"The cultural context within a text often dictates the crises or difficulties faced by the characters and their responses to these difficulties."
It is evident that in the film 'Pride', characters are constantly being faced with difficulties and struggles as a result of the world they live in, or the cultural context. The film 'Pride' is set in 1980's England, when homophobia, Margaret Thatcher, and the mystery of AIDS defined the nation. The characters who we are introduced to in this text are in a constant battle with these things. Take Joe or Gethin, for example, two characters who are forced to leave their homes as a result of homophobia. Then there are the Welsh miners; a group of people battling the wrath of Margaret Thatcher. And finally, let us consider Jonathan, the second man to be diagnosed as HIV positive in England. All are fine examples of how cultural context within a text often dictates the crises or difficulties faced by its characters.
Joe and Gethin are two central characters in the film 'Pride'. The story line follows Joe through a huge year in his life; the year of his 20th birthday, the year in which it becomes legal to be a sexually- active homosexual man, and the year in which he comes out as openly, and proudly, gay.
The text starts on the day of Joe's 20th birthday, as he sits with his mother at his dining room table and receives a camera for his birthday. From this opening scene, we are aware of how sad, and slightly dysfunctional, Joe's family appears to be. His dad, sits on the couch, and his mother at the dining room table with a fake smile on her face. The scene seems to be the worst possible way to spend a 20th birthday; no friends and a sad, lonely family. Joe then leaves the table, and sneaks off to the London Pride March, not telling his family as he knows that they won't accept the fact that he's a gay man. Joe makes friends at the march, and winds up joining Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) and going to his first gay party; a momentous, and unforgettable, day in his life. We then follow the group Joe joins, LGSM, over the next year, as they defy odds, form friendships, and help give Joe an identity.
However, Joe isn't only effected by the world he lives in at home, but in Wales too. When LGSM travel to Wales to hand over a large amount of money that they have collected for the miners at Dulais valley, they aren't exactly welcomed with open arms. Joe experiences what it was like to be openly gay in a not-so-openly accepting society. This is the second time that finding himself in a homophobic society results in Joe facing a crisis. From not feeling comfortable being gay in his own home in Bromley, to not feeling comfortable about being identified as gay in Wales, it seemed as if the world is against Joe.
Joe, however, is inspired by the people in Wales, as they learn to love and accept him for who he is, and he believes that maybe, one day, his family can do the same. Yet, he decides against telling them his best hidden, most powerful, secret. Unfortunately, Joe's family unveil his mystery for him, and he is put under house arrest. His mother tells him that he will live a lonely life as a gay man. However, by putting him under house arrest and not letting him see his friends, sheis in fact restricting him and forcing him into a lonely life; all because society won't accept Joe. Eventually, Joe stands up to his family and leaves them, announcing that he wishes some day they can be friends again, but for now, he knows that his family, and society don't want him, so he goes to find the people who do accept him, and who encourage him to be himself: the LGSM.
Joe was not the only character we see who is faced with a struggle as a result of society at the time, and likewise, he was not the only member of the LGSM who isn't in contact with their parents because of their sexuality. In fact, Gethin, Mark, Steph have all been exiled by their families. We see a story, almost opposite to Joe's, when Gethin contacts his mum, after sixteen years of separtion.
Gethin, a gay man living in London, and a member of LGSM, was from Wales, and hadn't seen his mother in 16 years as a result of his sexuality and his decision to live openly as a gay man. Gethin was inspired by the people in Wales, who all encouraged him to contact his mum. So one day, when they were staying in Dulais Valley, Gethin decided to set off and to reach his mother again. When he arrived at her door, she was thrilled to see him, and it turns out that she had become more accepting of gay people since he had last seen her. Gethin's reunion with his mother was inspiring, especially for Joe, and it is what encouraged Joe to firstly leave his home, and secondly, to hope that one day he could return.
As I have shown in this blog post, many of the characters in 'Pride' had challenges to face as a result of the homophobic world they lived in. However, I have only told you of the stories of two characters, and if you read my next blog post, you'll be able to find out about the miners' struggles and the Jonathan's battle with being HIV positive.
This was a most enjoyable read! Sometimes you wrote using the past tense and then the present tense. I edited it so that most of it is in the present tense now. I think that is a better idea. You made some excellent points and super observations. Well done!
ReplyDeleteA moment of crisis, or difficulty, in ‘Persuasion’, dictated by the cultural context
ReplyDeleteA moment of crisis, as a result of the cultural context within the text, can be seen in all three of our texts. From Joe having to face the homophobic world he lived in as an openly gay man in ‘Pride’, to Nora having to look for a solution to the, then deemed completely unacceptable, crime she committed in ‘A Doll’s House’, and finally to Anne being forced to deny Wentworth’s hand in marriage because of his financial situation in ‘Persuasion’. All of our main characters are placed in utterly difficult moments of crisis, and it is up to them to make their way out of it.
In ‘Pride’, Joe is a gay young man, who, on the day of his 21st birthday attends his first ever London gay pride march. He finds friends there, and joins the group ‘Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners’ (LGSM). For Joe, LGSM is his family, and a safe place within the world he lives in; 1980’s England, when homophobia, Margaret Thatcher and the mystery of AIDS defined the nation. Despite Joe’s safe haven within LGSM, there is a world outside it, and he is forced to face the challenge of living as an openly gay man, and telling his family his biggest secret.
The cultural context of ‘Pride’ is in extreme contrast to that of ‘Persuasion’. ‘Persuasion’ is too, set in England, but in the early 1800’s, rather than in the 1970’s. In 1800’s England things like status and money were considered incredibly important, especially for the likes of Anne and the Elliot family.
The difficulty which Anne faces in ‘Persuasion’ is as a result of the cultural context at the time, and what people deemed as important. Anne, 8 years previous to when the novel was set, had fallen in love with Frederick Wentworth, and he had asked for her hand in marriage. Anne wanted to marry him, but was urged to deny him by her family. The reason being that Wentworth was not of high enough social status for Anne; the daughter of a Baronet. Anne’s family believed that Wentworth was not nearly worthy for Anne. Unfortunately for the two young star crossed lovers it wasn’t to be because of the world which they lived in and what people, in that cultural context, gave values to.
‘A Doll’s House’ is set in the late 1800’s in Norway. However, it shares many similarities to the cultural context of ‘Persuasion’. In both ‘A Doll’s House’ and ‘Persuasion’, status, rank and money are incredibly important, but can also be seen as the things which caused the difficulties faced by the characters in the two texts. As I have outlined above, Anne, in ‘Persuasion’, was not allowed to marry the love of her life because he lacked money, status and rank.
The difficulty faced by Nora in ‘A Doll’s House’ is also strongly related to the importance which society put on money at the time. Nora is forced to commit a crime, and forge her husband’s signature, something which was seen as completely unacceptable for a woman to do. She did this because she needed to borrow money in order to save her husband’s life. The most difficult situation which she is put in is having to pay the money back without her husband finding out what an awful crime she had committed.
All three crises faced by the characters in the texts which I have studied are strongly related to the cultural context and the world which these characters lived in. As I have shown above, the cultural context of ‘Pride’ and ‘Persuasion’ are in stark contrast to each other. The things which people valued were very different in each of the texts, however, they are similar in the fact that both Joe and Anne were behaving unacceptably and embarrassingly with regards to the world which they lived in.
‘Persuasion’ and ‘A Doll’s House’ share many similarities in terms of cultural context. In both texts, money, rank and social status were of great importance to the characters, and were, ultimately, the reason the characters were faced with moments of crises and difficult situations to try manoeuvre themselves out of.