The language of discrimination always seeks to dehumanise people; from politicians, describing people fleeing war zones as a ‘swarm’, to the impoverished sectors of society being dismissed as ‘Chavs’, words are used to lump people together as a mass and diminish them.
So it’s no surprise that when a film comes along which seeks to redress the balance - to show you the individual behind the incendiary headlines, it is met with resistance.
Palme d’Or winner I, Daniel Blake, directed by Ken Loach is such a film.
It tells the story of a man who has suffered a near fatal heart attack but fails to qualify for disability benefit, because, although his doctor has said that he is not fit to work, he doesn’t meet the right criteria. The film follows him as he comes up against frustrating bureaucracy and a nonsensical system, whereby a person who is not fit for work has to be shown to be looking for work, to qualify for jobseeker’s allowance. He befriends a single mother, Katie (Hayley Squires), who is dealing with similar issues. (There was a point in the near past when single mothers were portrayed as public enemy No.1, in the right-wing press, before they moved their focus onto migrants).
The eponymous character, Daniel Blake, is played with great verve by stand up comic, Dave Johns. Hayley Squires is brilliant too, playing a proud parent who will sacrifice anything for her children.
I, Daniel Blake has a clear, some say polemical message. But, perhaps with the plethora of ‘benefit scrounger stereotype’ programming that haunts the T.V schedules:
Benefit Street
Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away
On Benefits: : 30 Stone and Claiming (lazy, fat scrounger! - my parenthesis)
We need something to redress the balance and encourage empathy, rather than censure.
At the moment it seems as if the people who are the most vulnerable, have the least money and control over their destinies, are the ones most vilified in our society. A change in the system is needed, not charitable handouts. And the character of Daniel Blake is not looking for handouts.
Is I, Daniel Blake preaching to the converted? Will it predominantly be watched by bleeding-heart liberals like me or does it have more of a reach?
According to Wikepedia,The 1966 play Cathy Come Home, one of Ken Loach’s earliest works had the following Impact:
In the light of public reaction to the film, and following a publicity campaign led by Willam Shearman and Ian Macleod highlighting the plight of the homeless, the charity Crisis was formed the following year in 1967.
It also says:
It also says:
However, Ken Loach has said that despite the public outcry following the play, it had little practical effect in reducing homelessness other than changing rules so that homeless fathers could stay with their wives and children in hostels.
Could I, Daniel Blake have a similar impact to Cathy Come Home? Could it raise awareness and bring about a change in the system? Opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn has urged Teresa May to watch it. Some film critics are dismissing the film as unrealistic or as left-wing propaganda. Conversely, others are lauding it and saying that it’s impact is Dickensian or Orwellian.
I’d be interested to hear of any callous, self-centred Victorian having a road-to-Damascus conversion after reading Hard Times or Oliver Twist and becoming a philanthropist. (I also can’t help thinking of Oscar Wilde saying that you’d have to have a heart of stone to read of the death of Little Nell [The Old Curiosity Shop] and not laugh!)
However, I do remember my history teacher telling us that books like Jane Eyre and Nicholas Nickleby helped raise awareness of how dreadful the school system was and the need for educational reforms, so perhaps art/literature has always had the capacity to transform.
However, I do remember my history teacher telling us that books like Jane Eyre and Nicholas Nickleby helped raise awareness of how dreadful the school system was and the need for educational reforms, so perhaps art/literature has always had the capacity to transform.
As for me, I came out of the auditorium in tears, after watching I, Daniel Blake (the ladies toilet at the cinema was crammed with women, discretely dabbing at their eyes). I was embarrassed by my tears - after all, I can afford to buy sanitary towels and don’t have to sacrifice my own dinner so that my children can eat. I can also afford the £12.50 to see a film at the cinema and if you can too, I’d urge you to go and watch I, Daniel Blake. I also donated to a food bank the next day. This article has ideas for other ways people can help:
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