For those who aren’t members of the aristocracy in the UK (i.e. the vast majority), the external expectation of those less frequented with British truisms can become a little tiresome; it seems that we all have shrines dedicated to ‘Her Majesty the Queen' and bow our heads in her honor when gathered for a meal. We don’t bathe in your typical water, but in a lukewarm bath full of tea, and we are so reserved and stiff-upper-lipped that we dare not say anything at all. Whether it be the BBC’s pomposity, the result of Dickens' or Austen's literature, the Royal family, or years of colonialism, the British way of life is far more akin to Oliver Twist’s salt of the earth "apples and pears" than Pride and Prejudice’s nobleman, Mr. Darcy, and his gallivanting stallions.

Director Shane Meadows has built a legacy off painting a true portrait of everything the Union Jack actually represents through the art of film. Meadows is the man behind the likes of This Is England, Dead Man’s Shoes, A Room for Romeo Brass, as well as the critically acclaimed This Is England TV series. Through his typically low-budget movies, the British filmmaker provides grit-infused illustrations of everyday working-class life, thus offering an entirely disparate outlook on British culture than your average period piece about rich Brits like Bridgerton or The Crown.

Away from the Palaces and the Castles

Dead Man's Shoes
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Away from the Palaces and the Castles of immensely popular British period dramas like Downton Abbey, The Favourite, Braveheart, and the like, which are no doubt partly responsible for championing and perpetuating the typecast, Meadows’ movies utilize the more ordinary, humble settings of England. Predominantly set in the heart of working-class communities, in relatively impoverished areas, This is England, Dead Man’s Shoes, TwentyFourSeven, and A Room for Romeo Brass are positioned against the backdrop of pebbledash and Northern council housing, the UK’s answer to the projects. 1950s post-war, functional architecture was designed to house the country’s poorest in the most ‘cost-effective’ way possible — a scheme dotted all over the British Isles.

Related: These Are Some of the Best Movies About Class Consciousness

Meadows has a dedication to incorporating a multi-faceted view of the neglected areas of the community, one of those being the British café, not of the sleek Parisian kind, but of the traditional “greasy spoon.” Places where the gray, undecorated walls and steamed-up windows, long-bench tables with laminate gingham cloths take center stage; places like the fish and chip shop with a sign that’s semi-peeling off and British Legion men’s clubs, with their snooker tables, darts boards, and cheap lager on tap.

While these decrepit areas symbolize a bygone era, built by people harboring hopes of a better future, they signify a case of sad irony, now only housing those with shattered dreams, and those on the dole. Meadows brings the gritty realism of British culture to the very heart of his screenplays; he represents the misrepresented, and underrepresented, and depicts scenes from Barnsley and Birmingham to Brixton and beyond.

Kids, Immigrants, and Skinheads

The kid in This is England
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Meadows is regularly compared to the iconic English filmmaker, Ken Loach (I, Daniel Blake, Kes, and The Wind that Shakes the Barley) who, like the former, lays bare the reality of the British societal underbelly. Nomad kids from messed up family lives, immigrants attempting to fit in with the British way of life, and the exploration of subcultures like Skinheads of the 1980s. Meadows’ subjects are both diverse and reflective of a country that cannot be marginalized, yet they all share one key similarity — they are all working class.

The truth is, British culture is different depending on where you look and, more specifically, on social class. As a direct result of this pre-conceived notion that people have to be pigeonholed based on their job, education, and financial background, the UK did and still does find itself with factions celebrating contrasting ideas with there being little in the way of a dialogue.

The Portrayal of Influence

This is England cast
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At the forefront of Meadows' films is the idea that British culture can’t be simply defined. Due to the process of diversity and multiculturalism that society has undergone, influences on culture extend beyond Britain. The ska music and reggae that feature heavily in his pictures draw upon Black, Jamaican musical artistry, and cuisines have been adopted from around the globe, specifically in the instances of India and South Asia. He delves into the fact that British culture, well, isn’t all that British, and that there has always been an uphill struggle for identity in comparison to those who originate from other countries and have ready-made cultural reference points.

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In This is England, Meadows tries to disentangle a convoluted societal system that reminds the working class through skinhead culture that they still have a voice, and that they must fight against the Thatcherite government, and the right-wing extremists trying to infiltrate the originally accepting and liberal views of their group. John Lennon’s song Working Class Hero comes to mind; it includes the verse

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TVAnd you think you're so clever and classless and freeBut you're still f*cking peasants as far as I can seeA working-class hero is something to be

Like Lennon initially was before him, Meadows is a classic case of a working-class hero. Meadows’ entire filmography can be embodied by the former Beatles' lyrics, which capture the poignant sentiment of the disenfranchisement of the working class towards the powers that be, and the emergence of their own subculture. That subculture is on full display in Meadows' great oeuvre.