Final Draft of Coursework!


"It's what we live for!"To what extent is the movie ‘Green Street’ (2005) an accurate representation of ‘football hooliganism’ in society?


Football hooliganism is a widespread phenomenon and many people believe that it serves no purpose to the world except for creating disorder between communities due to the fierce rivalry between the opposing ‘firms’ incorporated. “The thing that always annoyed and scared me about the visiting Old firm fans was the way that they would always get off these buses clutching their cheap bottles of Buckfast wine and start to intimidate the locals.” [1] Usually consisting of Caucasian male members from the age of eighteen and up, this violent form of expressive behaviour is not only about standing up for the football team that you support but for the credit and acknowledgement that is received when a particular firm is successful in a riot against another. Various TV shows and films have tried to portray football hooliganism, but represent hooligans as only disruptive and use them in order to create disequilibrium within the narrative. The film Green Street by Lexi Alexander outlines this contemporary issue by representing the various elements of the ‘hooligan world’. It integrates the truth of male involvement with the subject and represents their ideologies through events surrounding the characters and the game of football without representing them all as antagonists to the equilibrium of the narrative as
Todorov suggests[2]. This study will be based on an insight into whether ‘Green Street’ is actually an accurate representation of football hooliganism in society or whether it is just created for entertainment purposes and to exaggerate elements of reality to fit the football hooligan subgenre.

As movies based on football hooliganism tend to have a higher amount of male characters than female, as Mulvey[3] suggests, ‘voyeurism’ becomes apparent for the target audience as the masculinity represented throughout the narrative is associated with voyeurism, action, sadism, fetishism and the controlling narrative, whilst femininity is associated with passivity etc. [4] This may be one of the reasons why the maker of ‘Green Street’, Lexi Alexander, has based her story on two male characters who are very diverse and created a symbiosis between them to show the different ways that people can perceive and deal with hooliganism. This gives the audience an opportunity to relate to either one of them and understand why they make the decisions they do in a society overflowing with football hooliganism. ‘Green Street’ instantly becomes part of an action subgenre as the topic on which it is based upon instantaneously brings the image of violent and antagonistic behaviour into the filmmaker’s mind. Alexander uses the repertoire of elements that exist in the football hooligan subgenre, for example, enforcing Strauss’s theory of binary oppositions through the portrayal of the hero versus the villain, which is not only used in order to relate to the football hooligan subgenre but because it is in fact an accurate image of football hooliganism in society and therefore may create a sense of moral panic for the viewer, as moral panic spawned largely in the 1970’s inextricably linking football to violence and public disorder.[5]

Men in ‘Green Street’ are represented as very masculine as the male hero in classical Hollywood cinema is usually recognised as powerful[6] to appeal to its target audience.
Messener (1990) says that the body is an 'object of social practice', meaning that the male body takes on the masculine roles because it is so obviously there and it is so physical so therefore a male tends to have a natural masculinity that the audience themselves look for because they expect this from the film. When the riots occur in the movie the theme of masculinity is highlighted with the line, “You stand your ground and fight”[7], which makes the audience recognize this as significant for the firms. However, the character of Matt Buckner played by Elijah Wood stands out from the rest of them as he wants to get away from the opposing team and no longer remains the hero of the film with Pete Dunham played by Charlie Hunnam taking his place as he is ready to fight. At this point, the film begins to link in with Propp’s theory of narrative roles[8], such as the protagonist, the helpers and the antagonist. Pete’s friends become viewed as his helpers rather than just fellow members of the firm. We the audience also view the events through Matt’s eyes as he does the voiceover and talks about things that are important to him. In this way the viewer who is unknown to the football hooligan subject can identify more with Matt’s character as an outsider looking in. Matt’s character leaves the USA for England to visit his sister and his sudden influence from ‘The GSE’, the protagonist’s firm, brings the audience to perceive football hooliganism as disparaging and as deviance as Matt leaves the ‘American Dream’ and enters violence and danger when he meets Pete. Shannon, his sister, is appalled that her brother has become a member of a Fight Club, her English husband Steve suffers divided loyalties between his wife and his tear away brother, who has influenced Matt in a way that is perceived as deviant.[9] The fact that Matt is an American and how he integrates so quickly with the firm shows how the American ideologies are important to the narrative.

