films. The rise of multiplexes and megaplexes from 1 with 10 screens in
1985 to 142 with 1222 screens in 1997 has not led to a wider range of choice at the
cinema. Instead there have been multiple screenings of blockbusters and a
programming policy involving what Stuart Hanson describes as a narrow range
of product from the major distributorswho are all American.96 This combination
of a limited British film industry and limited space within cinemas has not helped in
the development of films concerned with specific local issues around ethnic identity.
This combination of cultural and material factors has led to a British cinema with
broad themes that correspond to particular moments in British socio-political
historythe Colonial Experience; the host reaction to Commonwealth immigration
and finally the Immigrant and second generation experience. The themes have not
been entirely self-contained. Hence we do find films about the colonial experience in
the 1960s97 as well as films about host community reactions98 along with ethnic
experiential cinema. What is interesting about the most recently acclaimed film from
director Mike Leigh is the treatment of race in this film about a racially mixed
family.99 Brenda Blethyn discovers in Secrets and Lies (1995) that the daughter that
she gave up for adoption, without even seeing, over 25 years ago is black. The
question of race is at no point in this film an issue but how the characters react to the
tissue of secrets and lies which have both sustained the familys relationships over the
years and prevented them from expressing their true feelings. These are, however,
human and cultural rather than racial and ethnic problems.100
This paper has sought to show that in the area selected the history and context is
quite specific. An imperial and colonial role had a major influence. The informal
censorship system which moulded the portrayal of the social issue of poverty was
absent.101 By locating these films in their cultural and political context it is possible
to understand their varying images of ethnicity as well as the process of adaptation
rather better. In relation to adaptation, this is particularly so when the original
source has a limited status of its own. This approach, at least in its initial phase,
suggests that adapted films are also susceptible to such a perspective in place of a
93
Peter Todd in The British Film Industry in the 1990s (Murphy, 2000, p. 17).
Dyja (1999, p. 35).
95
Dyja (1999, p 30).
96
Stuart Hanson in Spoilt for Choice? Multiplexes in the 90s (Murphy, 2000, p. 48).
97
Death Drums Along the River (1964)a supposed remake of Sanders updated and altered into a
simple Africa-set thrillerno black actors have any speaking roles.
98
Scum (1979).
99
Contrast with Made in America (1993) with Whoopi Goldberg and Ted Danson where the clash
between African American and redneck culture is, at least at the beginning, the central theme.
100
Although Secrets and Lies has been criticised for its portrayal of the daughter Hortense.
101
Murphy (1992b); Peter Robson in Poverty in Film, Law and Society Association Meeting, 1998
(mimeo).
94
256
concentration on the aesthetic and stylistic distinctions between the written source
and film.102 Thus the interesting changes we find in the film versions of books on
ethnic issues, like To Sir with Love and Bhowani Junction can more viably be
assessed. This process of adaptation involved requires to be looked outwith an
artistic vacuum.
When we do this we can appreciate the 1967 film adaptation of To Sir With Love
more fully. It is an updated and toned down tale of mild inter-generational conflict in
a formal hierarchical setting. The situation of black professionals in 1960s Britain,
their specific problems and their rationale for being in the position they are in, is not
addressed. Seeking to do a 21st century remake would offer a different challenge.
Changes would include an update. The major protagonist would now be an asylum
seeker and the film would concentrate on his or probably her familys travails within
their new multicultural, multi-ethnic community. The limited finance available in the
British film industry suggests a co-production involving the import of a big star as in
the original.103 The kind of themes which have achieved commercial success in
British black and Asian film suggest that a historical retelling of the post-War exServiceman immigrant would be an unlikely option. Given the penchant for these in
the United States104 this underlines the crucial need for work on adaptation and
evaluation of film themes to be truly intertextual and located firmly within the actual
rather than simply the aesthetic.
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A Soldiers Tale (1984); Separate but Equal (1991); Malcolm X (1992) inter alia.
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McFarlane, B., 1996. Novel to Film: An Introduction to the Theory of Adaptation. Clarendon, Oxford.
Murphy, R., 1992. Sixties British Cinema. BFI, London.
Murphy, R., 1992. Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 193949. Routledge, London.
Murphy, R. (Ed.), 2000. British Cinema of the 90s. BFI, London.
Murphy, R. (Ed.), 2001. The British Cinema Book, 2nd Edition. BFI, London.
Orr, J., Nicholson, C. (Eds.), 1992. Cinema and Fiction: New Modes of Adapting 19501990. Edinburgh
University Press, Edinburgh.
Richards, J., Films and British National Identity: From Dickens to Dads Army.
Richardson, R., 1969. Literature and Film. Indiana University Press, Bloomington/London.
Sinyard, N., 1986. Filming Literature: The Art of Screen Adaptation. Croom Helm, London, Sidney.
Smith, V. (Ed.), 1997. Representing Blackness: Issues in Film and Video. Athlone Press, London.
Swift, R., 1990. The Irish in Britain 18151914.
Thomas, H., 1998. The Slave Trade: the History of the Atlantic Slave Trade 14401870. Papermac,
London.
Wagner, G., 1975. The Novel and the Cinema. Associated University Press, Cranbury, NJ.
Walker, M., 1980. The National Front. Penguin, London.
Young, L., 1996. Fear of the Dark: Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Cinema. Routledge, London, New
York.
Bassett, que encarna a la madre, uno de los personajes ms interesantes de la pelcula sobre
el que gira el desarrollo narrativo de la accin.
2. Temtica jurdica.
Palabras clave: Matrimonios concertados, integracin de la inmigracin y violencia de
gnero.
El Reino Unido ha sido desde tiempos inmemoriales receptor de inmigrantes y
asilados polticos por diversos motivos. El eje central de esta comedia es la inmigracin y
los contrastes culturales en una familia de origen pakistan instalados en tierras britnicas,
que comienza de un modo magistral: en tan slo unos segundos, en una breve exposicin,
nos presenta el conflicto principal de la pelcula: la lucha de un padre aferrado a sus
costumbres, creencias y cultura, por no sentirse traicionado por sus hijos, que luchan por
adaptarse a un entorno completamente diferente, que muchos de ellos es el nico que
conocen, al haber perdido su identidad de origen. Es decir, el eterno conflicto tnico y
cultural al que se ven sometidas las personas que han abandonado su pas de origen
buscando una vida mejor.
No obstante, la cinta tiene una intencionalidad mltiple que no se limita solamente a
retratar la vida de una familia peculiar en la Inglaterra de los aos setenta. El director hace
reflexionar desde el punto de vista de una persona que vive en una cultura distinta o bien
nace en un pas distinto al de sus races culturales o religiosas. El film transcurre entre el
drama y la comedia, por lo que resulta entretenido. Con los toques cmicos utilizados se ha
querido desdramatizar temas muy serios y actuales, como el conflicto de Cachemira entre
India y Pakistn, matrimonios concertados, la circuncisin, el racismo, los inmigrantes de
segunda generacin, los barrios obreros de las afueras de Manchester, la homosexualidad y
el rechazo, la violencia de gnero y la resignacin de la mujer.
