Sapphire

Sapphire is a 1959 British crime drama. The film is about a pregnant girl who was found dead. Sapphire appears to be white , but her brother arrives at the police station to give evidence and he is black. It then becomes evident to the police officers that this girl has been 'passing for white'. This film reveals the underlying insecurities and fears of ordinary people that exist towards another race, the black race especially.

In the film black people are presented negatively and are perceived as beings that obtain negative attributes. As the film progresses, there is a constant reference to the word 'coloured' to describe black people. This suggests that a majority of black people were seen as foreign people and that if you are black you are different. The detective says towards the beginning of the film that 'I think she died because she was coloured'. This reflects the racist attitudes during that time and shows how negative people were towards black people. There was almost an outrage at the thought of white individuals marrying someone from another culture due to the amount of negativity attached to it. Therefore, this set a boundary to love during that era as it was almost 'impossible' to be in love with an individual that was a different race/colour from you.

The fact that Sapphire used a different identity by 'passing for white' shows that she was ashamed of her colour or knew that there were negative stereotypes attached to her race. The film implies that it was a disgrace to be associated with a 'coloured' person because it is a negative thing to be black and they are much different from white individuals solely because of the colour of their skin and it also tarnishes the reputation of the person being associated with the 'coloured' person.

It was a mind blowing concept to grasp considering white people would actually marry someone from another culture and of different colour due to the amount of negative stereotypes related to it. There seems to be an unspoken law that there should be no mixing of race relations and there was a boundary to love during that era as it was almost impossible and unthinkable to be in love with an person that was of a different race/colour from you.

Overall, the film was made to educate people and to show people that such attitudes towards black people were wrong. Although it has gotten better considering that we have moved on from those times. Black people were also seen as subordinates and below white people simply because of their skin colour and they were not allowed to be free in their own environment.

Pressure

Set in Ladbroke Grove, West London, an area with a large Caribbean population since the 1950s, Pressure explores the ingestion of Caribbean people into British society.
The film focuses on one black Caribbean teenager, and his attempt to find his way in a white-dominated society. As Anthony's initially high hopes are repeatedly dashed - he cannot find work anywhere; potential employers treat him with suspicion because of his colour - his sense of remoteness grows. While his family come from Trinidad, Anthony was born in Britain and is British. When a Black awareness meeting is violently raided by the police, and Anthony sees these 'organised forces of repression' at work, his political awakening begins.

1. What event occurred in the 1970s and 1980s that represent the presence of racial tensions?
The 1970s and 1980s were decades of conflict and collisions in British society. It was a period of widespread unemployment on behalf on the Caribbean people which seriously affected them economically. Discrimination and poverty were also issues that sparked a series of riots in Black-British communities such as Brixton, Tottenham and Notting Hill Gate.

2. Why do you think Pressure was made?
Pressure was made to show a social awakening of young, black British men and women, which focuses on the changing attitudes of White British people towards Black British people. It also shows the changing economical and political situation of Britain in 1970s and 1980s. This is shown through Tony's brother Colin in the film Pressure. He tries to get young black people to join together to change the system, the way black people were treated everyday in their society. The film also highlights the difficulty of getting a respectable job as a young black person despite having many qualifications. The character Tony is shown to have difficulties getting a job as a secretary mainly because he is black, and his friends who are white got a job as soon as they left school.

3. What examples of racism are represented in Pressure?

Racism is represented very clearly in Pressure. The first example we see is when Tony explains that he has been going to numerous job interviews since he left school but as soon as he leaves the interview, he never hears back from them. Further example is shown when he goes to a interview and because his name looked English on paper the employer assumes he must be white, and because he is black he is not given an opportunity.
Another example is, when Tony goes with his friend Sheila to where she is presumably renting a room with a white woman, and she refuses to let Tony in her house when she sees. However when she is questioned why, she doesn't give a clear reason except for 'I just don't want them kind of people here'. This suggests that young Black people in the 1970s-1980s were all thought of as criminals or rogues who do harm to the society.
Lastly, the scene where Colin and his group have a meeting with young black people in a community hall and a group of police arrest a lot of them for no reason particularly. They also portray black people badly in the newspapers by claiming that many white people were injured by black people when it was the reverse that happened. This shows that the police thought they could do whatever they wanted to black people and if they didn't like how they were treated they will be forced to leave the country. It was a way of making black people feeling uncomfortable without saying anything.

4. How does the theme of collective identity come across in Pressure?
The theme of collective identity is shown at the breakfast scene when the Caribbean born and bred Colin accuses Tony of trying to be white by eating fish and chips instead of the traditional Caribbean food. He says 'this is what we eat back home' he tries to encourage Tony to be part of the collective identity of Black British people by eating the same foods they all eat.
In the same way, Colin tries to encourage to join him in campaigning for Black rights because he is black. Colin tries to explain to explain to Tony that he can't be black and still be influenced by white culture, he has to represent his Black culture.

5. How do you think Pressure differs from mainstream representations of black Britons?

The film Pressure differs as it aims to show Black Britons as victims instead of the representation that most young black people are violent and dangerous. Black people in the film are showed in uncomfortable situations where they have to fight to get any solution.