Pop Culture & Class

James McAvoy's anxiety "about a society that doesn't give opportunities to everybody from every walk of life" reminded me of a few other recent comments about art and class: Julie Walter's and Judi Dench's in particular. This was only further compounded by a thinktank's analysis of Grammy wins over the last few decades: the study concluded that music was the whitest it had been in over thirty years (while not all white people are privileged, they are more likely to be a higher class than minorities).
Of the four Brits nominated in an acting category of the Oscars (Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress), only one was not educated privately, though even she had industry connections (Keira Knightley). Eddie Redmayne is an Etonian, Benedict Cumberbatch a graduate of Harrow School and Rosamund Pike comes from Badminton School. None of them have heard of the School of Hard Knocks.

There is no Julie Walters nowadays, likely because of the slashes to art education in the last twenty years. Most notably, drama is no longer a mandatory subject. By all means, a state school can teach it, but it requires extra effort and money on the school's part. This kind of investment is more likely to be taken on by a school with extra income: a private school. By Key Stage 4 (ages 14-16), the only mandatory subjects are English, Maths, Science, Religious Education, ICT, PE and Citizenship. This means that even if an underprivileged child gets interested in music (a compulsory subject in Key Stage 3) during Key Stage 3, they may not be able to continue it, depending on what their school offers.

If this trend continues, the future of art in Britain is dire. It's no secret that British art overwhelmingly looks to the past for guidance in its roles, which leads to less minority viewpoints (generally PoC and lower-class people don't exist in period pieces, but if they do they're happy with their lot in life). The only British period piece that has bucked the trend in recent years, as far as I can see, is 2013's Belle. This will lead to British BAME talent migrating to America, and a generation of British minorities (class, racial, sexual, gender, etc.) unable to see anyone like them in the media.