Las posibles frmulas comparadas de integracin del inmigrante y, sobre todo, una
adscripcin geogrfica o poltica a un determinado Estado puede ser simplista e injusta. No
obstante, es interesante sealar las diferencias de modelos existentes en la actualidad. La
poltica de extranjera caracterizada en el Reino Unido est basada en el modelo
pluricultural o liberal, que a diferencia del modelo universalista o nacionalista de la
aculturacin tpico de la poltica francesa, radica en el respeto a las diversidades culturales.
El modelo britnico fomenta la autonoma y separacin de los grupos tnicos y evita el
mestizaje, la interaccin, la contaminacin cultural. La configuracin pluricultural de
Espaa y su propia historia poltica lo aleja de lo tanto de los postulados asimilacionistas
del modelo francs como del modelo britnico. El modelo espaol apunta en parte a
objetivos interculturales, pero lo hace desde la teora, porque tendremos que esperar unos
aos para ver el resultado definitivo. No obstante, en la Ley Orgnica 2/2009, de 11 de
diciembre (BOE nm. 299, de 12 de diciembre) sobre derechos y libertades de los extranjeros
en Espaa y su integracin, aparentemente pretende mantener este equilibrio a travs del
establecimiento de un marco de derechos y libertades de los extranjeros que garantice a
todos el ejercicio de los derechos fundamentales.
Por otra parte, el fenmeno de la violencia domstica viene deparando a la Unin
Europea desagradables sorpresas. La lucha contra la violencia de gnero se ha convertido
en una prioridad para los Estados. Por eso en las sociedades de talante democrtico, donde
priman los valores de respeto, tolerancia, justicia, participacin e igualdad, los Poderes
Pblicos desarrollan una labor tendente a dar respuesta a tan grave y doloroso problema,
reaccionando desde todos los frentes, (jurdico, social, sanitario, asistencial, etc), con
actuaciones que persiguen su prevencin, su erradicacin y la proteccin de la vctima. En
la actualidad, los ciudadanos estn muy sensibilizados con quien sufre malos tratos
habituales y piden una repuesta enrgica y severa, a diferencia de las dcadas anteriores,
como los aos setenta donde transcurre la trama de la pelcula. Sin embargo, en ocasiones,
el concepto mismo de violencia de gnero no est bien definido y se confunde con el de
violencia domstica o violencia a secas, con lo que la lucha contra aquella puede resultar
menos eficaz de lo que se pretende. En Espaa, la Ley Orgnica 1/2004, de 28 de
diciembre, de medidas de proteccin integral contra la violencia de gnero se toma como
ejemplo de la importancia que tienen las diferentes definiciones y el mbito al que se aplica
cuando se trata de luchar contra la violencia contra las mujeres. Por ser una ley integral, no
contempla nicamente el castigo a los maltratadotes y la ayuda o proteccin a las vctimas,
sino que es una norma ambiciosa que pretende combatir esta violencia desde todos los
ngulos posibles. El objeto de la Ley integral es actuar contra la violencia que, como
manifestacin de la discriminacin, la situacin de desigualdad y las relaciones de poder de
los hombre sobre las mujeres, se ejerce sobre stas por parte de quienes sean o hayan sido
sus cnyuges o de quienes estn o hayan estado ligados a ellas por relaciones similares de
afectividad, aun sin convivencia (art. 1 de la Ley). De esta manera, se trata de dar una
respuesta global a la violencia que se ejercer contra las mujeres, abarcando los aspectos
preventivos, los educativos, los sociales, los asistenciales y los de atencin posterior a las
vctimas, sin olvidar la respuesta punitiva que deben recibir estas manifestaciones de
violencia y las medidas cautelares y definitivas de proteccin a la vctima. Adems,
contempla la normativa civil que incide en el mbito familiar o de convivencia donde
principalmente se producen las agresiones.
En lo que se refiere a las penas que se imponen a los maltratadotes, la Ley consigna el
uso de la discriminacin positiva, lo que no es muy habitual en materia penal. As, se
impone el agravamiento de las penas que ya existan por violencia de gnero, pero slo en
el caso de que el agresor sea varn y la vctima una mujer con la que tiene o ha tenido una
relacin afectivo-sexual. Concretamente se reforman los artculos 153.2, 171.4, 172.2 y
148.2 del Cdigo Penal que pasan a aumentar las penas en relacin a los delitos de
violencia, lesiones o amenazas en el caso de que el agresor sea un varn que ejerce violencia
contra una mujer que es o ha sido su pareja. Si se produce una agresin en el mbito
domstico por parte de una mujer contra otra mujer, contra un varn, un hijo o hija, un
anciano o anciana, una persona dependiente, o bien una agresin de un varn contra
otra persona que no sea una mujer, en estos casos las penas que se aplican son las que ya
existan en el Cdigo Penal contra estos delitos, pero no entraran dentro del mbito de
aplicacin de la Ley integral. Por tanto, la Ley integral no combate toda la violencia
domstica, ya que no se incluye en el concepto de violencia de gnero a la que pueda
producirse en parejas homosexuales, ni a la que pueda producirse contra diferentes
miembros de la familia (hijos, padres, personas dependientes). Estos argumentos crticos
producen dao a los intentos de atajar desde las instituciones el feminicidio y la violencia de
gnero, adems de confundir el concepto de violencia de gnero.
En mayo de 2005, el Tribunal Constitucional aval por siete votos a cinco la
constitucionalidad de la Ley integral, porque la aplicacin de la misma era compatible con
Todas las formas de matrimonio, de las distintas culturas, son igual de respetuosas
con los derechos de las mujeres?
Cules son las costumbres que salen en la pelcula que no son compatibles con los
distintos principios de la Declaracin Universal?
Por qu en los pases occidentales las mujeres han conseguido una libertad que no
tienen las mujeres de otros pases y culturas?
Cul es la reaccin de la mujer de George Khan y de los hijos ante los malos
tratos? Cmo se debe reaccionar ante una situacin de este tipo?
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Shirley
R.
Steinberg
Montclair State
University
I loved Ben-Hur and Cleopatra. They were long but riveting The longest film my parents subjected me to was in 1962 when I sat through Lawrence of ArabIa (LOA) (Spiegel, Lean, Lawrence,
& Lean, 1962). It didnt take long to get the pomt, the rest of the show was tedious: A mmor officer from England was sent to visit Pnnce Faisal and ended up leading an army of Arabic tribes to
fight the Turks-he was a hero Guess that was my earhest media exposure to Arabs.
