Is resistance Futile?: The Clash of the Individual and Society in Educating Rita, Billi Elliot and Trainspotting

Abstract

T Resistance is the individual’s way of coping with the stratified social system, which is dominated by the power holders within a given society, and in the class-conscious British society, resistance has become an inevitable topic for many genres, including the contemporary cinema. In Lewis Gilbert’s Educating Rita (1983), which is based on Willy Russell’s play, Stephen Daldry’s Billy Elliot (2000), and Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting (1996), which is based on Irvine Welsh’s novel, resistance stands as the major theme, lying at the core of the clash between the ruling and the subordinate classes. The aim of this essay is to discuss whether there is a possibility of resistance against the mainstream values of a class-conscious society, where the hierarchical lines are strictly drawn, and to exemplify the argument through these three films. In other words, the conflict between the individual and society as regards the possibility of class mobility is examined in the three examples of contemporary British cinema..

Keywords

• resistance,class mobility,Educating Rita (1983),Billy Elliot (2000),Trainspotting (1996)

Is Resistance Futile?: The Clash of the Individual and Society in Educating Rita, Billy Elliot and Trainspotting

Öz

Direniş, bireyin, katmanlaşmış ve belirli bir toplum içerisindeki iktidar sahiplerince üzerinde hüküm kurulan sosyal sistemle mücadele etme biçimidir. Sınıfsal ayrımları gözeten ve sınıf farklılıklarını önem- seyen İngiliz toplumunda, direniş, çağdaş sinema da dâhil olmak üzere, pek çok edebi ve kültürel metin tü- rüne konu edilmiştir. Lewis Gilbert’ın yönettiği ve Willy Russell’ın oyunundan uyarlanan Educating Rita (1983), Stephen Daldry’nin yönettiği Billy Elliot (2000) ve Danny Boyle’un yönettiği, Irvine Welsh’in ro- manından uyarlanan Trainspotting (1996) filmlerinde direniş ana tema olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır ve yö- netici ve bağlı sınıflar arasındaki çatışmanın merkezinde yer almaktadır. Bu makalenin amacı, hiyerarşik hatların keskin biçimde çizilmiş olduğu ve sınıf ayrımcılığına önem veren bir toplumda direniş ihtimalinin bulunup bulunmadığını tartışmak ve bunu, ismi geçen bu üç filmde örneklendirmektir. Bir başka deyişle, sınıf hareketliliğinin olabilirliği bakımından birey ve toplum arasındaki çatışma, çağdaş İngiliz sineması- nın bu üç örneğinde incelenmektedir

Anahtar Kelimeler

• direnifl
• s›n›f hareketlili¤i
• Educating Rita (1983)
• Billy Elliot (2000)
• Trainspotting (1996)

References

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