My Beautiful Laundrette

This is Sarah. I watched the movie The Beautiful Laundrette for class. This movie discussed social issues ranging from sexual orientation, race. gender, religion, social class, gender, and power. I was surprised at how radical this movie was because it was made in the 1980's, the decade of conservatism.

The Beautiful Laundrette took place in London, England in 1985. Johnny (Daniel Day Lewis) and Omar (Saeed Jaffrey) come from two completely different backgrounds. Johnny is an English hood rat and Omar comes from a successful Pakistani family. The two have a sexual relationship, but are forced to keep it a secret. Omar's family runs a laundromat in which they deal drugs. The laundromat is solely a cover up.

Johnny and Omar's relationship is a roller coaster throughout the movie. Social pressure is the thing that keeps them apart. Omar's Pakistani culture forces him to get married to a woman. Women in Pakistani culture are treated as inferior. Omar's father had a mistress and treated his wife like garbage. Johnny is never fully accepted by Omar's family.

The climax of the movie is when Omar's cousin runs over Johnny's old friend's foot. This action shows the power of social class in society and the status's it instills. Johnny's friends then went to the laundromat and beat up Omar's cousin. At that moment, money did not matter. Power meant nothing. The inferior group had the authority.

The Beautiful Laundrette also conveyed the social issue of immigration. The Pakistanis moved to England from their home country for better opportunities. Now, that the immigrants were making more money than the English, the issue of power came into question.

It is apparent that no matter what circumstance, there was always be a power struggle. This movie is a fantastic culmination of many social issues. Its message is strong: intolerance will only breed hate.