June 1968: Just down the freeway from my school, Robert Kennedy had been shot by Sirhan
Sirhan, defined m the news as &dquo;a man of Jordaman descent I loved Bobby-remember the dark
and swarthy photos of the murderer, who quickly disappeared from our news limelight.
In 1968, Time magazme featured a cover story on the plight of the Arab refugees. I did a speech
based on the issue; I couldnt understand why the Arabic countnes surroundmg Israel would not
let their Muslim brothers and sisters m to their homelands. I understood why the Israelis didnt
make room: The country was too small and had been given to Jews. My social studies teacher didnt know anything about it.
Four years later, just beginning a new college semester, the news hit that Israeli athletes had been
kidnapped by Arab terrorists, a group known as Black September. We were glued to the television
as we watched cameras cover the
occupied residences, we saw shadowy figures identified as the
kidnappers on the phone negotiating with authorities. Then we saw the German police shoot and
&dquo;
kill both the terrorists and athletes on the tarmac of the Mumch airport. I flew to Munich once. I
assumed the tarmac was still there. No one was able to show me where it was.
I had not visited New York City after the Twin Towers had been built. When the World Trade
Center was bombed in 1993, it was shocking but very removed from my life. I had never seen the
buildings Few were killed, lots of fancy cars smashed The news reported it was the work of Arabic
terronsts In 1994, we went to New York and scanned the World Trade Center to see where the
bomb had hit We were astounded at how huge the buildings were and how small the bomb damage had been. The buildings were obviously indestructible.
In
A network break-in
1996,I was watching CNN m a hotel in San Francisco A bomb had destroyed a federal buildmg m Oklahoma City. The first words from the radio, TV, and papers mdicated that Arabic terronst groups had planned the mass attack Hours later, a White man was in custody. No apology
to the previously identified perps I believe some Arab Amencans complained about the erroneous
accusation; the news quickly moved on to the unfoldmg McVeigh story.
to regular programmmg in 1997 revealed the headliner that Princess Diana
had been killed m an auto accident along with her boyfnend, Dodi Fayed. Fayed was a Muslim, an
Egyptian, whose wealthy father had been denied Bnush citizenship by the queen-he also owned
Harrods of London. Continued tabloid coverage that year claimed that Diana could have been
murdered to keep her from humiliating the royal family by her relationship with an undesirable
man.
Methodologies, Volume
2 Number
2, 2002 205-210
205
206
I love media. I love film, television, radio, and print. We unabashedly have
several TVs in the house; they are always on. We watch movies-on tape, on
television, and in the theatre. I listen to the radio 2 hours a day commuting and
devour a newspaper if given the time to sit and read it. Magazines are a joy;
books on tape save me on long trips. The media is also part of my vocation; it is
natural for me to play with it, analyze it, and criticize it. After September 11,
my pleasure became my pain as I watched each breaking news story, over and
over again, on every channel-in every venue. I also knew I had to write about
what I saw and heard. As I romped through my memories and the construction
of my consciousness about Muslims and Arabic-speaking people, I decided to
analyze how the cultural pedagogy of Hollywood had depicted these groups.
I maintain that if pedagogy involves issues of knowledge production and
transmission, the shaping of values, and the construction of subjectivity, then
popular culture is the most powerful pedagogical force in contemporary America. The pedagogy of popular culture is ideological, of course, in its production
of commonsense assumptions about the world, its influence on our affective
lives, and its role in the production of our identities and experiences (Grossberg,
1992). Movies help individuals articulate their feelings and moods that ultimate shape their behavior. Audiences employ particular images to help define
their own tastes, images, styles, and identities-indeed, they are students of
media and film pedagogy. Audiences often allow popular culture, vis-~-vis
films, to speak for them, to provide narrative structures that help them make
sense of their lives. This emotional investment by the audience can often be
organized in emotional/ideological/affective alliances with other individuals,
texts, and consciousness formations.
Thus, this affect mobilized by the popular culture of film provides viewers
with a sense of belonging, an identification with like-minded individuals-this
feeling becomes progressively more important in our fragmented society
(Grossberg, 1992). Keeping in mind the complexity of the effects of film popular culture, the affect produced is different in varying historical and social contexts. With these notions in mind, I went in search of the assumptions that may
have been made in the viewing of films containing Arab or Muslim characters. I
did have a couple of research questions in mind: Why is it so easy for many
North Americans to hate Muslims? Why are they so easy to fear and blame?
With these questions, I hoped the films I viewed would shed some tentative
answers and, more important to my own scholarship, ask more questions.
Selecting my films was difficult-and easy: difficult because I wanted to get
a large representation of films from which to draw my data and easy because
there are few popular films that contain content including Arabs or Muslims. I
selected 17 films and watched and rewatched them on television or videotape. I
selected movies that any modicum of my memory signaled that there was suffi-
207
and
Most of the films I viewed dealt with Muslim Arabs. However, Not Without
My Daughter (NWMD) (Ufland, Ufland, & Gilbert, 1990) and East Is East
(Udwin, Khan-Din, & ODonnell, 1998) are films about Muslims, not Arabs.
Sally Fields compelling, yet whining performance in NWMD dealt with an
American married to an Iranian doctor who deceitfully brought his wife and
daughter to his home in Iran. Sally did not want to go: &dquo;We cant go to Iran-its
much too violent.&dquo; Swearing on the Koran, &dquo;Moody&dquo; promises they will be safe.
After reaching Iran, greeted by a slain goat (in their honor), Sally is somewhat
horrified. Cultural analysis is attempted by Sally and her spouse: &dquo;It just seems
so primitive.&dquo; &dquo;Beliefs seem primitive when they arent your own.&dquo; Mother and
daughter became prisoners as the husband reverted to Ayotollah-generated
fundamentalism. &dquo;Islam is the greatest gift I can give,&dquo; assured Moody. Persian
women (in full black burqahs) were yammering, scheming, whispering, and
occasionally being beaten by their husbands or other available men-this was a
dark, frightening, and smothering world to the former Sister Bertrille. The film
was released shortly after Iranians kidnapped the American embassy employees. NWMD was based on a true story of one womans experience.
East Is East (Udwin et al., 1998) is British Broadcasting Corporation produced and deals with a lower-middle-class Pakistani man who marries a British
woman. He insists on being a traditional Muslim; his wife respects that-as
long as her husband doesnt catch the children carrying the statue of Jesus during the Easter parade. Not a bad looking man, Dad is devastated by his older
son bailing out of his own wedding. He tries to match-make the other boys:
&dquo;Im not marrying a fucking Paki.&dquo; As a father, he is overbearing in his desire to
see his children as happy Muslims-he adds insult to injury as he pushes his gift
of a watch with Arabic numerals on each child. They are angry when he insists
they go to a school to learn the Koran. After various defeats, he begins to beat
his wife and children. I noticed that the camera angles began to change, and as
the father got meaner, the character was being filmed from below the nostrils of
his huge, sweating, bulbous nose-he also had yellowed, crooked teeth. He
frustratingly bemoans that neighbors think he is a barbarian.
