Representation in This is England

Representation of masculinity

Representation of white British males differs in This is England, the character Woody, who we are first introduced with, contrasts with Combo, the older skinhead who just got released from prison. Woody is   considered the 'good guy' who takes in Shaun and befriends him. He is shown as fun loving and level headed who makes Shaun laugh because he is being bullied. Woody sticks up for him when the rest of the gang pick on him, and he is considered a father figure for the first 40 minutes of the film.

When Combo is introduced at the party, he becomes the most eledest and dominant  figure. The atmosphere goes quiet and he is standing in the middle of a small crowded room, making him look more powerful and the centre of attention. He holds the power to change the dynamics of the relationships shaun has with Woody and the rest of the gang and changes the tone of the film. Combo is a racist, schooled in the politics of fear and ignorance, and is a representation of the racist element within skinhead culture. His violence is seen as a trait of masculinity, however his leadership roles are corrupt. He says the group has a choice, but when Pukey questions his authority, he attacks him and throws him out of the car. Combo picks on the vunerable to have more power. For example the his 'troops' are mainly only children, he picks on the youth because they are more vulnerable and easily persuaded. Combo takes over from Woody and acts as a father figure towards Shaun, he comforts him in the car saying if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, i'll be there for you. However, Combo contradicts himself later on in the film telling Shaun, 'real men don't cry'.

Woody and Combo both serve as the father figure in Shaun's life, however they do it differently. Woody doesn't push certain ideologies onto Shaun nor manipulate him, whereas Combo does it so he stays in the group. They are both hugely protective over Shaun but Woody does it from afar and his aware of his age, Combo smothers him and treats him like a man. Woody seems more secure in his own identity which is seen as a masculine trait. He never contradicts himself and takes care of the people around him. Combo on the other hand never thinks clearly, his thoughts and actions are contradicting and hurts the people around him without realising the after math. For example, Combo gives Milky a choice to say whether he considers himself Jamaican or English, which is essentially bullying as Milky is forced to say English. When Combo is first introduced he announces he hates bullies. In the last scene, Combo violently beats Milky to death and turns against his own group.

Represents of Masculinity

In This is England, masculinity is represented in many different ways by various characters.

One of the main character that represent masculinity would be the Character of Woody. Throughout this film it can be said that Woody is seen to a father figure towards Shaun. One way he does this is through the protection he has over Shaun which can be considered as a stereotypical representation of a man. An example from the film being when Gadget is picking on Shaun and later on goes to fight him in the run down building, Woody immediately jumps to Shaun's defence and even then, although not as seriously as other characters would be, turned on Gadget until he apologised. Again Woody's father figure qualities can been conveyed towards Gadget in this scene when gadget expresses his emotions on how he feels in group and Woody then tries to comfort him connoting a gentle nature that a father may have towards his children.

Although Woody doesn't necessarily present the aggressive stereotype that masculinity may hold, he does however possess a post modern ideology of how men can now behave and now carries a more caring figure as man and not as dominant as a man previously was thought to be. For instance, woody has the aptitude to try and makes people happy in this film from Shaun to Milky and even Lol. For instance when he feels although he has done something wrong he immediately apologises which emotionally connotes strength and represents masculinity as being strong as Woody has the ability to admit when he is in the wrong. As well as this he constantly ensures Shaun which reinforces his need to make people happy like when Shaun first has his 'skinhead make over' Woody says to him "honestly mate you look sterling". The use of the worst honestly suggests that Woody would never lie to Shaun as though saying men don't lie and presents men as being truthful. by referring to him as mate can also reassure Shaun that he has a friend and creates a sense of social solidarity as well as reinforcing the father figure representation. Throughout the film, the audience also see woody connecting with characters, especially Shaun, on a comedic level like referring to gadget as 'tubs'  to make Shaun laugh which presents men as not taking things as seriously and hold the archetype of the class clown. 

Despite Woody not presenting himself as being the most dominant form of masculinity in this film, there are elements to which he does intact hold the stereotypical ideology of a man for instance the way he dresses. Wearing scuffed up jeans represents masculinity as being rugged and rough around the edges however paring it with a shirt and braces hold a degree of smartness and shows men to also want to present themselves smartly. Doc martens that are also a fashion accessory in the skinhead culture are quite big, bulky boots which may suggest that these men want to be noticed by people and commands attention indicated that of male importance. 

The character of Combo however contrasts greatly with Woody. Where as Woody uses Comedic quality, gentle nature, and no emotional or physical force to represent masculinity, Combo uses the stereotypes of violence, aggression and his physical build in general to present the stereotype of masulinity and everything he thinks a 'real man' should be. 

Representation of Women in This is England

In this is England there are only three female characters; Cynthia, Smell and Lol. These women each represent their gender in different ways, each embodying different characteristics that women have.

One representation of women in this is film is that they are 'free'. This is shown in the scene with Combo and Lol in the car. Lol rejects combo and in doing so, represents the choices that other women don't have in film. this scene also shows that women are seen as active characters. Lol rejecting Combo works to drive the narrative as it can be seen as pushing him off the deep end and could act as a catalyst to bring about Combo's attack on Milky.
Lol's power and fearlessness in this scene is also shown through the camera shots as the shot-reverse shot uses the exact same shot types on both of them meaning that Lol and Combo are equals in power and domination.

 When the shots change to big close-ups with a shot of Combo we feel like he is dominating us and Lol as his face crowds the screen leaving almost no free space. However as it cuts to Lol's face we see the exact same big close up, almost as if she is fighting off his dominance with her own.

