For my Independent Study I will be analysing the film Green Street. There are different issues involved in the film such as the representation of hooliganism, different classes, the representation of different countries, youth culture evolving throughout time, stereotyping of men, different football clubs and the representation of football fans.

The genre of the film is action as it involves a lot of violence, for example, the fight between Millwall and West Ham at the end of the film leads to the horrific death of one of the main characters. Whilst analysing the representation of football hooligans I will be able to cover various different concepts of what being a hooligan involves. For example, what different clothes they wear, how they cover up from the opposite team during the matches, what weapons are used after the matches during fighting and so on.

With Green Street Lexi Alexander tackles a subject unlikely for a female: ‘but proves to do it well as Green Street presents the ultra violent world of Britain’s brutal football fans.’ She and her co workers catch a sense of realism throughout the film by portraying the look of the film, the fight scenes and some of the many performances to high standard.

The film begins with Harvard student Matt being expelled from his journalism course after agreeing to take the blame for his roommate who takes cocaine. Matt flees to London to stay with his older sister Shannon who lives with her husband Steve and their young child. He’s barely in London for five minutes before he is whisked away by Steve’s brother Pete to his first soccer match. Pete and his friends have more than football on the agenda. The Green Street elite strive to beat the opposition team on match day either by having a fight or winning the match. It is not soon after Matt becomes one of them, attending every game. They strive on their reputation and it is everything to become the most feared firm in England. The firm’s hatred of journalists means Matt will have to keep his background secret. As events build towards the finale between West Ham and Millwall, family loyalties and personal vendettas spiral out of control and end in tragedy.
Green Street consists of many well known actors such as Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam and Claire Forlani. Elijah Wood plays an upper class student who transforms from an ambitious journalist to a hooligan in the duration of a few days. The role he plays is different from many others Wood has been given, for example, the Hobbit in Lord of the rings. Wood played many roles as a young actor such as Back to the Future (1989) where he played a minor part as a video game boy and Forever Young (1992) where he plays Nat who is one of the main characters .He has grown to become a well known character since his early days screening.

The social class in which we see Matt Buckner (Wood) at the beginning of the film changes dramatically by the end. We begin by seeing a man of upper class as he attends Harvard where he is studying to become a journalist. Journalism is seen as a well paid career and therefore desirable. Matt’s class drops a level or two as he is thrown out of college for drug possession after taking the blame for his roommate junkie. This leads to Matt getting mixed up with the wrong crowd of people who are only interested in being the best firm in the country. This involves arranging fights between them and the clubs they play. A tragic death makes Matt return to what he once was doing, but this time to stand up for himself and his family. This involves him throwing a punch or two to get what he wants.

Football hooliganism exists worldwide; the term football hooliganism has been used since the late 1900s, and was at its peak in the early 1980s. The term applies to rowdy behaviour between groups of fans, which involves fighting to claim whose best. It is often pre organised beforehand, often away from the stadium in a low key place often under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Some firms especially in the Southern and Eastern Europe have been linked with far right political groups, and other firms have been associated with leftist or anti-racist views. Football hooliganism has been featured in films such as the firm, Green Street and Football Factory. Football Factory was also a book before made into a film. The term hooliganism is not easy to define; it is used in many ways. Football hooliganism is seen by most to mean disorder involving football fans, usually this involves criminal activity and in most cases not all occurs either at or after a football match. The issue of the media coverage of football hooliganism is very important as it is the media that help construct the media understanding and the view of the phenomenon. Football hooliganism has changed significantly since 1990. It is rare to have football violence involved in the football grounds, most football violence is pushed from the football stadium to meeting places, which is better organized and has potential to be more violent.

We stereotype football hooligans by what they wear, how they act and so on. It is difficult to speculate on what makes a person become involved in football related violence. There is no specific way a football hooligan dresses or acts it is all in our heads. Football club are very competitive football hooliganism will never rest. It may involve a family dispute or a hatred for another member of the opposite side. This could lead to a feud longing to be lived out. Green Street involves a longing feud of ten years due to the death of Tommy’s son. This Resulted in Steve leaving the GSM and Pete taking over as main man. The feud is still ongoing as Tommy won’t rest till he gets revenge for his son’s death this leads to a horrific finale involving a death of the opposition team. Green Street director Lexi Alexander gives a professional outlook into what football hooliganism really involves, it captures every aspect of a day out for the typical stereotypical football hooligan.
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