The rest of the films were about Arabs-those from Arabia (or countries
divided from Arabia). With the exception of LOA (Spiegel et al., 1962), all
films were filmed in the West. LOA is a dramatic (have I mentioned long?) saga
about a blond, blue-eyed Englishman who, caught up in the myth of Arabia
and the desert, convinces marauding rival Bedouin bands of &dquo;barbarians&dquo; to
208
unite in their fight against the equally &dquo;barbaric&dquo; Turks. Peter OTooles character is a prototype to Sean Connery and Mel Gibson and is accompanied by
(p. 259).
act, and think pretty much alike. Parent French Fry Guys
from
children, and visa versa. They are so much alike that,
indistinguishable
so far, no individual French Fry Guy has emerged as a personality identifiable
from the others. They resemble little mops with legs and eyes and speak in
squeaky, high-pitched voices, usually in unison. They always move quickly, scurrying around in fits and starts. (McDonalds Customer Relations Center hand-
out,
1994, p. 260)
209
pler, devoutly Muslim, full of Islamic platitudes and premonitions, and frightened easily. In both Indiana Jones (Lucas, Kazanjian, Kasdan, & Spielberg,
1981; Lucas, Marshall, Boam, & Spielberg, 1989) films, Indy is accompanied
by his Egyptian pal who fears that Indys ideas are dangerous and will create
anger from Allah. He attempts to convince Indiana that he is not stupid: &dquo;Even
in this part of the world we are not entirely uncivilized.&dquo; Endangered at times,
this minstrelized sidekick puts his hands in the air, opens his eyes widely, and
shouts for safety. Tonto is a Spanish word for stupid or idiot.
A complete content/discourse analysis of these films introduced to me
archetypes that wove throughout the weft of the films. They included the
White, male leader, sent to save citizens or artifacts from the unscrupulous.
Lawrence and Indiana serve as perfect Arian messiahs to these dark, mysterious
Muslims. The word barbaric (or barbarous, barbarian) was used in each film.
Aladdin (Disney Studios, 1992) opens with an overture and opening song that
describes the mysterious, dark, barbaric East. Physical characteristics of the
Arabs generally show bad teeth, large hooked noses, and unclean tunics and
caftans and headgear that are just a tad too exaggerated. Once again, Aladdin
does not run more than 5 minutes without describing one of the Arabic characters as &dquo;pungent.&dquo; The films I viewed metaphorically included aromavision, as
one could vividly smell the camel-shit-smeared, dirt-ridden, sweat-clinging
clothing of Muslim characters.
The market scenes imply that Islamic countries center their cities and livelihoods on the marketplace. The Shylockization of these people is obvious in
their attempts to barter and cheat consumers. Indeed, once again, in Aladdin
(Disney Studios, 1992), the fat, toothless, dirty Arab &dquo;businessman&dquo; flings out
his tablecloth and for sale sign and indicates that anything can be bought for a
price. As I take in his hooked nose and sales pitch, the Semite in his character
reminds me vividly that both Jews and Arabs share many of the same stereotypes : They lie, cheat, and steal.
Islamic characters are not only compared to other Semites through an analysis but to other marginalized groups. There were many, many visible comparisons to Hollywood depictions and assumptions about African Americans.
Many times I was sure that the Negrofication of these characters served to show
that any hated group can be exchanged with another. Exemplifying this is the
language that served to incant slurs to African Americans: Sand nigger and
dune coon were among the nastiest I heard in the films.
Well then, back to my questions: Why is it so easy for many North Americans to hate Muslims? Why are they so easy to fear and blame? These questions
are so obviously complicated and unanswerable. However, I would maintain
my contention that, indeed, popular culture is a curriculum-an overt, influential curriculum that feeds our need to consume entertainment. This Hollywood diet is not innocent; it is constructed on obsession, Otherization, fear,
and most important, what sells. I hope we all are able to read the menu.
210
References
tor). (1985). The jewel of the Nile [Motion picture]. United States: Twentieth Century
Fox.
Grossberg, L. (1992).
Paramount.
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K&$(%#$%K&$(2%@$#/G%I#*B%(.%-#$'@A(%@/#5+'$#(1%)*&$$'..B%/&''&(#5+$%&'.@/)"#*-"..-%&/-%#-+/(#(1
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Pedagogy,
10.1080/14681360701602273
RPCS_A_260079.sgm
1468-1366
Original
Taylor
302007
15
R.Holmes@mmu.ac.uk
RachelHolmes
00000October
and
&
Article
Francis
Culture
(print)/1747-5104
Francis
2007
&
LtdSociety (online)
This paper considers how a university teacher uses reflexive writings to explore what might constitute becoming a better teacher within her classroom practices. The writings derive from an
encounter with students where they had opportunity to reflect upon notions of childhood as
portrayed within the film East is East. Specifically, the paper grapples with the question: Does [the
film] East is East seek to reassure white audiences of the practical adequacies of western culture and
society?. Reflexive writings that are based on the teaching session are used as a context for deconstructive readings. These prompt shifting reconceptualisations of the teaching self and the
students, as well as a sharper awareness of how visual and narrative spaces might be colonised by
particular interpretations of what it is to be British-white, British-Asian, South-Asian and BritishMuslim. The paper reflects upon ways responses to the films characterisations are read in particular
ways; and how they might be re-read in ways that allow for indeterminate moments within the
complexities of the films visual narratives.
Introduction
This paper will focus upon my teaching on the Early Childhood Studies degree, which
is a multidisciplinary undergraduate course that aims to give students underpinning
knowledge for a variety of work with children. The course calls upon students to
examine and analyse the sociocultural and international context of childhood and the
effectiveness of policy and practice in meeting the needs of children and families. The
programme is underpinned by the disciplines of sociology, social policy, psychology,
education and health, critically exploring notions of children and of childhood and of
the appropriateness of the provision that is made for children and their families.
Explorations is a trilogy of units that run throughout the degree programme.
