The Old Oak - a film review by Mo Blue

A pub landlord in a previously thriving mining community in County Durham struggles to keep his pub as the one remaining public space people can meet in the town. Meanwhile, tensions rise when Syrian refugees are placed there. A film by Ken Loach
The Old Oak and similarities I found as a black person living in the UK
Picture
I recently watched The Old Oak.  It was a difficult but important film.  It showed a former mining village that seemed like it had been abandoned.  There were no jobs, hope was fading and so when refugees arrived, a lot of the local people reacted with anger.  It seemed to create a feeling of being 'dumped on'.  Initially, it looked like racial tension to me.  That may have been the case for a small minority but it seemed liked the actual upset came from being forgotten, being dumped on and never meeting people that were different from themselves.

I could immediately see a connect from what it may have been like for my parents coming to the UK from Jamaica and also the connection for me in the UK now.
  1. Being seen as 'outsiders'. I often heard my Dad talk about the UK never really 'fitting' him, even having lived here for generations.  This was just like the refugees in the film, being made to feel that you were not welcome and you don't belong.
  2. When jobs are scarce, housing and services are cut, it's easier to blame the new arrivals than the people who actually let the communities fall apart.  People from other countries have long faced this, being blamed for problems not of their making.  My parents were called to fill jobs that could not be filled by the people of the UK.  How can it then be right to retaliate in such a way? I am sure that poverty and inequality was in the UK before they arrived.
  3.  Division can sometimes increase when people choose not to talk.  For decades, people from other countries faced signs saying 'No'.  They were denied decent housing and shut out from jobs.  I feel that this was because of the fear that people created in themselves because of the difference.  The conflict in the film appeared to be between those that clung to anger and those brave enough to treat other people as their equal.
  4. The spare room in the pub brought the village together.  When people stopped seeing labels (refugee, foreigner) and shared food, stories and work, they realised they had more in common than not.
  5. In the film, both groups wanted exactly the same things: safety, respect, a decent home and a chance for their children.  Both groups knew how it felt to be ignored and not treated like a human being.
The film reminded me:  fear builds walls, but understanding each other can build some amazing bridges.  Whether you have just arrived in the country or born here, the need to be seen, respected and safe is the same for everyone.

Mo Blue

See 'The Old Oak' free on BBC iPlayer. Warning: Strong language and some upsetting scenes.

​Back to the Racial Justice page.
​