Trainspotting context pt.2

• When did Trainspotting come out?

  1996
• Who directed Trainspotting?

  Danny Boyle
• Why is Trainspotting so significant as a film?

  In 1996, Trainspotting was the biggest thing in British culture and is crucial for understanding British culture in the context of devolution as it helped to define a new confidence, style, and international profile of British cinema
• When and where is Trainspotting set?

  It is set in Edinburgh in the late 1980s
• What is the film based on?

  The novel Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh (published in 1993)
• What is devolution? (political context)


  The decentralisation of governmental power
• What government was the UK under between 1979 and 1997? (political context)


  Conservative
• Who was Margaret Thatcher and when was she Prime Minister? (political context)

  Margaret Thatcher, a particularly contentious politician, was Prime Minister between 1979 and 1990, and succeeded by John Mayor
• What happened in British politics in 1997? (political context)

  Tony Blair, a Labour politician, came to power and ended the 18-year Conservative governing streak
• What was the period of Tory rule characterised by? (political context)

  A reduction in public services, an increase in privatisation and unemployment, and a widening of the wealth gap
• How did the geography of England contribute to the gap in wealth? (political context)

  The wealth gap could also be seen in the geography of England, known as the North-South divide, with the more affluent South and the poorer more disparate North
• How did Scotland tend to vote? (political context)

  Scotland generally voted against the Conservative government and yet continued to be governed by them
• What happened to Scotland's main industries under Conservative governing? (political context)

  Scotland's main industries, such as coal mining and ship building, had declined during the Conservatives' time in office, resulting in high rates of unemployment
• How did the Scottish feel about the Conservative government? (political context)

  This feeling of a lack of representation and economic hardship fuelled Scottish resentment towards Westminster and demands for devolution
• What made the Scottish resentment of the government even worse? (political context)

  Their resentment was escalated by the introduction of the unpopular Poll Tax into Scotland in 1990, a year prior to its release in the rest of the UK
• What is one of the main reasons Thatcher's government fell? (political context)

  The Poll Tax due to its unpopularity
• What was the position of the Conservatives like in 1992? (political context)

  They had won the election again, but were in a far weaker position
• How did the Scottish political attitude change after the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979? (Scotland in the 1980s-90s context)

  The Scottish turned their back on Nationalism and became hellbent on helping the Labour party dethrone Thatcher and her Conservative government
• What did Thatcher's de-industrialisation policies cause to happen in Scotland? (Scotland in the 1980s-90s context)

  Thatcher's de-industrialisation policies caused Scotland, a nation that prided itself on its industry, to lose around a third of its manufacturing capacity by the end of the 1980s, causing widespread unemployment
• How did Thatcher's battle with the National Union of Miners impact upon Scottish mining communities? (Scotland in the 1980s-90s context)

  13 pits were closed within 3 years of the 1984 miner's strikes
• Why did Scotland call for devolution?

  Despite Labour claiming overwhelming support in Scotland, the Tories' popularity in the South ensured continued Conservative rule, causing calls for devolution in Scotland as they were governed by a party they did not support
• What movement was on the rise in the 1990s? (1990s youth culture context)

  The grunge movement was on the rise in the 1990s, originating with people in poverty unable to afford more 'trendy' clothes using bricolage rejecting capitalism and mainstream fashion, so became a symbol of rejection of mainstream culture
• What groups divided the youth of the 1990s? (1990s youth culture context)

  The youth of the 1990s was somewhat divided between the grunge nonconformists purposefully rebelling against society and the mainstream popular kids who wanted to fit in with the norm
• What was the aesthetic known as 'heroin chic'? (1990s youth culture context)

  An aesthetic which revolved around the idealisation of being extremely skinny, more grungy styles of dress, and the romanticisation of mental illness and drug use, an aesthetic which was exacerbated by the cult response to Trainspotting
• What other cultural movement was on the rise in the 1990s? (1990s youth culture context)

  Lad culture, a subculture initially associated with the Britpop music of the 1990s
• What is a ladette? (1990s youth culture context)

  Young women who behave in a boisterous, assertive, and crude manner, often drinking heavily, all of which were more traditionally associated with masculinity
• What was the growth of rave culture in the 1990s associated with? (1990s youth culture context)

  The encouragement of rave drug culture, involving 'party drugs' such as acid and ecstasy
• What music saw a growth in popularity due to the growth of rave culture? (1990s youth culture context)

  There was a growth of IDM, Intelligent Dance Music, including: techno, The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, and The Chemical Brothers
• What was the defining music movement of the 1990s? (1990s youth culture context)

  Britpop was a defining factor of the 1990s with the popularity of bands like Blur, Pulp, and Oasis, influenced by 60s-80s British rock
• What was the drug of choice in the 1990s? (drug culture context)

  Heroin was seen as the drug of choice for the poor as it was inexpensive and due to its highly addictive nature this created a cycle of poverty as they were spending their limited money on procuring more heroine
• What was the drug for the upper classes and why? (drug culture context)

  Cocaine was often seen as a drug for the upper classes due to the fact it was expensive and thus did not often circulate in poorer circles
• What caused the large increase in ecstasy use in Scotland in the 1990s? (drug culture context)

  The increase in rave culture and it being marketed as a safe, non-addictive drug
• When did the drug epidemic in Scotland, Edinburgh in particular, start? (drug culture context)

  From the 1970s onwards
• What did the increase in addictions also cause? (drug culture context)

  An increase in homelessness
• Why did more people start using heroin? (drug culture context)

  More white, middle-class youth began to use heroin as it became cheaper and the widespread unemployment meant that many people who would not have engaged in heroin now were
• What is evidence that drug use was highly romanticised during the 1990s? (drug culture context)

  There was a popular fashion trend in the 1990s known as 'heroin chic' which included pale skin, dark circles under the eyes, and an angular bone structure, like that of a malnourished heroin user
• What else glamourised heroin use? (drug culture context)

  The music industry, for example the death of Bradley Nowell in 1996
• How did the rates of heroin use change in Edinburgh between 1970 and 1980? (drug culture context)

  In 1970, there were 250 heroin users in Edinburgh, but by 1980, there were 4000
• What caused heroin to become more easily available in the 1980s? (drug culture context)

  There was a sudden influx of cheap heroin from Pakistan in the 1980s
• Why did Danny Boyle struggle to get the rights to the book to make the film? (production context)

  They had been bought by TV production company Noel Gay, who originally wanted to be co-producers when they caught wind of the film, to the displeasure of Boyle and his team