Pride (2014 film) Essay Questions

Why does Mark want to help the miners?

While it is not stated specifically why Mark wants to help the miners and not another group, he sees them as persecuted and marginalized in a way that is similar to the way that gay people have been persecuted. The real Mark Ashton was explicitly a communist, and therefore fought vehemently for economic equality. Mark's solidarity with the miners is less explicitly communist in the film, but it stems from his resentment of the economic injustices brought about by Thatcherism, and the fact that the miners are being hurt by the police and the state in the same way that the gay community has been harmed by the police and the state.

Why don't some of Mark's friends want to work on behalf of the miners?

Many of the members of Mark's gay community feel that they do not owe anything to the mining community, having suffered enough as it is. Furthermore, many of them grew up in working-class towns, in which they were harassed and excluded because of being gay. The mining community represents homophobic England to them, and they have no interest in being generous to a group of people that has been so prejudiced.

What is the significance of the image that Dai invokes of two hands grasping one another?

When he comes to thank the LGSM for their generous donations, Dai tells the group about the symbol of solidarity that represents the union in Onllwyn. It is an image of two hands clasping one another, which symbolizes solidarity, fighting together to help people in the pursuit of equality. It becomes a central symbol in the film; even as the miners and the LGSM struggle to connect, they are guided by the ethic of solidarity and connection, to reach across the distances that divide the two communities and find common ground.

What does Joe learn in the course of the film?

At the beginning of the film, Joe is closeted and sneaks away to London to work with the LGSM. By the end, he has come to accept his sexuality, and his family has found out about it, but they are not supportive. After some time living at home, he decides that his parents will not accept him as he is and he goes to London to make a life within his chosen gay family. He stands up for himself in the face of his bigoted parents and learns the importance of living as an openly gay man.

How does the film end?

At the end of the film, the members of the LGSM go to the Gay Pride parade, where they are told that they cannot march with political signs or slogans. The LGSM bursts into internal arguments about whether or not to march in a parade if they are not allowed to be political about it. Just when all seems hopeless, many buses, filled with miners, arrive. The miners march with the LGSM and the organizers of the parade cannot help but let them march at the front.