The Representation of Pakistanis in My beautiful Laundrette (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2001 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2,0 (B), Ruhr-University of Bochum (Englisches Seminar), course: An Introduction to Commonwealth Studies through Film, 4 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Introduction

The construction of minorities in films has always been a delicate task for all moviemakers. Race, class and gender have to be created by the media in a special way so that anybody knows that there are outcasts who are represented by cinematic devices. How are outsiders or foreigners represented in a movie? How do cinematic devices, e.g. shots, narration, camera movements, cuts, mise-en-scène (setting, lighting, costumes, actors), sound and genre-expectations lead to a special kind of descriptions of minorities?

The aim of this written paper is to find out how a special group of foreigners, the Pakistanis, are represented in the movie My beautiful Laundrette. Are there any hints that they are shown as the prejudices of the English in the 80s, especially the young ones, see them? Or does the director take side with the Pakistanis? In order to find out how the movie works, one has to start with its author, Hanif Kureishi. His autobiographical elements contributed much to the narration.