Introduction
Social classes in Britain currently are not based on the amount of wealth that someone has accumulated unlike in the previous centuries. One can be rich but considers oneself poor or is taken by the community as of a lower class. On the other hand, the poor can be deemed to belong to the upper class. However, it depends on the understandability of the English culture like behavior patterns, beliefs, and customs as well as the proficiency of the English language. Britain and particularly England has a highly class sensitive culture and the practical ways in which the people think about the social class. They do not just base their classes on the typical three-tier categories of upper, middle and working class but live in complex ways (Fox 17). It is more about what make of a car that one drives, where, what, when, and with whom you eat and drink with, how one spends their leisure, what pets they keep, and the chat lines they use in talking with others.
Comparison
The issue of class is applied in various settings that can include humor although there are rules that regulate its extent. The rules were put in place to create solemnity and earnestness for it to reduce some sense of social class discriminations. There were also English class codes that when an Englishman could utter they sound despising to those in the lower classes in the ancient Britain (Fox 19). Some positive class-conscious aspects are taken to be politically correct, but those in the middle class and the working class are not comfortable with them. In comparison, the current Britain is more sensitive on utterances to reduce the verbal offenses for those in lower classes. However, the social class rules are never obeyed today in England unlike in the past decades, though humor is expected to be classless.
Additionally, linguistic class codes in England indicate that money and wealth in the ancient Britain were the most important aspects of classification. They valued speech and for this reason, those individuals in the upper class had a different accent and using the upper-class terminologies for identification even if they earn poverty-line wages, doing manual work, or living in the run-down council flats. The modern Britain, on the other hand, has changed the way of speech making even though there can be some jargon depending on their professions. Therefore, it has been put that Englishmen are much verbal than a visual culture, or rather more known for their literature than the art.
There are also class rules when it comes to the choice of a car, groom, and talk. If someone was conducting research on car brands, they would not ask their respondent about the car they drive but would bring the question indirectly. The researcher would rather ask the brands of cars that the responded dislike (Fox 37). Otherwise, they would take them as an insurance salesperson. Currently, one feels free as a researcher to introduce themselves and the mission they have without being harassed.
The film
The film Lavender Hill Mob is about a shy retiring man, Holland, who has a dream of getting rich and living a better life. He has been working in a bank as an agent for the transfer or delivery of gold bullion. He dines with his fellow Englishman Pendlebury Rio de Janeiro and gets time to organize a robbery of the valuable commodity. He has been trying to engage in the black market, but unfortunately, the act is too risky in Britain since it is a serious offense. They successfully carried out the robbery, and as the police officers arrive (The Lavender Hill Mob Trailer, 7 min), Holland pretends to be innocent. The police use him during the investigation not knowing that he is the criminal. Comparing to the old Britain, Holland and his colleagues would have been arrested when deemed to be suspected.
The film shows how Holland, who is middle-class, becomes a mastermind of the criminal event, and more so, his behavior and slang he uses reversed the stereotypes. Some scenes are amusing such as the way Holland advertises and recruits some pair of more experienced robbers (The Lavender Hill Mob Trailer, 15 min). If it were in the modern Britain, the persons of a lower class like Holland could not address the officers in such a manner. Besides, Holland being in the middle-class could not have found anything to discuss with lower class criminals because of the Britain's culture of sensitivity to class. If it were in the old British social class, Holland would have even been arrested for his slang usage and people would have wondered why he chose to associate with individuals of a lower class as compared to the present Britain anybody can associate with anyone whereby everyone has freedom of speech and association.
A Touch of Class is the first series of the BBC television sitcom Fawlty Towers. It introduces Basil Fawlty who is a cynical owner of Fawlty Towers hotel, his wife Sybil, and a Spanish waiter Manuel who cannot speak English (Taytay111n.p, 4 min). Basil is so delighted that some of the aristocrats are his frequent guest in the hotel. He focuses on attracting more clients of a better class, and he decides to spend some more money on advertisement. Lord Melbury arrives, and Basil takes him to a small table and does anything he can to accommodate him. In contrast, Danny Brown does not get the same reception as Melbury’s because he appears to be a bit too working class. This owner has problems with the waiter because he cannot speak English and most of his clients are sensitive to not only the language used but also the accent.
If it were in the modern Britain, Basil's hotel would not have attracted any of the persons of the higher class. In fact, the frequent customers would have been those individuals of the lower or working class. In addition, with the waiter who is not well conversed in English, the hotel would only attract the non-natives of England who are not sensitive to the language used, unlike the English upper-class people. Besides, Basil is an individual who uses an impolite language to the customers and workers (Taytay111n.p, 10 min). The people of the upper class would be more sensitive to how the people of the lower class would address them. The English people are much into social classes and for that reason, most of them, especially the middle class and the upper class would not visit Basil's hotel.
Works Cited
Fox, Kate. "The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour."WATCHING THE ENGLISH (2004).1-156. Print.
Taytay111. "Fawlty Towers - 1x01 - A Touch Of Class on Vimeo." Vimeo.N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2016. <https://vimeo.com/53253713>.
"The Lavender Hill Mob Trailer."YouTube.N.p.,n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.
