Britains Lower Class Kids - Would Like the Tour, Please.

November 17, 2008 3:31 AM

Movies about Britain's Lower Class children and the society they live in?

Having read about a British minister coining the phrase *feral children* who've gone wild, where most of the population now fears them for the crimes they commit and their *anti-social* behaviors, my curiousity is peaked. Where can I find videos and movies that depict the lower class/poverty level society in Britain with the main focus on the children that grow up in that environment and their behaviors? Not looking for YOBS - just the kids that raised in these families - ages 0-12 and how they act out.

posted by watercarrier to society & culture (21 comments total)

This is England.
posted by misteraitch at 3:45 AM on November 17, 2008

The Up Series "consists of a series of documentary films that have followed the lives of fourteen British children since 1964, when they were seven years old. The children were selected to represent the range of socio-economic backgrounds in Britain at that time, with the explicit assumption that each child's social class predetermines their future."
posted by not_on_display at 4:01 AM on November 17, 2008

On the comedy side - Shameless.

Also, I think your interest is piqued, rather than peaked. /grammar nerd
posted by Happy Dave at 4:05 AM on November 17, 2008 [1 favorite]

I've not seen it, but I suspect Somers Town by the same director also qualifies.

It's a comedy, but you could also try the series Shameless. When I was a community worker on housing estates in Coventry, I couldn't watch it because it was too close to the lives of the people I was working with.

You do know that this is probably media hype playing with people's perceptions, right? Some prominent youth organisations are doing their damdest to try to counter views like this. We are criminalising children in this country just for being children and it is wrong.
posted by Helga-woo at 4:06 AM on November 17, 2008

Ack preview - Somers Town is by the same director as This is England.
posted by Helga-woo at 4:06 AM on November 17, 2008

OK - maybe I need to be really specific - looking for documentaries about families that raise these kids.

Oh Happy Dave - you're right - thanks :)
posted by watercarrier at 4:27 AM on November 17, 2008

Sweet Sixteen Ken Loach managing not to be too didactic for once in a fantastic film about being the child in a family fucked up by drugs and prison.
posted by Abiezer at 4:32 AM on November 17, 2008

The UK series of The Secret Millionaire isn't expressly about these children, but does show the communities from which they originate. (The idea of the show is a millionaire goes "undercover" into a poorer community to find out what life is like there, and to find either an individual or organization to whom to gift a rather large sum of their personal funds).
posted by InfinateJane at 5:08 AM on November 17, 2008

Ratcatcher comes to mind.
posted by kickingtheground at 6:29 AM on November 17, 2008

Came here to say what not_on_display said. Do watch the up series, everyone!
posted by meijusa at 6:38 AM on November 17, 2008

seconding Ratcatcher and Sweet Sixteen, though they're both works of fiction.
posted by scruss at 6:59 AM on November 17, 2008

Scum, if only for the posters!
posted by dansdata at 7:38 AM on November 17, 2008

You could also look at the C4 documentary Wife Swap. Every so often there are families that might fit the bill.
posted by patricio at 8:10 AM on November 17, 2008

(ok, maybe "documentary" is pushing it for Wife Swap)
posted by patricio at 8:10 AM on November 17, 2008

Not docus:
posted by Iteki at 10:27 AM on November 17, 2008

Oh no.... Beautiful Thing and Grange Hill.
posted by Iteki at 10:28 AM on November 17, 2008

Not a film, sorry, but you might be interested in this feature that showed up on the BBC website today:

The Estate, Living, working and growing up on Seacroft. Real stories of life on one of Britain's biggest and most deprived housing estates.
posted by afx237vi at 1:35 PM on November 17, 2008

You can still watch the Channel 4 Cutting Edge documentary, "Rich Kid, Poor Kid" on their Catch-Up service. It will give an insight into the home life of an pretty under-privileged teenager (not sure if she fits the 'feral' tag - if, indeed, any of them do... ).

You could also try Kidulthood
posted by mairuzu at 1:39 PM on November 17, 2008

At least some of the BBC documentary series Child of our time will fit the bill. It features kids from a range of social classes. The idea is that the series follows the kids from when they were born (2000) until they are adults.
posted by jonesor at 5:07 AM on November 18, 2008

Mock-u-mentary maybe?

The Royle Family.
posted by micklaw at 5:14 AM on November 18, 2008

Adulthood and Kidulthood.
posted by fire&wings at 2:42 PM on November 19, 2008