Mark Ashton and other real people

At the beginning of the film, Mark grabs a bucket and stands outside the book shop collecting money for the miners, he calls this LGSM (lesbians, gays support the miners). This represents Mark who is a real person as passionate and helpful towards those who needs help. Mark also highlights the struggle that the miners faced in the 1980s as he gets rejected so many times but he is very resilient about this matter. This shows how real people in the 1980s were fighting for what they thought was right. With LGSM being declined from so many places, it shows how the gay community were discriminated against as people thought their help and contribution wasn't needed; this represents real people in the 1980s as homophobic. Marks character is represented as motivated even when the issue about his sexuality is made clear to him; for example, a brick is thrown through the window which is wrapped in a newspaper which headlines "Perverts support the pits'. This represents Mark as a strong character as he doesn't react back in a negative way instead, he uses the attack he got to turn it into something fun and useful which turned out to be the Pits and Perverts gig. This shows how real people such as Mark Ashton did have many barriers but over come them with help from being a community and standing together; reinforcing the theme of unity.

Gethen's character is another real person, he represents the backlash homosexual people faced from other people discriminating. There is a scene where 2 men approach Gethen when it is dark, suspense is built up. We don't see Gethen actually get beaten up but later in the film, he is in hospital which reveals how he was beaten up. This represents real people as being prejudice towards gay people and not accepting of who they are. This shows how Britain in the 1980s and the people of it were homophobic. When Gethen is beaten up, it is revealed to the audience how Johnathon has AIDs, this shows the medical and life threatening illnesses real people faced as Johnathon is a real character.

Because Pride is based on real life, many characters in the film represent real people going through the time. The director uses stereotypes to portray some of the characters, as well as possibly challenging traditional stereotypes. Mark Ashton is a character that I think is shown as challenging traditional stereotypes. In the 1980s, although being homosexual was legal, it was still a controversial issue. Because of this, gay people suppressed their feelings and identity. Mark , however, is very open and confident. This is clear to us, as Mark is shown to be the leader of LGSM, as hes always the one to stand in front of a crowd, making speeches to raise awareness, despite being faced with various obstacles. He is represented as defiant and resilient.

Heffina represents the theme of unity. Typically, we would associate older generations of having traditional right wing views, however Heffina is very accepting of the gay community. We could say that the directors have represented Heffina as one of the bridges between the gay community and the mining community, because she helps both groups come together despite their differences.

At the end of the film, captions are shown on screen, it reveals how Sian become a member of parliament, Mark sadly died at aged 26 and that Johnathon is still alive despite being one of the first people having HIV in the UK. This emphasises realism of the film as we have followed their pathway throughout their life and are aware of where they ended up today.