For Paul Gilroy's theory on Post-Colonialism, he discusses how culture in Britain is a mixture of African, American, Caribbean and British because of the British Empire and the colonies that she once held. That said culture can be spread into the media through cinema, and a clear example of this can be seen in both Paddington films; Paddington (King, 2014) and Paddington 2 (King, 2017)
One clear example within the first movie in which the film has signs of culture being sprinkled into Britain is the frequent occurrence of the Caribbean band throughout the film. Even though they are not in their country, they're wearing their traditional clothes from their countries culture, which is a clear indication that their cultured is being shared throughout Britain. We also know this from the numerous times that the band breaks the 4th wall and interacts with Paddington and he always responds friendly tipping his hat to them; though this may just be that Paddington is nice to anyone he meets. One key theme in the film is the migrating of others from one country to another. This is obviously seen with Paddington as he is from Peru and travels to the UK following an Earthquake, but along with him he brings his favourite desserts marmalade, which he introduces to the Brown family who take him in. Another character this can be seen with in the film is the antique shop owner Mr Gruber played by Jim Broadbent. In the film his nationality is Hungarian and through a little flashback in the film, he explains that he fled his country during a time of war and was taken in by a British family himself. Both him and Paddington are given the representation of friendly and unusual, but the reason they're presented as that is because they still hold beliefs that originate from their country of birth. Therefore, the representation the film has of different nationalities is an overall positive as they are clearly welcomed and admired by other characters throughout the movie.
Another example in the second movie which has signs of post-colonialism is via the prisoners that are presented throughout Paddington's time in prison. Throughout the prison as a whole, there are many people from different backgrounds, but apart from one of the side characters who is French, we are unsure of where they're from, so we assume that they're born within the UK because of Britain's colonial history. Through the different ethnicities it also clear that white isn't the dominant ethnicity anymore because in the prison their equality of screen time is shared with other ethnicities such as Indian and African. This can be a sign of the migration of the nationalities during post-colonial Britain as the UK slowly becomes more and more diverse. In the film, when Knuckles and Paddington are wondering whether any of the prisoners know any other unique foods to cook the first person to stand up is of Indian descent. To me, this is a clear choice by the people working behind the scenes as it would make more sense for someone of Indian descent to spread their culture then for someone born in this country. This is also a sign that post-colonial Britain is becoming more inclusive to the descendants of individuals who the UK may have treated terribly in the past.
Overall, both Paddington movies are extremely positive when it comes to representing individuals from ethnicities of Post-Colonial countries. They treat the characters not by their background, but by their characters which benefits the films overall as it gives the film a sense of realism and inclusiveness that most films with post-colonial themes tend to ignore.
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