Britishness Britishness is the state or quality of being British or of representing British characteristics, it’s used to refer to that which binds and distinguishes the British people and forms the basis of their unity and identity, or else to explain expressions of British culture such as habits, behaviours or symbols that have a common, familiar or iconic quality readily identifiable with the United Kingdom.
The images below show the traditional side of Britishness and how people from all over the world believe Britain to be like. However it also shows the real side to Britain, the reality in which many people do not know around the world. For example the traditional English lunch typically consists of: fish, chips and peas. Although this is the most traditional favored meal in the UK, it’s no longer a main dish that every UK resident eats. However, according to recent studies, curry is now one of the most desired meals in England. One of the reasons for this is because Britain and especially London is now one of the most diverse countries in the world and the community has become very integrated. The spice girls are a very popular girl band who possess eccentric mannerisms, which reflect young female girls today.
However, in reality there are many prostitutes who have a bad influence on the younger generation.
This is one of the most iconic buildings in Britain; much of the political activities take place within this building. This is a council estate in which many people live in; the majority of people that live in these estates are black and white working class families. Living in these estates can become very dangerous as groups of young youths gather together and make gangs and can get into crime and into drugs.
The queen is an iconic idol, as she is very well known mainly because the Royal Family in Britain attracts a lot of international attention. She is royal and very special as she makes Britain a unique country. The traditional view of Britain’s people and Queen Elizabeth is that they have some sort of contact with each other and have gatherings with one another, thinking that the Queen is responsible for them.
However in reality citizens of Great Britain do not get to meet with any member of the royal family because the royal family are very precious to the country and are always followed by high security to protect them from people that may hurt them. Therefore citizens of the UK are cared for by the government.
The images below show different peoples realities of Britishness, they are examples of films that fall into the Gritty British realism genre. Gritty British realism is the genre in which a director presents the reality of the darker aspects of the UK. Some of the representations may be exaggerated and not very fair but the main purpose of this genre is to show how living in Britain is really like rather than believing that Britain is a fairytale land. Pride & Prejudice: This film is a good example of the traditional view of Britishness. It shows the simple lifestyle of British people before the 21st century. It presents: Wealthy people Greenland Posh dialect Quiet society English populated Brick Lane: This film however is an example of the ‘real’ view of Britishness. It shows the dark side of the UK. It presents: Poorer people Big dark buildings Pollution English speakers with other accents Noisy society Diversity