Kitchen Sink realism (or kitchen sink drama) is a term coined to describe a British cultural movement which developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film and television, whose 'heroes' usually could be described as angry young men.
It used a style of social realism, which often depicted the domestic situations of working class Britons living in rented accommodation and spending their off-hours drinking in grimy pubs, to explore social issues and political controversies.
One kitchen sink drama I looked at is called 'A Taste of Honey'. From watching this short clip, we can understand that Jo is pregnant, even though she says 'I dont want this baby Geoff, I don't want to be a mother, I don't want to be a woman'. From listening to this, the audience can pick up on the fact that Jo is still a teenager and is unsure about becoming a parent.
From researching this film, Jo also has a domineering, alcoholic mother + Jo herself has a brief relationship with a sailor.
This film links to youth culture as today we see teenagers and young adults falling pregnant. These young mum's don't always realise how much they have to grow up due to having such a big responsibility of being a parent. From Jo stating 'I dont want to be a woman' it would imply that she doesn't want to grow up and have the responsibilty of looking after a baby. This film also links to youth culture as from prior research, Jo had a brief relationship with a sailor. Today we see brief or lasting relationships amongst teenagers whether they feel like they are inlove with their partner or just engage in sexual activities.
Social realism is a genre of film that focuses on topical issues which occur in a modern society which is represented by different ideologies. Themes such as money, drugs, prostitution + sex are quite usual in modern contemporary social realism films as well as class, religion + political views.
Typical conventions in a social realism film are the use of unknown actors. This supports the social realism genre because the actors could be anyone which makes the films more realistic. Another convention is a lot of social realism films deal with working class such as the film 'Billy Elliot'. The locations of social realism films are usually set around council estates or run down areas, but also can be a nice neighbourhood.
Examples of social realism films are...
This is England
Kidulthood
Billy Elliot
Below is a clip of a social realism film called 'KiDULTHOOD'. This film shows very clearly the typical conventions of the social realism genre. It includes, money, drugs, crime, gun crime, sex + is set in a run down area of London. It typically shows teenagers being involved in these controversial issues that occur in the modern society today.
