Pressure...

Why do you think Pressure was made?
I think the film Pressure was made to portray the changing attitudes towards Black British individuals. An example of this in the film is when Tony went to a club with his white friends and was dancing with a white girl. If you compare this to the era when Sapphire was released, it would have been rare for this to occur because white and black individuals would no even be in the same club. I can remember that in Sapphire clubs were basically segregated according to race; it would have been uncommon for a white individual to be in a black to club/environment or vice versa. However, the film Pressure seems to show Britain moving forward as a society as it seems to challenge problems regarding race, that were seen in the film Sapphire.

Also, I believe that the film was made to show the economic conditions in Britain during that time. Even though Tony was a Black British male with god qualifications it was still a struggle for him to get a job. In the first job interview he went to, it was probable that he would not get the job due to the interviewers behaviour towards him. Therefore, it was apparent to the viewer that Tony was simply not getting the jobs because of the colour of his skin, even though he was a well-spoken black male born in Britain.

Generally, I believe that the film was made to show the challenges and ordeals that black individuals faced in the British society due to the colour of their skin. There were boundaries placed before them and also there were certain levels they could not pass solely because they were black.


What examples of racism are represented in Pressure?
-When Tony went for his first job interview the interviewers countenance changed as soon as he saw Tony because he believed that he was going to be interviewing a white guy. Mr. Cripson (the interviewer) asked him stereo-typical questions like:
'How long have you been in this country?' and 'Have you ever been in trouble?'
In my opinion from this Mr. Cripson was trying insinuate that because Tony is black he is a trouble maker and he also assumed that Tony was not born in Britain when in fact he was.

-When the police invaded Colin's speech even though they did not have a warrant. When the police raided the speech they were practically arresting every black person though they were innocent and had done nothing wrong. This shows the limited rights that black people had at the time.

-From the film I also thought wherever black people were the police were immediately there, for example during Colin's speech. Also, when Tony and his black friends ran out of the supermarket the police were outside within a matter of seconds as they thought that they had probably stole something or caused trouble. Even when some of the individuals were out of sight the police were still determined to arrest them as they were still running trying to look for them.

How does the theme of collective identity come across in Pressure?
The first ideal of collective identity is portrayed in the breakfast scene where Tony is seen eating a traditional English fry-up whilst his brother Colin is eating an avocado for breakfast. In this scene Colin tells Tony that 'This is what we eat back home'. This shows a sense of collective identity as Colin is trying to make his brother feel among the collective of Black Caribbeans by persuade him to eat food originating from their roots.

How do you think Pressure differs from mainstream representations of black Britons?

Pressure...

Food is used as a quite relevant aspect in the film to portray many different things. There seems to be a sense of tension between British and Caribbean individuals. Tony seems to contradict to his brother Colin, as Tony seems to eat typical British food, in the morning he was eating bacon and eggs. Whilst his brother Colin was eating avocados in the morning which is a common/popular food in Trinidad, their native country.

There is also a conflict between the two generations Windrush and pOST-windrush. This is presented through the character of tony and his mum as his mums beliefs and values seem to differ from his. When Tony feels downcast that he did not get the job, his mum believes that he should not give up and have faith because he was born in Britain and has more of an opportunity. Whereas, Tony believes that is not the case. Also, this conflict between Windrush and Post Windrush was presented between Sheila and her mum as Sheila's mum was not acceptant of her bringing Tony back to the house after they went clubbing. Whereas, Sheila does not see a problem with it and considers that her mum just won't accept him 'because he is black'.

There are various examples of racism presented within the film. Firstly, when Tony went for his job interview, the interviewers countenance changed as soon as he saw tony because he believed that he was going to be interviewing a white guy. Whilst, mr. Cripson, (the interviewer) asked Tony stereo-typical questions like 'How long have you been in this country' and 'Have you ever been in trouble'. also, when the Tony and his black friends stole from the supermarket the police were immediately on call.

How does the Film put across a sense of Collective Identity?

Sapphire, as a film helps to put across a sense of collective identity as throughout the film people are seen more a collective rather than individuals. From that what I mean is that all black were generalised in a negative way. In the film it was insinuated that all black individuals are bad, which obviously wasn't the case. So from this it seems as if white individuals saw black people as all the same.

Representation works through construction-How were Black People represented in the Film?

Sapphire is a 1959 British crime drama. The film is regarding a pregnant girl found stabbed. Even though Sapphire appears to be white, her brother arrives at the police station to give evidence and he is black. It then becomes evident to the police officers that this girl has been 'passing for white'. This film reveals the underlying insecurities and fears of ordinary people that exist towards another race.

Generally, in the film black people are portrayed negatively and are perceived as beings that obtain negative attributes. Throughout, the film there is a constant reference to the word 'coloured' to describe black individuals. This suggests to me that a majority of black individuals were seen as somewhat 'alien' like individuals and that if you are black you are strangely different. The detective says towards the beginning of the film that 'I think she died because she was coloured'. This reflects the racist attitudes during that time and portrays how negative it was to be a different colour (black). For example, when Sapphire's brother comes in to the detective's office the music changes to 'du, du, du', which suggests a sense of shock linking to the detective's feelings at that moment because he is surprised to see that Sapphire's brother is black as he asks him 'Are you Sapphire's half-brother?'.

