Working class films for middle class desires: power distribution, escape and damage in Billy Elliot, Brassed Off and the Full Monty

This dissertation examines the representations of the working class in three British films made in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They are Brassed Off (1996), The Full Monty (1997), and Billy Elliot (2000). Although the films purport to be championing the working class, this dissertation will show how the films are more suited to a middle class audience as the working class is
largely portrayed in a negative light. The reason the working class is portrayed in a negative light is so the hierarchical class divides remain in place and the working class are placed at the bottom of the social pile, subservient to the middle and upper class.