In the first episode we're being introduced to the residents of the streets. Some are seen committing crimes such as shop lifting and attempting to raise money to support themselves and families. Shoplifter Danny is being returned to prison after breaking and anti-social behaviour order, while Fugi, another resident, takes free magazines from a hotel lobby and tries to sell them on the streets.
The programme also shows a demonstration of how to steal designer clothes and remove the security tags. The programme also sets focus on the street's sense of community, showing "White-Dee" styled as the "mother" of the street taking responsibility in helping others, giving people advice and attempts to help Fugi with his drug habit.
Even though the programme shows both the ups and downs of living on benefits it harvested a lot of criticism. Some said the programme was like an "old Victorian freak show" or "Poverty porn"saying the programme misrepresented the residents showing them as "lazy", living on benefits and not trying to get a job. Other's threatened violence towards the residents in the programme, where on Twitter you could find comments such as "I want to walk down £BenefitsStreet with a baseball bat and brain a few of these scum bags."The documentary is narrated by Tony Hirst and presented in a fly-on-the-wall documentary format that follows a year in the lives of the residents of James Turner Street. It's shot by using a lot of handheld camerawork and natural lighting, making the documentary look realistic and gritty. They've also used a lot of close up's to underline people's feelings.
I liked the camera work, the style of storytelling and that they make it feel realistic and not staged, and the characters. That said, I'm not too fan of the series as a whole as I find myself agreeing with a lot of the criticism of the programme saying that they painted an unfair picture of the residents.
//Images and source material\\
No comments:
Post a Comment