From Pinter to pimp: Danny Dyer, class, cultism and the critics

Godfrey, Sarah ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6652-9455 and Walker, Johnny (2015) From Pinter to pimp: Danny Dyer, class, cultism and the critics. Journal of British Cinema and Television, 12 (1). pp. 101-120. ISSN 1743-4521

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Abstract

Danny Dyer is one of Britain’s most prolific stars, with a career spanning both critically-acclaimed and critically-derided material, the latter exemplified by his work in exploitation movies. This article investigates Dyer’s film stardom, considering some of the central debates surrounding his status as an actor. Central to the discussion is the significance of Dyer within the contemporary cultural landscapes of gender and class, and the various complexities and contradictions that circulate around his persona. The article analyses, in the first instance, Dyer’s stardom in the wake of his role in the cult exploitation movie that consolidated his subsequent ‘hard man’ typecasting, The Football Factory (2004), and considers how the marketing of the majority of his subsequent films has been instrumental in perpetuating a particular construction of his stardom which, in turn, informs his reception by the critics. The article traces connections between Dyer’s popularity and recurrent critical derision aimed at him as an actor lacking artistic integrity and genuine talent. It contends that the politics of both Dyer’s star construction and his critical reception are linked to the renewed legitimacy of class hatred in British society, represented by media discourses surrounding the ‘chav’, which appositely reflects his ‘low’ cultural status as a ‘straight-to-DVD’ actor.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is the accepted manuscript version of an article published by Edinburgh University Press
Uncontrolled Keywords:	danny dyer,british cinema,stardom,chav,working-class,masculinity,new lad,hooliganism,dvd,arts and humanities(all) ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1200
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Art, Media and American Studies (former - to 2024)
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Film, Television and Media
Related URLs:	http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10....
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	20 Jan 2015 14:44
Last Modified:	25 Sep 2024 11:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/51906
DOI:	10.3366/jbctv.2015.0245

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