Quite early on in this scene we can tell that Lol holds the power as Combo acts small and intimate whereas she is closed off and actually tells him off for interrupting her from going to work. This shows her fearlessness and her rebelliousness towards the dominant power.

Women are also shown as motherly and protective of those that they care for. This is shown in both Cynthia and Lol. Cynthia shows her protectiveness best in the cafe scene when she complains about Shaun's hair saying "you will have problems if you touch his hair again." Her protectiveness is effective as the gang are silenced by her stern tone and dominating posture.  Cynthia also appears 'sexless' with her denim attire and enormous glasses. This is because she is meant to be Shaun's mum and that is her only singular role.

Representations of Masculinity

This is England represents the ideas of masculinity mainly through the character of Combo. In the film he is released from prison and has developed a horrible view on the world. He comes out extremely violent and racist and attempts to brainwash young Shaun to having the same beliefs as himself and does this by almost guilt tripping Shaun about his Dads death in the Falklands.

Combo is extremely violent and this is shown throughout the film, especially one of the final scenes when Combo nearly kills Milky. He is a very angry man and it is shown throughout his facial expressions and his intonation. Almost every thing he says he say angrily. The scars underneath his eyes show that he is violent and signifies that he may be that way for the rest of his life. The tattoos on his face and neck also connote pain and permanence, again perhaps indicating that he will remain the same for as long as he lives. Despite the fact Combo is a skinhead, we can see he has a receding hairline and is losing his hair, something that most men will suffer with, so this also could represent his masculinity.

After the scene where Combo almost beats Milky to death, he tells Shaun to stop crying and that 'real men don't cry.' This is a phrase that has been said for many years and men who cry have been made out to be weak. Some people have a belief that men shouldn't cry as they are supposed to be strong and not let their emotions get the better of them. However, earlier on in the film, Combo cries himself after being rejected by Lol, so here Combo shows his hypocrisy.

This is England Representation of Era

In this is England there is a various representation of England. The country is represented in all different ways through various different means.

First of all, some of the characters in the film offer representations of the typical lifestyle in England at this time. All of them offer representations of working class life and poverty as we see them all in working class domestic settings such as council estates and run down houses. This offers the representation that there is a large amount of working class citizens in England and also that a lot of people are struggling to makes ends meet. Lines of dialogue in this film also represent the struggle to makes end meet in England and one of these was when Shaun talks about his trousers to his mum, Cynthia. Shaun says ‘look at the size of them’ talking abut his pants that do not fit. This represents England as having a poverty problem because Shaun, our main character who we are supposed to care about, addresses this issue directly so we as the audience are forced to identify with this issue. In addition to this, England is represented as a working class heavy environment through the mise-en-scene of this film.  The film is dense with props such as cars from the 1960s and this represents England as working class because these cars are not new, the people depicted in the film would not be able to afford cars from the era.

However, England is also represented as multicultural in this film and this done through other characters such as Milky and Mr. Sandhu. 

Representations of women in This is England

Women in This is England are represented differently to the way women are in movies of a more mainstream category. This means they don't fit into stereotypes, archetypes, Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory and actually drag the plot forward.

A character in particular who represents my statement is the character of Lol. Due to Lol's appearance and the way she is shot within the movie she is not fetishised in anyway which would make her character steer away from the male gaze theory. The way in which she dresses is almost identical to what the male characters wear in the group, which suggests no one is discriminated, but treated  as equals, which can be reinforced from when Woody says 'She's my other half.' This suggests that Woody considers Lol to be his equal, which reinforces that there is no discrimination towards femininity. 

Due to Lol's intimidating, almost masculine appearance, it is a surprise to see that Lol is still respected by other female characters. 

Lol represents the choices other women don't have in film, this is because of her being a character who drives the narrative forward. This is evident in the scene where in which Combo and Lol are talking about past events in Combo's car. We discover that Combo took advantage of Lol when she was 16, which we are informed by from Lol, not Combo. This implies that Lol was once a passive character and was dominated by a male character, but due to her age I disregard her as a passive character. Combo then goes on to confess that he still loves Lol, in which Lol rejects him, this aids Combo's motives to draw conclusion to the movie, as she reduces Combo a male character, one in which the audience are meant to be threatened by to tears. This implies that Lol is fearless and isn't going to be dominated by Combo like she was in the past. 

This is England - Representations

Representation of masculinity


The foremost representation of masculinity in This is England is the character of Combo. The character eventually manipulates our young protagonist Shaun into the Skinhead culture. This induction into the lifestyle is demonstrated through the use of montage, as Shaun takes part in racist, aggressive activity along with Combo and his gang.

This first shot represents masculinity as hand-in-hand with aggression. Shaun, Combo and his gang march in unison together towards camera, some of the characters strutting with their hands in their pockets, signifying their irreverence towards other people and aggressive attitude, as if expressing this 'devil may care' philosophy to the audience themselves. Their movement in a group also expresses that not only is appearing confident and cool a part of masculinity, but also appearing as a unit or group emphasising their shared ideologies and values. They appear dangerous, a huge impact made through their appearance as a gang, rather than as individuals. Walking towards camera makes an impact on the audience as well, as the positioning increases the group's hostility towards the audience and other people in the world of the film itself.

However, this representation is almost one minute later subverted and challenged, as Combo lovingly pats young Shaun on the head and puts his arm around the boy's shoulder, making him laugh, as they smile and continue walking. This puts Combo in the position of surrogate father figure for Shaun, connecting with him on the basic level of touch and by making him laugh. This representation suggests that masculinity is not just aggression or dominance, but being loving, especially to the people you keep close. Combo sees himself in Shaun and he expresses his care, even if it is unorthodox and too adult for a boy of that age.