A2 MEDIA COLLECTIVE IDENTITES

1. PRESSURE (1975)PRESSURE (1975)
• Racial tensions during the 1970s & 1980s
• Why was Pressure made?
• What examples of racism are represented
in Pressure?
• How does the theme of collective identity
come across in Pressure?
• How do you think Pressure differs from
mainstream representations of black
Britons?

2. Racial tensions during the 1970sRacial tensions during the 1970s
& 1980s& 1980s
• How did the film communicate the racial
tensions of the time? Consider Tony’s
interview, the police, Tony’s brother and
his militant activities.

3. Racial tensions during the 1970sRacial tensions during the 1970s
& 1980s& 1980s
• 1974: Man dies in race rally clashes
• 1976: Notting Hill Carnival ends in riot
• 1981: Police attacked in Liverpool riots
• 1981: Brixton riots report blames racial ten
• 1985: Riots erupt in Toxteth and
Peckham
• minority struggle in British cities

4. Why was Pressure made?Why was Pressure made?
• A response to social unrest
• Tensions between first and second generation
immigrants
• The black experience in Britain
• Militant viewpoint
• Black exploitation cinema
• Shift from Civil Rights Movement to Black Power
• Social realist structure

5. What examples of racism areWhat examples of racism are
represented in Pressure?represented in Pressure?
• Police harassment
• Landlady
• Job interview/ friends at youth club
• Labour exchange/ metal factory

6. Defining collective identityDefining collective identity
• “Although there is no consensual definition of
collective identity, discussions of the concept
invariably suggest that its essence resides in a
shared sense of 'one-ness' or 'we-ness'
anchored in real or imagined shared attributes
and experiences among those who comprise the
collectivity and in relation or contrast to one or
more actual or imagined sets of 'others'."
• Collective Identity and Expressive Forms - David
Snow

7. Defining collective identityDefining collective identity
• “…collective identity [is] an individual's cognitive, moral, and
emotional connection with a community, category, practice, or
institution. It is a perception of a shared status or relation,
which may be imagined rather than experienced directly, and
it is distinct from personal identities, although it may form part
of a personal identity. A collective identity may have been first
constructed by outsiders (for example, as in the case of
"Hispanics" in this country), who may still enforce it, but it
depends on some acceptance by those to whom it is applied.
Collective identities are expressed in cultural materials
-names, narratives, symbols, verbal styles, rituals, clothing,
and so on - but not all cultural materials express collective
identities. Collective identity does not imply the rational
calculus for evaluating choices that "interest" does. And unlike
ideology collective identity carries with it positive feelings for
other members of the group“
• Collective identity and Social Movements - Francesca Poletta
and James M Jasper

8. How does the theme of collectiveHow does the theme of collective
identity come across inidentity come across in
Pressure?Pressure?
• Four themes illuminate how the film conveys its
meaning. These themes relate specially to the
mise en scene of the film, exploring how they
reflect the changing values, and the way the
Tony reacts to his experience of racism in Britain
• Food – cultural signifier
• Physical Environment
• Hair and Fashion
• Language

9. Food – cultural signifierFood – cultural signifier
• Watch Pressure, particularly paying
attention to the way food is used in the
film, for example, in the breakfast scene
and/or the scene in Portobello Road
Market. Think about what kind of tensions
the use of food reflects, and why the
director uses it in this way.
• food is used to indicate values. What is
signified by Tony's preference for chips?

10. Physical EnvironmentPhysical Environment
• What impression do you get of London as
a British urban setting?
• How do the physical settings contribute to
Tony’s sense of himself? To what extent
does he feel 'at home' or alienated?

11. Hair and FashionHair and Fashion
• Taking the first and last scenes from
Pressure, how would you explain the
change in appearance of Tony?
• Make a note of how Tony's style of
clothing changes over the course of the
film. How does this reflect his changing
sense of identity and attitude to his social
context?

12. LanguageLanguage
• What do you notice about how language is
used in the film?

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

14. Windrush vs post-Windrush
• How is the conflict between these two
generations represented in the film?
Consider Tony’s relationship with his
parents and friends
• “Don’t forget he not like us you know, he
born here.”