In this video writer and critic Lou Thomas (@London_Lou) and writer and editor Maha Albadrawi (@malbadrawi) examine what what we’re shown of British working class masculinity tells us about the world these men were raised in.
Their video was made in support of Acting Hard, a season of films exploring representations of working-class masculinity in British cinema from the Thatcher era to the present, which is taking place at the BFI Southbank throughout September.
00:00 – The rise of Danny Dyer
00:20 – Intro
00:48 – Working class men after the second world war
01:15 – Kitchen sink dramas and The Woodfall films
01:45 – Look Back in Anger
02:40 – The 60s and Michael Caine
04:00 – 1970s austerity
04:19 – Scum and social realism
05:25 – The Thatcher years and Meantime
06:00 – Channel 4 and Young Soul Rebels
06:50 – New Labour and Cool Britannia
07:50 – Enter Danny Dyer
08:00 – Human Traffic
08:30 – Dyer and Nick Love
10:57 – Attack the Block
11:46 – Pretty Red Dress and the new working class man on screen