Abstract
This paper will investigate, analyse and comment upon the various layers of performance in Pride. An intertextual discursive approach, which will encompass the film Pride itself, contemporary historical footage and critical reception, will be used to address how multiple examples and definitions of performance combine within and outside of the film text to create meaning and encourage activism. Two performance theories will be applied.Firstly, the work by philosopher and linguist, J.L. Austin, defined certain utterances as ‘performative’ (for example “I do” spoken during a wedding ceremony) because in saying what the person is doing, they perform that action. Secondly, Erving Goffman’s research into the centrality of performance traditions in everyday social life remains influential nearly sixty years after it was first published. Applying these two theories to Pride allows the complex layers of performance in the film to develop.As a result, this paper will focus on certain themes: performative activism where gay pride marches and the miners’ strikes are reconstructed and, therefore, commemorated; musical performance and how it is used to create solidarity and a sense of community; and performative identity related to lesbian and gay identity (of which the performative process of ‘coming out’ is a part). The discussion will conclude that in these ways, through performative acts, the film is ‘showing’ an audience what political protest and acceptance ‘looks like’ and how it should be promoted.
Highlights
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Erving Goffman’s research into the centrality of performance traditions in everyday social life remains influential nearly sixty years after it was first published. Applying these two theories to Pride allows the complex layers of performance in the film to develop
This paper will focus on certain themes: performative activism where gay pride marches and the miners’ strikes are reconstructed and, commemorated; musical performance and how it is used to create solidarity and a sense of community; and performative identity related to lesbian and gay identity
Summary
This paper will investigate, analyse and comment upon the various layers of performance in Pride. Some examples that will be expanded in my analysis of the film include: the ‘Pits and Perverts’ benefit concert that LGSM organised for the miners, the performative acts of social activism in the organised marches, the actors’ portrayals of ‘real life’ people, historical re-enactments and other theatrical ways of displaying the self By interrogating how these different layers of performance interact within the film, this article aims to deepen our understanding of how Pride addresses the spectator to use its repository of images to further their acceptance and tolerance toward marginalised identities and as inspiration for how to mobilise and engage in meaningful social protest
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