Pride (2014 film) Literary Elements

Matthew Warchus

Ben Schnetzer, George MacKay

Imelda Staunton, Bill Nighy, Dominic West, Andrew Scott, Paddy Considine

Comedy, Historical

English

Queer Palm at Cannes, nominated Best British Film, Best Supporting Actress, and Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer at the BAFTAs

May 23, 2014

David Livingstone

London and Wales during the miners' strike, 1984

Uplifting, comic, politically charged, witty

Protagonist: Joe, Mark, and the rest of the LGSM; Antagonist: Maureen and the homophobic miners, Margaret Thatcher

The overarching conflict is a political one: both homosexuals and members of the working class—specifically the miners—are fighting to be treated equally by the state, but are being marginalized and ignored by Thatcherism. Then, there are political conflicts within the movement. In Onllwyn, only some of the miners are open to receiving help from the gay community, with others going out of their way to block any help from the LGSM. There are also interpersonal and specific conflicts faced by each of the characters.

The climax occurs at the end when the miners arrive at the gay pride parade to march with the LGSM.

The fact that Joe's family is prejudiced against his homosexuality is foreshadowed by their conservative attitudes at the start of the film.

At many points throughout the film, the huge divide between the world of the working class and the gay community, as well as the respective struggles faced by both, are understated. Often, characters make jokes out of tragic or intense political battles so as to muster the courage to fight back against injustice.

Allusions to '80s culture, to gay culture, to British political history, and to working-class solidarity.

At first, many of the members of the LGSM do not want to work with the miners because the working class are the very people who made them feel the most alienated because of their sexuality.