Age
In The Selfish Giant age is represented in different ways. Arbor and Swifty try to work finding scrap metals and materials to earn money for themselves and also help their family out despite their age. Whereas all the other teenagers their age are going to school living "normal" lives, such as Arbor's brother who is older than Arbor but when seen in the film he is normally at home with his mother while Arbor is out making money. This shows the audience that Arbor and Swifty do not live the normal lives of teenagers and live a more hard lifestyle. Arbor and Swifty's lifestyle challenges the sterotype of normal teenagers, as most teens at this age would be going to school but Arbor and Swifty work a job which is for adults. Arbor and Swifty was a clear archetype of troubled teens as they both had been kicked out of school and also had problems at home.
Gender
In the film gender is represented in a bad light as Swifty's father, Price Drop is very abusive towards Swifty's mother Mrs Swift. Most scenes which Price Drop is in shows him controlling Mrs Swift, there is evidence of this at 12:46. This tells the audience that there is a clear difference
from the men, as they have a lot more power over the women in the film as the men in the film are always doing hard work and when the women are shown they are in the house. This conforms the stereotype that men are the ones who go out and earn the money and women are the ones who stay home with the children doing house work as Price Drop trys to earn his money from selling old furniture from the house while Mrs Swift is seen cooking for the children and doing house work. Price Drop is a clear archetype of a abusive husband as he is always very rude and controlling towards Mrs Swift.
from the men, as they have a lot more power over the women in the film as the men in the film are always doing hard work and when the women are shown they are in the house. This conforms the stereotype that men are the ones who go out and earn the money and women are the ones who stay home with the children doing house work as Price Drop trys to earn his money from selling old furniture from the house while Mrs Swift is seen cooking for the children and doing house work. Price Drop is a clear archetype of a abusive husband as he is always very rude and controlling towards Mrs Swift.
Social Class
In the film there is a clear difference between social classes. You can see the difference of social classes in Arbor's household and Swifty's household. Arbor lives with his brother and his mother in a nice house and his mother is working. Whereas Swifty's house there is a lot of children
which he has to often take care of. Mrs Swift does not work and Price Drop sells furniture from their house which shows they have finacial problems. Their house is also close to being repossessed as they are low on money. This shows the audience that Arbor and Swifty's lives are quiet different even thought they are friends. Arbor challenges the stereotype of a middle class person. Even though Arbor comes from a good household, his lifestyle is like a lower class person as he picks up scrap metal for a living. Kitten is a clear archetype of a traveller as you can see him involved in horse racing.
which he has to often take care of. Mrs Swift does not work and Price Drop sells furniture from their house which shows they have finacial problems. Their house is also close to being repossessed as they are low on money. This shows the audience that Arbor and Swifty's lives are quiet different even thought they are friends. Arbor challenges the stereotype of a middle class person. Even though Arbor comes from a good household, his lifestyle is like a lower class person as he picks up scrap metal for a living. Kitten is a clear archetype of a traveller as you can see him involved in horse racing.
Disability
Disability is shown with Arbor's ADHD and Mrs Swift seems to have some sort of soical disability which is not actually named in the film. Arbor's ADHD results with him getting kicked out of his school and also causes him problems at home with his brother and mother. The film shows us the struggles Arbor has to go through living with ADHD.
The film starts off with Arbor under his bed banging, shouting and swearing which means the dirctor has chosen not to censor Arbor's ADHD as it makes the film more hard hitting. This will make the audience feel sorry for Arbor and feel his struggles. Arbor fits the stereotype of a problem child as he has problems at school as well as at home and he also gets bullied by other kids because of his ADHD.
Regional Identity
The film is set in the North of England, in Bradford as most British Social Realism films are set in London. Bradford is stereo-typically known for having a vast amount of travellers and white people who are uneducated. Even though the film is set in present time some aspects of the film will make you think it is set in olden times such as, riding horses on public. This is really
normal life in Bradford. Most scenes in the film are very dark and consist of a lot of dark colours such as grey and dark blue, this could be to give a certain feeling to the audience that it is not a very nice area and to set the mood. The broken car in this shot shows that the area is not very looked after and the horse could show that it is a poor area and some people can not afford cars. The characters in the movie conform the Bradford stereotype as it shows the struggle of area and their lifestyles such as horse racing.
normal life in Bradford. Most scenes in the film are very dark and consist of a lot of dark colours such as grey and dark blue, this could be to give a certain feeling to the audience that it is not a very nice area and to set the mood. The broken car in this shot shows that the area is not very looked after and the horse could show that it is a poor area and some people can not afford cars. The characters in the movie conform the Bradford stereotype as it shows the struggle of area and their lifestyles such as horse racing.
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