This is England = Ideological Critical Approach

Question 1

Marxism =

Answer 1

• This is England can be seen from a Marxist lens to explore working class life in Thatcher’s Britian which is a period of time governed by high unemployment, deindutrsitliasation and social unrest
• The characters are shown to be livin in poverty and are economically marginalised in run down housing societies
• The class struggle is internalised which turns into racial tension and radicalisation
• Combo expierences false consciousness where he blames other working class members such as immigrants and minorities as the source of his inequality which is prominent in his nationalism and racism
• Class strugle is replaced by division and scapegoating which shows how racsim and nationalism is used to united
• The rise of right wing nationalism mirrors the attempt to restore control and pride during the Thatcher-Era.

Question 2

Feminism =

Answer 2

• The film is dominated by male characters which reflects the masculine subcultures within skinhead and far-right movements
• Women exist in the film to act as motherly or partners to the male characters.
• Men are able to express grief in a system that limits emotional vulnerability
• Combo becomes a symbol of toxic masculinity through his violence and dominance
• Combo is shown on multiple times being violent/dominating to women which is able to hide his vulnerability. Eg. Women in the underpass and Lol in the car

Question 3

Post-colonialism =

Answer 3

• Postcolonialism explores the impact of colonailsim on cultures and how the legacies continue to affect people’s identity
• It explores the lingering legacy of colonialism through national identity, racism and immigration
• A lens would criticise how working-class white Britions direct their frustrations towards immigrants and minority groups who become scapegoats under the Thatcher-Era economic decline
• Many people in Britian form their rhetoric in a desperate longing for a glorified imperial past speaking of a nostalgic better time
• Combo believes that Britian was once great and pure but reflects the myth of empire
• Combo never sees Milky as truly English treating him as othering and different to him. Racial heirarchies of colonialism persist in everyday life and how British people define their real ‘Englishness’
• Combo turns to white supremacy and nostalgia which is a substitute for the loss of power
• Combo attempts to corrupt skinhead subculture with his far-right ideology which was originally emerging from working-class unity and Jamaican influences
• The St George’s Flag represents purity and the defense of England and unity which becomes a symbol of post-colonialism
• Scapegoats are blamed for societal problems mirroring the colonial legacy of othering