Alexander incorporates the realistic stereotype of the ‘ring-leader’ in the firms to present the way that this role is adopted in reality. Pete’s influence on Matt makes him want to become a member of ‘The GSE’ because Matt begins idolizing him so much. Pete takes on the role of the archetype to which the audience will be able to identify with, as throughout the narrative he espouses typical elements that exist in Propp’s theory, where at first an interdiction is addressed to the hero and then the interdiction is violated when the villain enters the tale[10]. The representation of the presumptuous hero is an element that has occurred in the football hooligan subgenre in the past. For example, in ‘The Football Factory’ (2005)[11] the firm leader Billy Bright is represented as an over-confident and ruthless character in order to represent the realism of such a person in the hooligan society. Matt’s personal choice of joining forces with ‘The GSE’ firm links to how the film incorporates a coming-of-age theme which is also portrayed in ‘The Firm’ (1988) by Alan Clarke,[12] which is reflective of the hooligan society in the past, with the character of Yusef joining the firm at a young age and trying to deal with the violence suddenly surrounding him. The maker of ‘Green Street’ could yet have created the intensity of ‘The GSE’ and ‘Millwall’ rivalry for entertainment purposes and the for the uses and gratifications of the audience as the movie is firstly part of the football hooligan subgenre of which action is an important part of its repertoire and therefore has to contain typical action scenarios to appeal to its target audience. This ties into the debate of whether, as Grierson suggested, is the ‘creative treatment of actuality[13]’ and whether the authenticity is lost due to the demands of the subgenre. Masculinity ties in with the way in which ‘The Firm’ (1988) also incorporates rivalry with specific firms and masculinity is also important when they say “We come in peace, we leave you in pieces”[14], outlining their belief of using fighting as a way to be superior and to prove your manhood rather than to relate it to football.

‘Green Street’ also fails to accurately portray the importance of British involvement with football as Matt who is an American, watches football only once, and yet we're expected to believe that the fight he's caught up in at the end of it is reason enough for him to devote himself to violence and chant the words, "West Ham 'Til I Die."[15] In the same way the representation of the characteristics of football hooligans in not represented accurately to the audience as “their typical cockney accent is portrayed in an effortless way because the leader of the West Ham "firm" sports the worst Cock-er-nee accent since Dick Van Dyke's in Mary Poppins.”[16]

Women in ‘The Firm’ are represented minimally and only in one way, as housewives and classless whereas in ‘Green Street’ they are represented as more sophisticated and feminine. Both films differ on this and consequently raise the issue of which representation is accurate and which is not. It also reflects how society has changed over the years and how the role of women has developed overtime and this may result in the text having to represent the zeitgeist. ‘Green Street’, is itself directed by a female, which shows how in reality the roles of women have definitely changed because now a female is able to take on and create a movie that incorporates such issues. In ‘The Firm’ the members of the firm wear their work clothes throughout most of the movie which may outline their need to hide their second ‘jobs’ to the outside world. However, in ‘Green Street’ the characters are hardly ever shown in their work clothes and are instead always wearing casual gear including Burberry which is a true portrayal of reality as, “in England, football hooligans have become as loyal to the Burberry brand as they are to the sport… police aren't complaining -- the plaid makes it easy for them to spot trouble-causing fans that try to blend in with the public after rowdy matches”.[17] This has become one of their trademarks as well as their taunting of one another during football matches which inevitably lead to riots, Walvin (1994) reported that 'A French man who saw a football match in Derby asked "If this is what they call football, then what do they call fighting?".[18]

The stereotype of football firms being violent and anti-social towards each other is reinforced in ‘Green Street’, as the members of opposing teams tend to hit each other with bottles, pennies etc during matches. “A hail of pennies being thrown by Manchester United Fans at West Ham was like something out of an old war film with the English archers all letting go of their arrows at once”.[19] Violence is justified in ‘Green Street’, when Pete says “It’s what we live for!”, showing that they view the violence as an important part of their being now that they have devoted themselves to their firms. This goes against the suggestion of Susan Faludi who says that that while many of those in power are men, most men have little power.[20] This shows that by keeping football hooliganism in a violent nature there is little chance of the crisis of masculinity being enforced onto it. Dawn raids, arrest and trial, CCTV and banning orders all testify to the ongoing battle with football hooliganism. [21] In ‘Green Street’ there are a lot of images of security guards, CCTV cameras and police on horses, all ready in case a riot would begin. For example, when Pete takes Matt to the football match, he instantly tells him to cover his head with his hood and tells him that “We are the most watched country in the world”[22]. This links to the issue of how football hooliganism is seen to have come from England and how other countries have picked up on it.