Even due to the fact that Sapphire used a different identity by 'passing for white' shows that she herself was ashamed of her colour or knew that there were negative stereotypes attached to her race. The film implies that it was a huge shame/disgrace to be associated with a 'coloured' person because it is a negative thing to be black and they are much different from white individuals solely because of the colour of their skin.

The quotes below from the film emphasise the racist attitudes during that era/the negativity attached to being black.

When the old woman, Mrs Harris sees Johnny (Sapphire's brother), when he knocks on her door she says 'I'm full..I only take white students'. Here, her attitude towards Johnny was rude and negative only because he was 'coloured'.

'Nice enough girl considering she was coloured' (cannot exactly remember who said this in the film), but it represents  coloured people as horrible and malicious.

'Don't call her auntie! She was nothing to us and never was'. I believe Sapphire's ex boyfriend's sister said this to her children. It suggests how after realising that Sapphire was actually black she does not want her or her daughters to have any association with her, even though she is dead.

Get out N****!...Dirty black B******!' This was what Johnny was called when he went into the white club venue. This makes me to empathise with black individuals at the time as they suffered a tremendous amount of verbal abuse, particularly from white individuals.Thus, representing black people as victims, due to the abuse they constantly suffer.

'We wouldn't be in half this bother if they weren't here'. The inspectors from this film said this and it seems as if they are insinuating that black people are responsible for trouble and in a sense they are scapegoating them. So, here they are representing black individuals as a source of Britain's problems.

When the Inspectors went into the 'Tulip's Club', one of the Inspectors bought a drink. However, he did not want to touch the black barman so he dropped the money on the bar table for him and told the barman to 'keep the change'.

There was almost an outrage at the thought of white individuals marrying someone from another culture due to the amount of negativity attached to it. Therefore, this set a boundary to love during that era as it was almost 'impossible' to be in love with an individual that was a different race/colour from you.

-Throughout the film the police's main focus was  mainly towards black individuals not Mr. Harris, even though he seemed guilty due to his change in story.
-The presentation of the area where many of the black individuals live was like the 'slums'; whereas the white individuals seemed to live in a totally diverse environment as it featured big buildings with pleasant surroundings.

Overall, the film makes me to empathise with black individuals at that time because they suffered so much abuse compared to nowadays. Also, they were represented as inferior as it was as if their rights were stripped away from them because they could not really go where white people were; hence they were segregated and each had there specific clubs suitable to their race.

How did the Changing Social Landscape lead to a 'racialisation' of British Politics?

This social landscape lead to a 'racialisation' of British politics as they mas much anxiety as to the amount of 'coloured' immigrants in Britain, this was uttered by the Conservative Party. The prospect of black immigration was immediately viewed negative as two days after the Empire Windrush a letter was sent to Prime Minister Clement Attlee (at the time) by 11 Labour MP's pleading for the control of Black immigration. During these years black individuals were portrayed as scapegoats as they were blamed for the growing difficulties that the British economy. In the year 1962, introduced the first legislation act which restricted entry on British Commonwealth citizens by making primary immigration dependant on the ownership of a work voucher.

How was the Social Landscape Changing?

The social landscape began to change during this era as a number of West Indian and Asian migrants began to dominate jobs previously taken on by the white individuals of Britain. Soon, these vast majority of migrants, particularly West-Indian individuals began to cause a ray of conflict between black and white individuals. Examples of this hostility are shown through the Notting Hill Riots and also the Nottingham Riots in which society saw a number of violent and hostile attacks from white individuals upon black individuals. Due to these events race evidently became an issue, for instance if a white woman was seen with a black man she was stigmatised and automatically segregated as 'one of them'. There were various trials attached to interracial relationships, especially those between white and black individuals. This is shown in the film 'Flame in The Streets', when Cathy is shown with her 'coloured' boyfriend the facial expressions on the white indivduals' face seem somewhat confounded. Also, when it comes to Cathy's mums realisation that her daughter is dating a 'coloured' man she becomes emotional and hysterical at the thought of her daughter dating a different race.

Investigate what was happening in Britain between 1948-1962...

The arrival of the Empire Windrush over 60 years ago showed a 'defining moment in British history'. As the ship stopped at Tilbury on the River Thames in June 1948, West Indian passengers were greeted by racism insults by the press and right wing politicians. Also, between the years 1948 to 1962 Britain granted “unlimited right of entry” to former colonial subjects; therefore this meant that workers from the colonies could migrate to Britain without restriction. Britain's Nationality Act allowed over 300, 000 West Indians to enter Britain. As well as this, a similar number of Asian citizens also arrived in Britain during the 1950's. In addition, Britain also saw the emergence of subcultures such as: 'The Teddy Boys', 'The Mods' and 'The Rockers'.