Essay Plan
Question: How have
the 'typical' British Asian lives been portrayed in the film Murdered by my
Father?
Introduction
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Start of by introducing Murdered by my Father –
the characters and who they represent in the British Asian lifestyle.
- ·
Small introduction to Honour-Based violence.
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How has the lifestyle of the two characters
(Salma and Shahzad) are different – Include different stereotypes.
Section 1 – How
the life of the father, in the film, has been portrayed?
- ·
In this paragraph, I will be exploring the role
of the father and the contrast with the character from the beginning of the
film and the end of the film (look at what changed we see in the character).
- ·
After looking at this, I will start to link this
to Dyer's theory about stereotyping and power from an audience’s perspective
and Medhurst's theory about shorthand that carries value judgements which will
link to how and why the character was acting in this way.
- ·
Talking in a new paragraph, I will start to talk
about the similar things that have happened in real life as what has happened
in the movie and talk about how this is a common thing.
- ·
How is the writer reinforcing these 'typical'
stereotypes, such as ‘how these South Asians fathers are are being portrayed by
Shahzad?’ Has he been represented too strict or not as much as others?
- ·
In this paragraph, I will talk more about
Honour-Based violence. The example I will use is of Shafiela Ahmed where she
was murdered by both her parents in 2003.
“Shafilea Ahmed was killed by her parents in September 2003, and her body was
found dumped in the Lake District five months later. Her two sisters Alesha and
Mevish witnessed the killing along with their brother, but terrified they might
be next, they carried the terrible secret with them. The only person Mevish
told was her best friend Shahin…”
Theories/Keywords that need to be covered in this paragraph
- ·
Shameful
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Reinforcing dominant stereotypes
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Reputations
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Medhurst
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Richard Dyer
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Levi Strauss - Binary Opposition
Quotes that I will use/ other key information linked to
the movie
- ·
From an interview from the writer of the movie,
he was asked if Shahzad (the father) is a monster. Vinay Patel's response was
the following:
"Shahzad is not a monster, but his actions are monstrous. He can be a kind
man - he works hard for his kids and is trying his best to raise them in the
way that he feels fit. He is also deeply insecure about is place in society in
a way that I think many of us can relate to... He is a loving man. But he is
also a coward in many ways as Salma quite truthfully tells him".
Even from an audience’s perspective, you could also tell that Shahzad's
character was exactly how the writer had explained it. It was very obvious that
he was trying to work as hard as he could for his children but it was also a
rollercoaster for him and raising two kids alone can be very stressful and was
a key reason as in why he wanted to get his daughter married off; this is also
with a lot of other Indian or South Asian families.
- ·
Salma: "We can sit down and talk about
it..."
Shahzad: "Talk about what? What do I need to talk to a STRANGER for?"
Salma: "Dad…?"
Shahzad: "How do you think this would work? After you had done this to our
family… After you had shamed me… Shamed us all".
This
was a key moment in the movie and was just before the death scene. Salma was
trying to get her dad to talk to her but wouldn't and when he did, he would be
talking as if she was some sort of stranger to him. With these few lines of
dialogue from the movie, I will be using them to analyse the way in which
Shahzad has been portrayed and how he is similar to the fathers in the real
world; have there been any incidents in recent times etc.
Section 2 – How the life of British Asian teens is changing and how they
have to adapt to that lifestyle? (580 words)
Historical text – Bend it like Beckham
- ·
Firstly, I will be explaining what the movie
Bend it like Beckham is about and why I chose this specific story as my historical text.
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A 2002 romantic sports family and Indian themed
comedy drama film which was based on Punjabi Sikhs in London.
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Typically, a true Sikh girl should learn at a young
age on the things that need to be done when they are sent off and get married.
Jess (main protagonist) is an 18 year old girl, who should by now being getting
ready to be married. However, she is in love with football and tries to play it
as much as possible with her boy-friends in the park. However, one day, a
family member spotted her playing and therefore, bought shame onto the family.
Mrs Bhamra (Jess' mum) banned her from playing football and started to teach her
on things to be doing as a house wife when she gets married; Jess' mum would
teach her to cook, iron and much more. However, Jess didn't enjoy it but acted
as if she did.
- ·
In this paragraph, I will be looking at the
scene of where the main protagonist, Jess, was playing football and was
caught out by a family member. In the Sikh culture, Aunties and parents believe
that their teenage girl should be preparing for marriage at a very young age.