Each unit provides conceptual spaces for students to examine the different ways in
*Manchester Metropolitan University, Institute of Education, 799 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury,
Manchester, M20 2RR, UK. Email: r.holmes@mmu.ac.uk
ISSN 1468-1366 (print)/ISSN 1747-5104 (online)/07/03036718
2007 Pedagogy, Culture & Society
DOI: 10.1080/14681360701602273
368 R. Holmes
which children and their families have been and continue to be understood. This
paper will take one particular Explorations session as its focus, to interrogate how
I use film to disrupt students underlying assumptions about what it is to be white, to
be Asian, British and Muslim. These are not conceptualised as distinct categories but
considered as complicated, shifting and interrelated performances of working
subjectivities (Butler, 1993) that find expression within the films characters, the
student group and myself as the teacher. The data taken from this classroom encounter will also be used to open up issues around what might constitute becoming a
better teacher as I seek to provoke students thought, nurture their reflexive practices and stimulate different discussions in the classroom. This has become an
increasingly important focus for me in two ways. Firstly it is a response to finding
myself in disarray because the teaching self who wants to become a better teacher
has come under pressure within the increasingly prevalent post-structuralist reconceptualisations of the self and the subject; of the language used to talk about the
self; and the whole notion of the unstable realities that the teaching self is embedded within. Secondly, the idea of self-interrogation itself has emerged as significant
when I acknowledge the complex challenges and potential risks lying within the
process of reflexivity that I ask of students in the classroom. The Early Childhood
Studies degree is constructed around attempts to develop a way of working that is
what Foucault refers to as a demanding, prudent, experimental attitude where at
every moment, step by step, one must confront what one is thinking and saying with
what one is doing, with what one is (Foucault, in Rabinow 1994, p. 374). I am
mindful of the ways I try to do this, and hope that by putting myself under ongoing
reflexive interrogation, I will be able to experience the challenges and disruptions
that students face.
East is East
I selected the British film East is East (Khan-Din, 1999a) as a vehicle to focus upon
visual representations of culture and race in Britain. In order to contextualise the
session, I will begin by telling a story of the film. The film is set in 1970s Salford in
North-West England, where George Khan has settled after leaving Pakistan. He has
been married to his wife Ella, a white British woman, for 25 years, and they have
seven children. Amid the terraced back streets, Georges family are noticeable in their
diverse racial heritage and differentiated cultural practices amongst a culturally
mixed, yet largely white, local community. This visibility is played out in the seemingly curious and voyeuristic tendencies of some neighbouring families. The
complexities begin when, at the very last moment, Nazir, their eldest son, refuses to
marry the Muslim woman his father has selected for him, leading to their bitter
estrangement. Sajid, the youngest son, is Khan-Dins semi-autographical representation of himself. George is introduced later to Mr Shah, who is looking for good
Muslim bridegrooms for his two daughters; he promises his sons, Tariq and Abdul,
to them. Sajid overhears his fathers plans, and informs his brothers, which creates
further layers of tension and unfolding family crises.
370 R. Holmes
to problematise myself as a British-white teacher, working with a diverse group of
students within the classroom context.
Genealogy of race
Definitions of what constitutes a racial group or a racial minority are subject to much
discussion (see Coleman & Salt, 1996; Bulmer, 1996 ; Ballard, 1996; Solomos &
Back, 1996). In British government research (National Statistics, 2003), minority
racial groups are differentiated based on a combination of categories including skin
colour, national and regional origins, and language, yet white as a majority racial
group seems hauntingly absented except for its tacit constitution against which all
other categories seem to be located. Within this paper, I discuss what it is be to be
white, to be British, to be Muslim and to be Asian; not as discrete physical anthropological concepts, but as complex, interrelated and unstable sociopolitical positions
and cultural constructions.
In Britain, the collective term Asian has come to refer to people who have immigrated to Britain from South Asia, including for example people from Pakistan, India,
Kashmir and Bangladesh. Lall (2006) suggests the terms Asian, and more latterly
British-Asian, should be continually contested, as they are somewhat vague given
the diversity of religious, cultural and national origins of different communities within
Britain. However, it could also be argued that these terms offer a certain degree of
sociopolitical unity in the South Asian diaspora. Given a long and complex history of
immigration, there have been considerable shifts in the racial make-up of British
communities. The predominantly white indigenous urban communities of the
1960s and 1970s have become enriched and diversified in their cultural manifestations, and renegotiated notions of twenty-first-century British identity are continually
emerging. I would suggest that terms such as white, Muslim and Asian within
Britain have become complex nodal points (Zizek, 1989) of sociopolitical histories
that shift and reconfigure with intergenerational and cross-cultural hybridity. New
generations seem to be finding different ways to interpret and perform their complex
and hybrid racial, religious and cultural identities that seem to challenge divisive
notions of being, or not being, indigenous, and part or not part of changing host
communities.
In order to explore the assumptions students make about race and culture within
the film East is East and how these filmic portrayals translate into racial and cultural
relationships amongst the students in the university classroom, it seems appropriate
to turn to the shifting notion of indigene. The term indigenous becomes complex,
as it is recognised that a working definition of indigenous peoples has criteria that
would seek to include cultural groups (and their descendants) who have an historical
continuity or association with a given region and who formerly or currently inhabit
the region. An indigenous people is also a group or culture who have a collective
and individual right to maintain and develop their distinct identities and characteristics, including the right to identify themselves as indigenous and to be recognized as
such (Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2004, p. 3). This concept seems
372 R. Holmes
on race, particularly whiteness in the classroom. McLaren (1997) offers a perspective
different from the feel-good-about-myself drive towards multiculturalism that he
suggests we usually encounter within western educational contexts, by asking himself,
How has the culture of imperialism been written on me, in me, through me? (p. 96).
Pearce also writes of the importance of the teachers own subjective position in relation
to whiteness, suggesting that an inability to recognise ones own culture leaves intact
the idea that whiteness is a neutral place from which to look at others white teachers
sometimes adversely affect the education of ethnic minority students as a result of the
practice of whiteness (Pearce, 2003, pp. 27576). Educators such as Cochran-Smith
(1995) and Nieto (1996) variously suggest that universities have begun to develop critical multiculturalism within western educational programmes that problematise the
challenges of being a western white teacher teaching about diversity.
In terms of why I consider it important for students to reflexively draw from their
own differentiated racial positions, I turn to McIntyre (2002), who draws on the work
of Lawrence and Tatum (1999), Roman (1993), Scheurich (1993) and Sleeter
(1996) to explore how critical whiteness studies play a part in disrupting dysconscious racism (King, 1991), something she claims that many white western students
bring to their academic work. Sleeter (1996) suggests that the importance of the
teachers role in whiteness studies is to recognise this and to challenge the borders of
students thinking about race,
given the racial and class organisation of (western) society there is only so much
people can see. The positions they occupy in these structures limit the range of their
thinking. The situation places borders on their imaginations and restricts the possibilities
of their vision. (Sleeter, 1996, p. 36)
Within the student group, there are some students who describe themselves as
British-Asian and others who prefer the term British-Muslim. By introducing this film
into the university classroom context, a further complexity is added as the diverse
constructions of the students own interlocking identities might find challenges within
the films characterisations. Godiwala (2003) suggests, British-Asians have hybrid
culture(s) that need to carve out an identity through an historical re-appropriation
from a pre-colonised past as well as a British present (p. 43). I am interested
to explore how British-Asian and British-Muslim students might relate in differentiated ways to the issues represented within East is East. I also believe the British-white
students need to be continually renegotiating their sense of identity through an ongoing process of their own racial acknowledgement rather than invisibility and deliberated sociocultural repositionings. I wondered how the films indigenous British-white
characters might enable them to sustain this process of self-interrogation. Dwyer and
Jones (2000) suggest that disclosing the geographically and historically contingent
construction of whiteness can certainly help to denaturalize White Identity (p. 210).
