Themes And Ideology Work

1.Why is it important that British social realism films have a theme or ideology? 

 I believe that it is vital that BSR films have a theme or ideology as it enables the audience to sympathize with the characters and puts us in their situation. I also think that having a theme and ideology in a film especially BSR allows the producers and directors to explore our system be it political, economical or social and show us how having these systems in place can be positive or negative. It also gives them the opportunity to use freedom of speech through the characters and shows the flaws in the system or mock. Finally I believe that a theme and ideology is important as it gives the story line direction and gives the producers and directors the opportunity to create an in depth, detailed story line which BSR is all about.   

2. What is unique about the themes and ideologies in British social realism films?

Personally, what I find interesting about all BSR films is the fact that most of them all revolve around economic or social hardships and how they attempt to overcome and combat these but majority of the protagonists fail which is realistic unlike Hollywood films who sugarcoat these topics. What I also find unique about the themes and ideologies in BSR  is how they all have a realistic and accurate grasp of reality and how they portray a situation exactly how it would be in real life and there are no extra adornments or exaggerations, what you see is what you get.  

3. Is there a pattern in the themes and ideologies presented in British social realism films? 

I think that all BSR films do have a similar correlation in themes and ideologies but they are presented in a different manner and revolve around different situations, some situations are more serious and bigger than others which are very small and simple. I think that the way the themes or ideologies are presented in a different system, some decide to focus on the economic sytem whilst others may focus on the social or political system. 

The story I have selected is about a club owner who had to sell his one of the most popular clubs in Sunderland because it breached too many restrictions e.g. multiple incidents of violence and disorder. I believe that this story has that 'kitchen sink' element that all BSR films have, without any doubt, as if this were a film it would have a lot of gritty scenes and locations e.g. dark alley ways, fights and a lot of bloody violence. The fact that it would be set in Sunderland would be an advantage as we could explore regional identity and create or break down those typical stereotypes of people who live in Sunderland and night club character such as Bouncers, Clubbers and the Owner. If this story were transferred into a film another positive would be that because this is a genuine story and not an idea that has been fabricated  it adds realism and conforms to the conventions of BSR. I would think that some of the ideologies that would be behind the film would be Karma as the owner may have done something bad in his past and now to sell his club which is his 'prized city venue' would be karma restoring balance in the world. I also think that another ideology would be the idea that if you work hard, you will prosper and this could be shown as the club owner may have worked many years to acquire his own club and the fact he accomplishes this dream shows and reinforces this.