Peaky Blinders - Media Language - Genre

Genre

A type of media product that present codes and conventions in a way that provides very specific audience pleasures

Peaky Blinders genre

• Can be classed as cross-genre or hybrid long form TV drama

• It has many characteristics of the Gangster subgenre

• This differs from other crime genres in that it focuses on the personal lives of a criminal family

• Can also be classed as a historical drama as the production design evokes a specific time period and location of Birmingham in 1919. It explores social and political issues at the time

Steven Knight and genre

He said each season is based around another movie genre. In season 1, he said he was inspired by the Western.

Gangster conventions in Peaky Blinders

• Family loyalty

• The protagonist

• The antagonist

• Patriarch/ Matriarch

• The Narrative

Family loyalty

This is very important for the Shelby’s, no matter who/what the enemy/law is, the Shelby’s are devoted to protecting the family

The protagonist

Tommy is a cool, quiet but ambitious antihero who uses intelligence and violence to gain power in his family.

Tommy is a man of a few words, this is shown when:

• He says to Arthur “That’s what I do, I think.”

• His plan to inflate the value of the racehorse, despite Arthur’s concerns, illustrates his ingenuity

Antagonist

• Inspector campbell

Subverts conventions of crime dramas, He is the investigator which is usually a protagonist role and he is disrupting the protagonist - the criminals which is usually the antagonist role

His torture of arthure, sermon to the police potray him as a binary opposite to Tommy

Patriarch/Matriarch

Aunt Polly plays this role as the Matriach.

Another stock gangster genre character is the less smart, more violent sibling of the hero - in this case, Arthur - playing another binary opposition to the protagonist

The narrative

Typical of the gangster genre:

• The power of the criminal gang is threatened, by other gangs, the law and threats within. The main characters must pull together to survive

Where these gangster themes are shown in PB

• Tommy’s robbery backfired, and brought Campbell to Birmingham.

• Communists, the IRA and other gangs are seen as threats to manifest later in the season

• Grace catches Tommy’s eye, opening a possibility of romance and betrayal

What does a long form TV drama allow?

More subplots, characters and complexity to a generic narrative

References to the western genre

• Tommy’s ride through the streets

• townspeople dashing to hide when he arrives, then lingering to watch the drama

• The ruthless enforcer vs mob boss’ set up, aswell as the 1920s setting and costume recall The untouchables

Knight- black hole for TV production in the middle of the country

Knight said that in the midlands there is a ‘cultural cringe’ about their location and identities.

Whilst Liverpool and Manchester have celebrated their histories, there have been very few TV shows set in the Midlands, particulary Birmingham

Production design

Is spectacular and Lush, the costumes primarily having an impact on mainstream fashion, the sets, costume and decor is a convention of the historical drama - Downtown Abbey