They go on to write about how identities are also differentiated, in that subjects never
occupy a single system of difference the discursive formations drawn upon in the
construction of identities are complex and interlocking (p. 211). Both these ideas
bring me to contemplate the importance of locating moments where British whiteness
374 R. Holmes
response to the film. Watching and discussing extracts from the film, students were
encouraged to document their thoughts and questions in response to representations
of culture and race. The following are comments made by students:
That kind of identity crisis is natural when parents are from different cultures.
Its a message about how you cant expect teenagers who have been born in Britain, with
parents born somewhere else, to lead an old-fashioned lifestyle in British society.
Its showing that lifes always going to be hard for some children because theyve got
parents who are only concerned about their own religion instead of looking at where
theyre living and being more reasonable.
At this point I felt the student had assumed the films characterisations of the children
with dual Asian-white heritage to be a set of inevitable truths, as reflecting an aspect
of real life. She seemed to have brought her readings of the characters out of the
visual narratives and into her understandings of particular ideological stories of child
development. I wanted to reposition the discussion within the film in order to explore
how she might begin to attend to the assumptions underlying her understandings and
consider how visual imagery can operate as a sociocultural constructor of particular
representations of children:
Thats an interesting perspective I feel the parents manifest their own complexities as
theyre constructed as a fractured couple, represented as culturally, racially and religiously
diverse even at odds with each other. Are their children in the film represented as
sponges that soak up these divided marital experiences? Have they been constructed
and understood as in crisis in the struggle between mother and father, Muslim and nonMuslim, Asian and white identities? Have the children been positioned as natural
victims, as if somehow the realities for the children within this complex family create a
definitive truth?
he feels loyalty to his mum too. Its as though they havent got any positive role models
theyre finding their way through as best they can. Even their parents cant decide how to
bring the children upshould they let them eat bacon sandwiches or not? Should they be
in the Christian parade or not?
Reading this data, I would suggest that some students are leaning to conceptualisations of the child as a blank slate or sponge who experiences culture and race as
being imposed on her, as a passive recipient. Perhaps other students are beginning to
explore the ways the film is constructing ideas of the child as an active negotiator in
the racial and cultural complexities she finds herself manoeuvring within. However,
there is also a sense of a them-and-us polarity that seems to demarcate students
own sense of their seemingly more stable and unproblematic British-white identity
juxtaposed against the finding their way through readings of the films British-Asian
characterisations. I would suggest that students do not seem to find themselves in
and amongst the films characterisations. They use language to keep themselves
distanced from the confusions they perceive in the film, and perhaps by doing so,
sustain a them-and-us dichotomy that refuses to be complicated or disturbed at this
stage.
Turning my attention to my role as the teacher, the data suggests that my responses
to the students comments seemed to restrict possibilities for further discussions when
I used closed questions such as Do you think your response, Are their children
read as and Have they been. I wonder how I could have opened up these ideas
with the students in a way that might allow them to engage in a more sustained
dialogue? I want reconsider the student who proposed the notion of an identity
crisis. The words identity crisis perhaps assume that some definitive truth lay awaiting any child who has diverse heritage. Perhaps it seems perfectly rational, as though
settling within the root tree metaphor (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987), to assume the
children in the film would experience identity crises, as it could be argued that the
mirrored images of both British-white mother and South Asian Muslim father were
complexly culturally and racially dichotomised. Might this suggest that potential for
strong growth is threatened given a dichotomous nurturing of the roots? This idea
also turns me to Ahmeds thoughts around the Other functioning as a mirror, a
device to reflect the white students gaze back to itself. Did the white gaze obscure
possibilities of a detour (Ahmed, 2004, p. 70) by conceptualising notions of dual
heritage amongst illusions of whiteness as an ideal (Dyer, 1997, p. 78)? If I had
taken a different approach with students, we might have considered their use of
language more closely and the ideological assumptions their language was expressing.
Perhaps we could have considered the rhizome, which works against the constraints
of regularity and an appreciation of haphazard and random growth (Lather, 1991,
cited in Jones et al., 2005, p. 278). We might have talked about the invisibility of their
white constructions of the children and considered how students responses might
be affected by their assumptions around being Asian or of dual heritage. How could
I have encouraged students to explore the implications of their own autobiographical
details within the constructions they make of themselves as subjects able to be reflexive in their positioning of others?
376 R. Holmes
Moving back into classroom data, the phrase old-fashioned lifestyle might suggest
that a comparative judgement has been made by the student as she interpreted representations of the South-Asian character (George Khan) within the film. My response
to this comment was as follows:
What do you mean by old-fashioned?
I mean their dad still thinks the children should listen to him and do as he says You
know, like maybe when he was a boy, but things have changed. Children have more say
now but his lifestyle thats dictated by his religion stops him seeing that or makes him
scared that if they have their say and make their own choices, theyll lose their religion
Here this students comments about lifestyle thats dictated by his religion, together
with previous comments by other students: only concerned about their own religion
and should they let them eat bacon sandwiches or not? Should they be in the Christian parade or not are perhaps suggestive of assumptions about what it is to be
Muslim. Does the harshness of the term dictated, the exclusiveness of their own
religion and the inferences around what Muslims are not able to do, expose
students assumptions attached to a belief in Islam that are about oppression and
possession? Are the students positioning their assumptions of what it is to be Muslim
against what could be described as the romanticism of white, non-Muslim lifestyles,
where the white, non-Muslim ideals of individualism, freedom, a secular outlook
and gender equality face the construction of the harsh stereotypes of Asian, and/or
Muslim collectivism, possession, religious commitment and gender role differentiation? These ideas together with the phrases old-fashioned lifestyle and things have
changed become interestingly enmeshed within Saids othering dialogue: western
power, especially the power to enter or examine other countries at will, enables the
production of a range of knowledges about other cultures (Said, 1993, p. 205). I find
Saids reference to particular beliefs about Other to be an interesting idea amongst
these encounters with students. Did this student have something to say about immigration, intergenerational tensions or about bicultural families? The knowledges
Said refers to could suggest a power-based claim to not only know Other, but deem
Other to be left behind or old-fashioned, characterised by the inherent inequalities manifested within the process of knowing. Although the 1970s film portrays
George as a traditional South-Asian male, grappling with fears of his children losing
of their Asian-Muslim identity in and amongst negotiating their emerging BritishAsian identities, but did it also play to twenty-first-century anxieties around culture
clashes in multiracial British communities or notions of British Asianness? Were the
students comments related to her own experiences, assumptions and understandings
of an untenable and divisive intercultural British landscape?