They want their daughters to have the skills to cook and clean.
- ·
These are typical Indian stereotypes - Arrange
Marriage, preparing their daughters from a young age, shouldn't have a great
social life and much more.
- Here is where I will be exploring the different stereotypes and how they have
been portrayed in a similar or different way in the movie.
- ·
In addition, this paragraph, I will be exploring
the life of a teenage girl and how they have to live and I will link this to
how it has been portrayed in Bend it Like Beckham.
- ·
In a separate paragraph, I will be looking at
why the movie is reinforcing and challenging the stereotypes, for example,
since Asian parents moved to England and have started to adapt to the lifestyle
in this country, they have given their children some slack and given more of flexibility.
Quotes
- Joe: "Look, Jess. I saw it. She fouled
you. She tugged your shirt. You just overreacted, that's all."
Jess: “That’s not all. She called me a Paki. But I guess that's something
you wouldn't understand ".
Joe: "Jess, I'm Irish. Of course I understand what that feels
like".
- Provocatively, the poster also asks: "Who
wants to cook Aloo Gobi when you can bend a ball like Beckham". Here,
it is not cooking as a universally 'feminine' occupation which is
subordinated to playing football like the star of the English national
team, but cooking as part of a specific Asian cultural context.
- The poster in the movie (of Beckham) thus
establishes a particular contrast not between women and football, but
between playing football and an Asian notion of traditional femininity; we
shall see that this marketing strategy is far more simple than the film
itself.
- The film's promotion poster expressly
subordinates Asian tradition to football as an element of a general
British culture.
(VISIT BACK TO THE BFI LIBRARY FOR QUOTES IS NEEDED)
Section 3 – Second
Historical Text (East is East): Has Life in England become more harder, in
terms of people being racist and critical, or has it become more easier?
·
Answer the question including the key words from
the question.
·
A lot of this section will be based on racism
and how life was when families from South Asian first moved to England.
·
Talk about why this movie (East Is East) was key
for me to choose as another historical text and why I believe that it has got a
great link to my primary text Murdered by my father.
·
On a separate paragraph, talk about how there
are some similarities between East is East and Murdered by my Father and talk
about the differences but, in relation to the question.
For example, both movies have scenes where their children or wives have bought
shame onto the family and this had either led to being killed or not talking to
each other, at all.
Key quotes from the movie
·
Sajid Khan: "Mum! Mum! The Pakis are here!
·
The movie itself was based in 70s and this was the
time where the Asian communities would start to move to England and start
living it. When they would movie to England, it was a really hard time for them
as they would occasionally be abused racially and by their appearances. As said
by Sajid, he used the word 'Paki' which back then, the white community would call
all sorts of Asians by since there were new to the community and the white
community didn't like the fact that things were suddenly changing.
·
George Khan: "You bastard bitch. You bring
shame on the family.
Ella
Khan: "No, you should be ashamed, George. Because you're not interested in
these kids being happy. You just want to prove to everybody what a great man
you are. Because you're ashamed of me, George, and you're ashamed of our kids.
And you won't even admit it".
·
George Khan (played by the popular Om Puri)
migrated to England from Pakistan in 1937, but his wife, Ella, is Northern
English (she is played by an equally popular British actress, Linda Bassett).
Strictly speaking, Ella is his second wife, since Geroge already has a first
wife in Pakistan. The couple have six sons and a daughter, all with Asian
names. Their business, however, is an essentially English one, "George's
English Chippy", and situated in a predominantly white, working-class and terraced-house neighbourhood.
(VISIT BACK TO THE BFI LIBRARY FOR QUOTES IS
SERIOUSLY REQUIRED)
Additional Text (Goodness Gracious Me)
Conclusion
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Sum up the question / argument
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Talk about what you believe has happened and how
the movie Murdered by my Father has affected the stereotypes.
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Has it reinforced or challenged the stereotypes
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Has it created any new stereotypes for the
audience to think about?
Stereotypes to talk about
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Asian parents are conservative and strict
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Asians have bad English
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First, most modern parents' love their daughters a
lot. They might trust them but not the boys chosen by them.
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They fear that the boy would not stand strong with
their daughter, if he faces opposition from his own parents or relatives. If he
leaves their daughter midway, it will be difficult for them to get her settled
with someone else.
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Our society is still not that broad minded, to accept
a girl who has had a boyfriend and has been rejected by him.
