City Road Analysis
When I began this course I always took for granted that inequalities were obvious things, but the more I learned on the subject and the further through the material I got I discovered inequalities can come in all shapes and sizes , obvious or inconspicuous and can affect all people differently. Through this paper I will first look at similar inequalities between ‘City Road’ and a street I know well, the street which I will use is Ballygall Road east Finglas Dublin 11, I will then look at some inequalities that seem unique to my street and why they are unique.
The two main shared inequalities between Ballygall Road and City Road are private clubs and homelessness. In the very first film ‘the street’ we are shown a tennis club that because of its high walls and closed off areas gives people the assumption that it is a private club and would be unable to use its facilities . Although that is just an assumption in Ballygall Road there is a members only gym and membership can only be obtained if you are a resident of a particular apartment complex.
This causes near constant tension between the other locals and the residents of the complex. In all of the films on the DVD there is a scene that is shown again and again it is the image of the homeless man sitting outside the shop. Homelessness is the most obvious inequality and there is no area that is free of it , in Ballygall Road there is two homeless people they are both originally from the area ,they are well known to all the locals and are treated with disgust and are avoided completely if possible .
The two inequalities that are unique to Ballygall Road are council estates and a methadone clinic. Although council estates are not uncommon all over Ireland in Ballygall Road the council estate is seen as a thing to be ashamed of and that anyone who lives in one is lower class or ‘rough’ which is simply not true. There is one council estate in Ballygall Road and directly beside it is a private estate there is obvious distaste towards the people living in the council estate by other locals as a lot of the residents are un-employed and this is seen as socially unacceptable.
A methadone clinic is a clinic for people for are trying to get themselves off heroin, there is one clinic is Ballygall Road and is possibly the biggest inequality as anyone seen entering or leaving this building is immediately labeled as a drug addict even though it may not be the case . A drug addict in Ballygall Road is on the lowest rung of the social ladder and are treated as such, there for the methadone clinic is used as a tool to label people in the area.
In closing I would just like to state one observation that has been born from studying this module I believe there are two types of inequalities there are the obvious inequalities such as homelessness and being in a methadone clinic and there are inconspicuous inequalities such as private clubs or living in a certain estate. Although the obvious inequalities can affect and hurt people the inconspicuous ones can hurt just as much if not more so. These are the inequalities I noted in City Road and the inequalities in my street.
