Post-colonialism

The daily mail states that "it was an unpleasant mix of contempt, misanthropy and thinly disguised racism". In the opening ceremony this was supposed to be a representation of how the current generation is now but as the organisers found an educated white middle-aged mother and black father living together with a happy family they thought this was a set-up. Colonialism was a period of history in the 15th centuries when people declared that there land was their, they had power and made money from the national resources.Post-colonialism is what has happened since the 1950 empire, that now Britain is a multi-cultural country. In the last 60 years people from around the world have been coming here as refugees or to stay in a safer country, we are as multi-cultural as we'll ever be in the societies but some still view that Britain was how it was 60 years ago. Because for an example, if a white British was to travel abroad to a place like India they would be treated with a lot of respect and have a higher status. They'd be invited to big luxury restaurants and hotels ect. Therefore, not many people still consider Britain as being 'equal'. Therefore, when it comes to the Olympic opening ceremony the media such as the daily mail was against this and really conclude that this is not how the multi-cultural society is depicted today. For an example, the theorists Alvarado (1987) stated the key themes in racial representation about black people.

Exotic- traditional clothes, carnivals. Dangerous- gangs, drugs. Humorous- comedians, sidekicks. The one I found interesting was Pitied where in the Comic Relief white people help the black people in places like Afria who are stuck in poverty. This is not a set-up as it's celebrities and white people who are making a show and donating as much money possible to help the people in need. Moreover, as we are living in a multi-cultural society this allows different cultures to mix in very well and usually different races tend to get married. There are happy black and white people living together today, just because it's depicted in the media as different doesn't mean realistically it doesn't happen. We don't live in the past, but in the presence.