We all know that the British invented football hooligans. But the ugly side of the beautiful game is truly at its most brutal on foreign shores, and football violence is thriving in countries all over the world.[23] Even though hooliganism is known to be called the ‘English-disease’ it is not just prominent in England. It may be known as firstly the ‘British Disease’, due to the oppressive and violent past that England has gained since times of colonialism, when England held much of the world under its empirical power[24] and the spread of disease later relates to how this name may have been created. Seasoned travellers are not surprised at responses in Rome and Seville.[25] This is because harsh police action has to be taken place at football matches all around the world. However, in ‘Green Street’ this is never mentioned and could link to how football violence is being sensationalized within the text to keep the target audience entertained and also to sustain the issue of moral panic among the audience.

A reason for the high amount of carnage and destruction caused by football hooligans could be because of their excessive drinking of alcohol. In both films, ‘The Firm’ (1988) and ‘Green Street’ (2005), the general meeting place is in the local pub where men drink and discuss their hooligan business. After a few drinks the men are ready for match day and ready to face their opponents on and off the field in a provoking manner. This separates them from the idealistic view of hooligans when in the past the male idea of the British ruling classes, was the product of a nineteenth-century synthesis of aristocratic style and bourgeoisie values.[26] Their working-class status and the fact that they are all male creates an image of how they are involved with alcohol consumption and how they are perceived by the state, as official statistics show that due to excessive alcohol consumption the male death rate (18.3 deaths per 100,000 population) was more than twice the rate for females. In ‘Green Street’, the firm members sing “Get some drinks in!” [27]in a particular tune that is revisited many times during the rest of the film. This shows that the members idolize alcohol and drink it at any given opportunity which causes them to perform anti-social acts. The tune in which they sing it in is also used in ‘The Firm’, which is a pre-90’s text, showing that this is something that may be a true reflection of the outside world. Football hooliganism is seen as an anti-social element in society that clings parasitically to football and just won't give up.[28]

‘Green Street’ also shows the ways in which the media is involved with events that occur in the football hooligan society by making Matt’s character a secret journalist who has not joined the firm for work purposes but has to keep this a secret as he knows if his fellow members found out he would be completely removed from the firm. Pete also mentions how the media exaggerates events more than they should be when he says, “West ham wins three nil in a blinding performance and our little scrap makes the headlines”.[29] This highlights the media’s involvement with football hooliganism which is a reality and accurately portrays firm members’ hatred of them. In Phillip Davis’ film ‘I.D’ (1995)[30], secrecy is also portrayed in the way that the character, John, who starts off dedicated to the police force goes undercover as an aspiring hooligan member and also gets caught up in the beliefs and ideologies of the firm. This therefore shows how news values are shaped in reality to create more moral panic of hooligans and their deviant behaviour.

The heinous fighting and violence linked to football hooliganism in media texts such as ‘Green Street’ is to some people overstated as, often the extent of this disorder is exaggerated by excessive media[31]. This may be the case in ‘Green Street’ too as in ‘The Firm’ even thought there is violence, there tends to be more taunting and vandalism than fighting and Lexi Alexander’s representation of excessive violence may be included to cater to the needs of the target audience who have initially come to the cinema to be searching for escapism rather than searching for surveillance. This raises the issue of whether films such as these influence the people viewing the text to join such antics and take on roles that are represented in the text. ‘Green Street’ only mildly outlines the usage of taunting only during the riot between ‘The GSE’ and another opposing firm that are made up of mainly black members whereas ‘The GSE contains significantly white members. One of ‘The GSE’ members begins to taunt them and uses racial abuse to do this by calling them ‘Zulus’ in order to get a reaction out of them. This links into the way that racism is incorporated into the text as it is another factor that tends to be incorporated a lot within football in general as, football grounds provided one of the largest public arenas in which racism could be openly expressed. [32] In ‘The Firm’, the majority of firm members are White, while there are a couple Asian and Black members. Yusef is black and is allowed into the firm and this shows that football hooliganism may be less concerned about people’s race than actual football was at the time with predominately White players. ‘Green Street’, on the other should be representing more ethnic minority members because as time has gone by, the actual sport of football has allowed more men of ethnic minorities to join teams, but this is an underrepresented truth in the film. However, there is still a lot of racism incorporated into football and in particular football hooliganism which remains till this day. There were 47 arrests for racist chanting in 2001/2 [33] and racism is usually white on black and even happens between players and hooligans. Racist chanting in the 1970’s and 1980’s often took the form of members of the crowd making monkey noises at black players on the pitch. [34] ‘Green Street’ is accurate in its portrayal of this kind of behaviour when Bovver goes towards the opposing team and begins to chant loud racist words to them.

