Shane Meadows and Paul Abbott

Discuss how Social Realist directors Shane Meadows and Paul Abbott explore collective identity in Britain.

Collective identity is intellectualized as identifying with an individual or the attachment to certain groups. When studying British films, social realist directors consider identity in a various number of ways. Shane Meadows explores collective identity in Britain through his directing; ‘This is England’ which was released in 2007 shows the distinctiveness of two working class groups of boys divided over the idea of racism. Paul Abbott, who directed ‘Shameless’ explores the identity of the social demographic group E and his personal understanding of how working class families live reflects significantly in his work. However, while these are only the opinions of two directors, one could say that depending on how they address a certain issue, the concept of what reality actually is for everyone else is altered.

Shane Meadows was born and raised from a working class family, he had a fairly difficult childhood and being bullied (because his dad was accused of murder) was a frequent occurrence in his life. Working his way up from nothing, his love of directing films stemmed from regular visits to the Elite Cinema. When being interviewed Meadows claimed that he established the main character in the film ‘This is England’ from personal experiences of his own. From reflecting on his own familiarities of being British, the audience is provided with a real insight as to how a young boy from a working class background acts. The main actor named Shaun gets into a fight because an offensive joke is made about his dad who died in the Falklands, from this he soon finds himself involved with a new group of friends and his life seems to take a turn for the better. This is until Combo, a group member who has just returned from prison expresses his racist nationalist views and the group split in two. Unfortunately for Shaun he chooses the wrong path and extreme racism becomes a policy which he quickly adopts. Meadows chose a storyline which was of an extreme as he wanted the audience to gain a clear understanding of an aspect of what British culture was like in the 1980s. Although this was not necessarily the cases for everyone in that time period, the film has a strong reflection of the collective identity in Britain. This therefore means that other people who are also from a working class background are able to relate to situations which occur.

Similarly, Paul Abbott’s directing is also from experiences of his own, however his opinion on working class people seem to be a lot more negative. Abbott suffered severely throughout his childhood, from trying to commit suicide twice to living in a house where his parents had neglected him and his siblings. Being raped at the age of 11 and having nobody to confide in, Abbott’s only escape was to direct films which he had single-handedly thought up. He described his life as a transformation from 'shame to fame' and this resulted in him directing his most famous film to date "Shameless". Exploring social realism, Shameless is a true picture of what Paul Abbott's life was like and the strong unconventional family unit which he portrays through his directing gives the audience a true sense of British identity.

When considering the auteur theory and the suggestion that these two directors are 'artists' the creativeness of expression through the two films reinforces the reality of what life was like in the 1980's. While perhaps both artists didn't need to use their imagination to a full extent whilst putting together such a sequence, they needed to be specific in the information and the presentation of the message they were enforcing. Shane Meadows once said "if you keep dancing around the fire one day you'll get burnt" this quotation gives the audience a message, and one would say a warning that being involved in 'the wrong crowd' just as he was, will end badly. From simply analysing this quotation it is evident that the plot of the story is a true picture of the society he was brought up in and although this may not have been the experience of every working class child in the era, due to the fact he is directing from personal experiences, British identity is demonstrated through his film 'This is England'.

When delving into the main ideologies of both films, the theory of Stuart Hall is challenged. Hall argues that media appears to reflect reality whilst in actual fact it constructs it, this ultimately means that all media texts, including the two discussed create situations that they want the audience to believe would happen in 'real life' when essentially it is far from the truth. To suggest and put forward such a strong opinion, when looking at social realist films Halls personal view is difficult to relate to. Shameless portrays a strong sense of community amongst working classes and also the negative aspects of their life, such as violence and alcohol. Although one may argue that this occurs in life regardless of a persons status, Abbott is reflecting back on circumstances of his own, and for Hall to suggest that these experiences are untrue would be an unfair and biased comment. Likewise with This is England, Meadows explores the class divisions through his use of stereotypes. From growing up in a society where racism is more apparent than its not, Hall cannot question the nature of Meadows directing. Therefore, Stuart Halls theory of media texts constructing reality is challenged through both of the films discussed, and his accusations are successfully proved wrong.

When evaluating and taking into account Meadows and Abbott's upbringing, it is evident that their own individual experiences and life stories have some what been transformed into a positive factor for them. Undeniably, both auteurs suffered greatly throughout their childhood, and although their own life's differ considerably, how they have chosen to express their feelings has become a gratification for others. People who share a similar situation to theirs, even today, are able to relate to the films and feel a sense of escapism. The ideology of both the plots and the way they challenge Stuart Halls theory demonstrate not only social realism but also a true image of what British culture consisted of in a era previous to ours.