My response in the classroom to this comment was:
How do you know that your interpretation of what seems old-fashioned in the film in
terms of the fathers attitude and lifestyle choices is the only way to understand the dilemmas facing the family?
I dont think its the only interpretation, its just my opinion but I think a lot of people
would agree with what Im saying.
Her suggestion that a lot of people would agree with what Im saying may be a way
of seeking sociocultural and political unity in the classroom. Has she brought this
bicultural, cross-generational dilemma out of the film and into the classroom in
order to express an opinion about the film, but also in order to comment upon the
tensions she perceives in her own lived experiences as she grapples with diversity and
the coexistence (or otherwise) of different cultures? According to Young (1995), the
possibility of knowing other is a process of shifting positions by heightening awareness and developing critical analysis of discourses embedded within imagery.
Perhaps in order to challenge the fixed ways we see and listen to the films characterisations needs to be brought back to ways we have available to us given our own
racial performances (which includes seemingly absent [white] racial performances).
The students comment brings me to a persistent issue for me as a white teacher.
How can I begin to disturb British-white hegemony within educational contexts?
The problematisation of the films narratives might have enabled what Dyer
describes as the racing of whites (1997, p. 2) and how this dislodges us from the
position of power by undercutting the authority with which we speak and act in
and on the world (ibid., p. 2). I want to pursue here how such notions of dislodging
power could be conceptualised within the classroom. To turn to myself as a Britishwhite, non-Muslim teacher and how I might have responded to the student who
claimed her opinion was representative of a larger (white) group, Probyn (2004)
suggests that any white critic of whiteness studies attempts to give up power in an
effort to take part in a discourse of reconciliation, to partake in an ethical listening, to
bring on a shift in academic practice and cultural knowledge more broadly. Although
this film was not used in isolation, but amongst a range of other similarly challenging
visual stimuli, this pedagogical approach could be construed as a way for me to take
part in a discourse of reconciliation. However, it could also be conceptualised as
McLarens feel-good-about-myself drive towards raising students awareness of
pluralism and diversity. To pursue this further, Probyn expresses some concerns
around the notion of relinquishing power. Leaning to Derrida and Foucault, she
creates a discussion around the necessity and the impossibility of white critics of
whiteness giving up power. She suggests that giving and taking power emphasises
the movement and possessive reciprocity inherent in power the notion of giving
connotes the notion of taking (Probyn, 2004, p. 25), which she relates to Derridas
gift (1992), where a relationship of obligation and reciprocity is entered into. She
considers how the challenge to give up power,
resonates throughout critical whiteness studies becoming the ethical basis for the
white critic of whiteness who wants to give up privilege but who also recognises the irreducible problem of giving that is also always a taking. (Probyn, 2004, p. 26)
378 R. Holmes
reciprocal gesture may be understood as seeking public acknowledgement and
taking credit for being a teacher who engages in tokenistic multicultural practices.
Being mindful of ways my well-intended approach may be self-congratulatory might
enable me to attend to its superficial tendencies. I feel that in response to this
students comment, I needed to challenge the constraining consequence of any one
interpretation or particular way of understanding totalising the discussions.
Although I recognise that the students observation seems to seek white reassurance,
assumes a sense of solidarity and needs to be attended to by bringing whiteness as a
sociocultural construction into the discussions, I am also mindful of a further
complexity here with reference to white western educators. Ahmed writes of a politics of declaration, where by engaging with whiteness studies, educational institutions as well as individuals admit to forms of bad practice (Ahmed, 2004, p. 71).
She suggests that whiteness gets reproduced by being declared within academic
texts the admission itself becomes seen as good practice (ibid., p. 71). Therefore,
perhaps by declaring myself as a British-white teacher, the notion of whiteness
becomes reproduced and reinforced as powerful. Dyer, although proposing that
whiteness needs to be made strange (Dyer, 1997, p. 4), is also mindful of the risk of
me-too-ism (ibid., p. 10), whereby white critics critiquing whiteness can join the
multicultural world, even claim victimisation and guilt. Perhaps these challenges raise
awareness of celebratory approaches to complex studies.
Discussions up until this point in the session had enabled me to begin to probe
students language use and encourage them to think why they had chosen the particular phrases and terms they had. However, I am unsure whether this tentative
process of linguistic exploration had initiated any disturbances to students or my
own seemingly stagnated assumptions. I am also mindful that in the same way that
the students seemed to express a them-and-us dichotomy, I was quite absent as a
white teacher in the classroom discussions. Did I feel safer keeping a distance
between students conceptualisations of race and my own? Had I considered how
this racialised invisibility might impact upon what I can and cannot see and how
I might perceive what I do see and how I understand what I see in particular ways?
I was wanting students to recognise and challenge themselves in the visual narratives, but seemed quite content to absent my own sense of British whiteness as
performative in my engagement with the films indigenous white, South-Asian and
British-Asian characterisations. In an attempt to offer a further catalyst for discussion in the session, I went on to quote Godfrey, who reflects upon representations of
British-Asianness in contemporary British cinema: East is East seeks to reassure
white audiences of the practical adequacies of western culture and society
(Godfrey, 2004, p. 5).
Godfreys quotation seems to be claiming that British-white cultural practices are
forcefully sustained in a power-based relationship with British-Asian cultural practices in ways such as the production of films laden with white-affirming narratives.
Could it be argued that some of the students (and myself) were reassured of their
own adequate cultural performances by positioning Asian-ness as inadequate (oldfashioned lifestyle and parents who are only concerned about their own religion)?
A student responded:
I dont think theyre made to look inadequate the films just trying to get you to think
about some of the difficulties that some children face when two cultures and different religious beliefs come together in one family. I think you could look at it in the same way with
whole families, like mine that move into a different host culture. There are bound to be
some disagreements on lots of levels like how younger generations want to dress in western clothes, how they want to go out with their friends in the evening, or family arguments
about what TV programmes arent appropriate to watch
380 R. Holmes
Do you think the director is appealing to us as the audience to reconsider the new fashions represented within the film such as mixed marriages, gay Asian men and strong Asian
women?
I think the director is showing us what might happen if new fashions enter into traditional
families it can cause mayhem and can split the family up I also think that the filmmaker and some of the audience dont want to challenge the traditional stereotypes.
Maybe it would be too threatening because of the way they are comfortable seeing Asian
culture.
