Borders and Belonging ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’
‘My Beautiful Laundrette’ 1985, directed by Stephen Frears and written by Hanif Kureishi is a comedy drama, set in the suburban areas of London under Thatcher’s administration. The film’s narrative follows protagonist Omar (Gordon Warnecke), a second-generation Pakistani in Britain, who must bring his uncle Nasser’s failing laundrette to profit amid familial tensions and an unconventional relationship with Johnny (Daniel Day Lewis), a white national and punk. The film deals with social issues such as racism, homosexuality, identity and the economic climate’s effect on Britain.
From the very start of the film, it is explicitly implied it will centre on the idea of being one – or belonging within a community. We are introduced to Johnny and his fellow punk friend squatting in a house. The mise en scene of their costumes signifies the pair as outsiders – they are instantly identifiable as punks with their shaven ‘Mohican’ hairstyles and dark, leathery attire. Though the 80s were notorious for a rise in punk culture and gang communes, punks were still outcasts of society and not socially well-perceived – particularly under the conservative gaze of Thatcher’s government. And perhaps rightly so, due to these groups anti-social and often extremist right-wing political agenda. The nature of their eviction from their illegal residence is symbolic of this as they are driven out rather violently by antagonist Salim’s men. The fact Salim exerts more power in this particular scene – over that of Johnny is indicative of their changing times of Britain – the rising importance of capitalist ‘rat race’ and a decline in the importance of the race of the ‘rats’ involved. We are then introduced to Omar, who nurses over his drunkard father in a dingy, council estate apartment. The death of his mother still hangs in the air – the roaring train tracks serving as a constant reminder outside, becoming a symbol of the destructive power of a husband upon his wife. It is a train Omar’s mum is killed with – and it is implied Tania, Nasser’s daughter, meets the very same end and willingly too. The train could be considered to be a phallic image and therefore it’s killing of the two women could represent female’s subjugation under the patriarchal society. As well as this, the train suggests a sense of modernisation in the 80s, the rushing, hustle and bustle of London’s metropolis and the need to take off – and leave behind one’s roots in pursuit for fortune.
Omar’s ‘papa’ warns him against spending too long working with his brother Nasser, whom he calls a ‘crook’. He mentions that ‘(they) are under siege by the white man’ and that ‘education is power’. Here, Omar’s father recognises that racial tension exists between the Asian and black communities alongside the dominant white in Britain. He is represented as a hypocritical figure – eager to reap the rewards of a democratic society whilst simultaneously holding xenophobic views. In contrast to this, Nasser, his brother seems to be embracing western culture and society. As a successful businessman, Nasser declares ‘But that country's been sodomised by religion. It's beginning to interfere with the making of money. Compared with everywhere... it's a little heaven, here.’ (When discussing Pakistani and Britain). It is with irony that Nasser appears to oppose the doctrines of religion, yet refers to Britain as a little ‘heaven’. It enforces the fact Nasser exists with firm Capitalist beliefs. He refers to the making of money and seems to hold it in the highest regard – it is the most important aspect of life – rather than morality of which religion promotes. Nasser is the epitome of a capitalist. He lords over his relatives with a patriarchal iron fist and takes a mistress in the form of Rachel. Rachel is a classic example of a middle class aspirer – common in the time of Thatcher where the middle classes were provided with greater opportunities to accumulate wealth as the divide with the poor grew. Rachel is dressed in white furs – both a symbol of wealth and a statement of white superiority. Nasser seeks the need to take a mistress to empower his king-like ego as well as to legitimise himself as a decent English ‘businessman’, with an English girlfriend. Like the rest of the females in ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’, Nasser’s wife is portrayed as longs-suffering. She represents the families old life in Pakistan – still accustomed to Pakistani traditions and Asian morals and is neglected by her husband – representing his abandoning of the old and embracing of the West. Nasser has abandoned the Islamic ways of his culture – he drinks and attends bars and is unfaithful to his family and wife.
There are clear tensions between the Pakistani characters within ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’ and the white punks who are friends with Johnny. In the end, the punks seek revenge on the family by beating up Salim and vandalising the laundrette. They feel threatened by Johnny’s switch in alliance and the fact he chooses to favour his relationship with Omar, rather than keep to them and their extremist ways. It is clear they feel a great amount of animosity toward the Asian community: ‘why are you working for them? Pakis.’ The Pakistani’s are referred to with this racist epithet for the duration of the movie. The subjugation of non-white races is presented by the fact Salim is smashed to the ground by vengeful punks and crawls shamefully away in fear.
During the conservative era of Thatcher’s Britian, the hegemonic and social norm was to lead a heterosexual lifestyle. Omar opposes this by maintaining a homosexual relationship with Johnny. It is implied Omar’s father is aware of his son’s homosexuality or at least jokes about it ‘fix him up with a nice girl…I’m not sure his penis is in full working order.’