Overall, the representation of football hooligans in ‘Green Street’ (2005) is to some extent accurately portraying the reality of football hooligans to the audience by creating realism with its integration of particular themes such as racism, masculinity, stereotypes and prejudice that are all linked to hooligans on first sight. It also defies certain stereotypes such as the uneducated label given to them and the idea of them being violent by nature through showing them with their families and in their jobs giving the audience a sense of identification. Although some parts have been created for pure entertainment purposes such as the sudden integration of an American citizen into the firm, the film also has realism incorporated throughout which are portrayed through the character’s quest for success in each riot. There are however effortless attempts to make the characters seem like real hooligans with their cockney-accents and clothing but they do not seem to connect with the viewing audience. As a result, ‘Green Street’ is a good attempt to portray football hooliganism to an audience but it fails at some aspects to give the audience an accurate representation of football hooliganism in society.


Word Count: 3,146


[1] McCall, Kenny, Robb, John: After the Match, the Game Begins (2007) John Blake Publishing, London (England), Page 59
[2] Tzvetan, Todorov: Equilibrium theory
[3] Mulvey, Laura: Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975)
[4] Nelmes, Jill: An Introduction to film studies (third edition) (2003) Routledge; 3Rev ED Edition, NY, Page 84
[5] Jewkes, Yvonne: Crime online (2007) Willian Publishing, USA
[6] Nelmes, Jill: An Introduction to Film Studies (third edition) (2003) Routledge; 3Rev ED edition, NY, Page 77

[7] Alexander, Lexi: Green Street (2005) UK

[8] Propp, Vladimir: Narrative theory
[9] http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=149531
[10] Propp, Vladimir: Narrative theory
[11]: Love, Nick: Football Factory (2004) UK
[12] Clarke, Alan: The Firm (1988) UK
[13] Grierson, John: Creative treatment of actuality

[14] Clarke, Alan: The Firm (1988) UK
[15] http://www.filmfocus.co.uk/review.asp?ReviewID=326
[16] http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2005/09/05/green_street_2005_review.shtml
[17] http://www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?pr_id=130
[18] Marsh, Peter, Frosdick, Steve: Football Hooliganism (2005) Willan Publishing, UK, Page 16

[19] Pennant, Cass, Smith, Mickey: Want Some Aggro? (2002) Blake Publishing, England, Page 43

[20] Faludi, Susan: The Betrayal of the American Man (2000)
[21] Pennant, Cass: Top Boys: True Stories of Football’s Hardest Men (2005) Blake Publishing, England, page 12

[22] Alexander, Lexi: Green Street (2005) UK

[23] http://www.discoverytv.com/emea/football+hooligans+international.htm
[24] http://www.tcnj.edu/~fisk2/page%205.htm
[25]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=BLOGDETAIL&grid=F11&blog=yourview&xml=/news/2007/04/05/ublview05.xml
[26] Spicer, Andrew: Typical Men: The Representation of Masculinity in Popular British Cinema (Cinema and Society) (2001) England, Page 8


[27] Alexander, Lexi: Green Street (2005) UK
[28] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1491743.stm
[29] Alexander, Lexi: Green Street (2005) UK
[30] Davis, Phillip: I.D (1995) UK
[31] http://www.liv.ac.uk/footballindustry/hooligan.html
[32] Crabbe, Tim, Back, Les: The Changing Face of Football: Racism, Identity and Multiculture in the English Game (2001) Berg Publishers Ltd, England, Paste 51

[33] Marsh, Peter, Frosdick, Steve: Football Hooliganism (2005) Willan Publishing, England, Page 19

[34] Marsh, Peter, Frosdick, Steve: Football Hooliganism (2005) Willan Publishing, England, Page 20