This returns me to Saids notion that the more knowable the object becomes, the
more Other it remains (1979). Is this British-Muslim student suggesting that the
stereotypes used in the film render Saids object more knowable and therefore more
Othered and that the audience is comfortable reading the South-Asian and BritishAsian characters in this way? I consider this a thoughtful and provocative comment,
which seemed a risk within a classroom where the British-Muslim student voice had
been largely silent, or perhaps was silenced. This student seemed to bring this challenging idea out of the film and into the classroom by suggesting the audience dont
want to challenge the stereotypes. Although this students comment interested me,
as it exposed a white comfort zone to public scrutiny, I am also mindful that I felt
uncomfortable and almost vulnerable. However, Ahmed suggests discomfort is
important within the complex process of exposure:
to hear the work of exposure requires that white subjects inhabit the critique the
desire to act in a non-racist or anti-racist way can function as a defense against hearing
how that racism implicates which subjects, in the sense that it shapes the spaces inhabited
by white subjects the desire for action does not necessarily involve the concealment
of racism such a question rushes too quickly past the exposure of racism and hence risks
such concealment in the very return of its address. (Ahmed, 2004, p. 81)
Ahmeds notion of being mindful of forms of white western racism that are not
undone, and which may even be intensified through declarations of whiteness, turns
me to emotionality. Goldstein suggests that white privilege can be painful because it
means giving up the myth of meritocracy (Goldstein, 2001, p. 9), which brings me
to Bolers pedagogy of discomfort (Boler, 1999, p. 176). What could be described
as the painful and lingering work of exposure where assumptions are outed, together
with the difficult notion of declaration as the admission, which itself becomes seen
as good practice (Ahmed, 2004, p. 71) seem to become complexities that I need to
address within this landscape of myself as a British-white, non-Muslim teacher
committed to the theory and practices of engaging with my whiteness as performance.
This student had raised an issue around the safety net of pedagogies that use
popular culture in the classroom. She had introduced the idea of the audiences
participation in, and even collusion with, the films performances, which perhaps
also renders some twenty-first-century perceptions of Asian-ness as comfortable
only when alienated and detached from the adequacy of Britishness. Hill and Every
suggest that postmodern film relies upon multivocal readings against the grain (cited
Footnotes
As I reflect upon this session, I return to my initial intentions, which were to use this
film as an opportunity to consider how a British multiracial classroom audience could
be disturbed in the assumptions we make about race and culture and furthermore,
how the students growing awareness of their own shifting racialised positions could
be reconsidered amid their readings of East is East. I think the discussions have begun
to open up assumptions underlying what it is to be white, Asian, British and Muslim,
albeit within the context of perceived inadequacy, old-fashioned lifestyle and identity
crisis, and we have begun to probe at language use. I would suggest that the BritishAsian and Muslim students in the group contributed in ways that swept themselves
reflexively into the discussions, whereas the white, non-Muslim students seemed to
read characters portrayed in the film as distanced from themselves, perhaps remaining self-protected and as purveyors and constructors of Asianness. In order to begin
to explore what could be described as an unreflexive invisibility, it seems appropriate
to examine my own sense of whiteness amongst these ideas of absence and distance.
Although I might espouse an anti-racist approach and try to resist Dyers metoo-ism (1997, p. 10) and McLarens feel-good-about-myself (1997, p. 96) drive
towards pluralism and diversity, I also contemplate whether the positions I did
adopt were borne from shame or guilt that shroud my observations of, and perhaps
contributions to, the hegemonised white society I am a part of. I selected this film
as I was eager to challenge stereotypical constructions of what it is to be Asian, to
be Muslim, to be British or to be white; but in some ways I became collusive in my
particular assumptions and knowledges of both myself as British-white and of
others as South- or British-Asian. It seems awkwardly straightforward for me to
identify particular dilemmas facing the students, but I contemplate how my own
whiteness amongst all of this seems to have been left quite absent. Looking to my
role within the session, I consider my own racial identity to have been a silent
participant, which could suggest that I maintained a deracialised perspective or
stance, perpetuating the film as a visual and cultural representation of assumed
Otherness to be viewed, consumed and critically explored from a dominant ideological position, rather than an unstable position where difficult questions were
being asked of my assumptions and as a member of the British-white viewing audience. Fine et al. (1997) also express these concerns: we worry that we may have
reified whiteness as a fixed category of experience; that we have allowed it to be
treated as a monolith, in the singular, as an essential something (p. xi).
382 R. Holmes
I feel that my inadequate use of myself as white within the session had contributed to the deracialised representation of the white student group. I felt that I had
remained a spectator, comfortably absent in my white performance, which might
contribute to this pedagogical approach being perceived as a self-congratulatory
gesture. If I consider why I had assumed such an absent position, I recognise a
personal/professional blur that seemed to have created an awkwardness around
being white. This interweaving of fictional constructs where I had unwittingly
rendered personal as distinct from professional seemed to make me cautious to
confront this racial re-presentation in the public space of the classroom. Perhaps the
uncomfortable feelings of wanting to get it right, not wanting to offend or be too
confrontational when I face a racially diverse group of students, left me struggling to
reconcile the tensions within my emotional whiteness. In an attempt to rescue
myself here (and also wondering why I feel the need to be rescued), I turn back to
Ahmed who suggests the desire for action does not necessarily involve the concealment of racism such a question rushes too quickly past the exposure (Ahmed,
2004, p. 81). I am mindful of a sense of exposure here where I feel a sense of restlessness and discomfort with the session in terms of how my racial invisibility
contributed to obscuring ways I was able to see and read the characterisations in
East is East. I seemed to leave the white characters almost unexplored, yet interrogated the South-Asian and British-Asian characters in particular ways, based on
particular assumptions. If I am to attend further to this notion of exposure, I am
mindful that my use of East is East, as a film that opens up discussions in the classroom around interrelated notions of being British, being Asian, being Muslim and
being white in shifting cultural and geographical contexts, needs to challenge
assumptions about whiteness that is understood as a invisible essence (Supriya,
1999, pp. 12930).
This returns me to my earlier contemplations around how and when whiteness
might become visible to white students and myself and visible in a different way to
non-white students. Reflecting upon this session has forced me to think about complex
notions of identity, being British and white. It has also led me to consider how
I contribute to the diverse experiences of students who describe themselves as BritishAsian and Muslim. Moments of engagement cannot afford to be left undisturbed or
unexplored when my own assumptions of South-Asianness or British-Asianness
impact upon assumptions about the comfort zone of my own British-whiteness.
As my footnotes draw to a reluctant close, I want to reflect upon how this paper has
offered a destabilising conceptual space to question my habitualised and wellrehearsed ways of understanding myself, and my behaviours in the classroom. As
such, in my writing I have become a fictional construct who has begun to interrogate
the positions I thought I occupied and how this positioning allowed me to anticipate
my aspirations to become a better teacher in an uncomplicated way. Although I feel
that I am at an early stage in what I hope will be an ongoing series of long and complicated classroom encounters where I can revisit many of the issues I have discussed
herein, this writing has allowed me opportunities to consider transient classroom
performances. I have begun to reconceptualise the ways in which, as a teacher, I am
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