Borders and Belonging in My Beautiful Laundrette

Stephen Frears’ My Beautiful Laundrette presents many representational issues of Eighties Britain, tackling racism, homosexuality, and class during the Thatcher era. The plot revolves around the homosexual relationship between Johnny, an English Punk rebel, and Omar, the son of a Pakistani journalist, who seeks to find success in the running of a local laundrette. The two characters represent the Asian and White communities in Britain, however as their controversial relationship develops and they are brought together, they are subjected to cope with the pressure of society, and more and more boundaries begin to form.

There are certain restrictions that surround Omar throughout the film. First of all, his father dislikes Britain, and resorts to alcohol to console his unhappiness with his surroundings, and also the loss of his wife, who committed suicide by throwing herself on to the train tracks that run behind their residential home. His ongoing grief is represented through the continuous passing of the train, which acts as a haunting reminder of her, and can be both heard and seen from the house. Omar has many responsibilities; he adopts the woman’s role of the house, doing such chores as hanging out the washing, and also looks after his father. However, due to the high rates of unemployment at the time and financial crisis, Omar was extremely lucky when he was faced with a job opportunity from his Uncle. This chance opened up the borders that restricted Omar. As a successful businessman, his Uncle was a valued member of society, and both this and his public affair with a glamorous white woman, Rachel, could be seen as his route of acceptance into society- reinforcing his sense of ‘belonging’.

However, Nasser’s high-class links mean that throughout the film, he talks down to Omar, is condescending about his class and makes hints about his sexuality. Upon meeting his Uncle and his cousin, Salim, Omar wears jeans and trainers. In comparison to their suits it placed emphasis on him being in poverty. Salim tells Omar ‘at least you’ll be able to afford a clean shirt, Mrs Thatcher will be happy with me’, which adds focus to clothes being status symbols and representative of class, and is also another reference to washing clothes. This could be considered ironic as Omar eventually runs the laundrette, somewhere responsible for washing shirts. There are also suggestions of strong boundaries between the wealthy and working class, particularly shown in the bar scene, where Nasser asks Omar ‘have you ever been to a high class place like this before?’, seeking to portray the luxuries that the upper class considered exclusive to them, creating limitations for the working classes.

There are many subtle sexual references towards the relationship between Johnny and Omar, and their sexualities. At the beginning of the film, before their relationship was established, Omar’s father tells Nasser to ‘fix him up with a nice girl; I’m not sure his penis is in full working order’. At the time, it was seen as a hegemonic norm to be straight, and Omar’s true sexuality was not expected. However, as the film moves on the euphemisms become more referential to the two characters’ homosexual relationship, for example when Salim asks Omar ‘you know how to rub don’t you?’ when he is set the task of washing the car.

When we are first introduced to Johnny, it is in the first scene of the film, where him and his friend are squatting in a house, and are violently thrown out. This establishes the theme of poverty in the film. They are punks, a stereotypical group with a specific, strong image, for example shaven heads, and commonly this look was associated with a right wing, racist outlook. Their ‘punk’ style is a symbolic signifier of the Eighties. Johnny projects a rebellious attitude, participating in violence and is seen drinking alcohol on many occasions. However his character stereotype breaks the mould of borders and belonging by the way he didn’t care about what his peers thought of him. His friends were adamant about keeping the ‘punk’ image, however Johnny turned his life around by finding love with Omar and not letting the views of homosexuality stop him, and also by working in the laundrette. He became eager to succeed.