ON The face of it, BBC2's White
Season seemed an interesting, if
slightly patronising and potentially
divisive, idea.
Some of it, such as the film White Girl,
which featured a family struggling to
settle into a council house in a Muslim
area they had been moved into, relied
heavily on stereotypes that no doubt
exist, but that we knew about already.
Maybe the middle-class makers of this
programme didn't, though.
advertisement
The documentary Last Orders,
however, was moving, revealing, well
filmed and, at times, discomforting.
American Henry Singer seemed an
unusual choice to make a film about a
struggling working men's club on the
outskirts of Bradford and the lives of its
members. Surprisingly, he displayed
more understanding, compassion and
sensitivity than your typical
documentary-maker, to the extent he
ended up staying in the area for six
months, joining Wibsey WMC and
drinking there out of choice.
The members of my dad's old WMC in
Yorkshire were watching this on Friday
night, according to my mum. They
would have identified with what was
going on and opinion would have
been varied. Most though, would have
agreed with those who emerged as the
main speakers.
Four WMCs a week are going out of
business - membership at Wibsey has
dropped from 1,000 to 400 - with
reasons given ranging from the
smoking ban, the decline of industry
and the resulting unemployment to the
lack of a sense of community and
multiculturalism.
George, the club secretary, looks
appalled when a '70s dressing-up
night is suggested to draw the crowds.
His lips quiver as he is accused of
living in the Dark Ages while the club
loses money hand over fist.
Eddie and his son Paul blame
immigration for the fact they don't
have the money for a bag of chips
(maybe the foreign chippy owners have
put the prices up), while another longtime
member says he's managed to
pull himself up from his working-class
roots, listing his mobile phone,
landline, house and car as evidence of
his new position as Lord of the Manor.
"Leave the beer and cigarettes alone
and the working class will vote for
you," says another chap who doesn't
want "millionaire" Prime Ministers
telling him what to do, while another
says David Cameron has no chance of
being elected now he's "gone all
Greenpeace".
The general opinion is that the country
is on its knees, but when it comes to
racism the members of Wibsey WMC
are adamant they are not guilty. "The
majority of people are incredibly fair
and it's just that we have been the
forgotten people for so long. I'm not a
racist, but the ethnic community seems
to be favoured more than the
indigenous people of Wibsey. It
saddens me to say it, but it's true. I feel
betrayed by the Labour Party,"
committee man Glen says, articulately
explaining his thoughts, but clearly
afraid to overstep the mark. In fact,
there's a lot of fear on display here.
Meanwhile, Eddie's son Paul, who
believes the BNP is the party most likely
to do anything about his situation,
says: "What can you smell round here
now instead of Sunday roasts? Stinking
curry. It's their country now. They've
taken over it."
"You wouldn't smell Sunday roast
round here anyway," retorts Eddie,
revealing more than he realises.
It's left to the documentary-maker
himself to wrap up the story. "I know
that the world can't stand still, but
when things evolve something is always
lost," he says.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
