Not Another “Gypsy-Themed” Movie? Traces of Antigypsyism in the Period Drama Peaky Blinders
摘要
Since the fifteenth century, European-dominant culture has developed an iconography around the figure of the “gypsy,” which has proved durable and adaptable to modern technology. From the postcards of the early twentieth century to contemporary TV series, this symbolic figure has remained a steadfast construction of collective memory. It has served as a surface for projecting the fears and longings of the dominant culture, as an anti-norm to what was perceived to be bourgeois, that is, white, society. Based on the theoretical framework for the analysis of “gypsy-themed” films elaborated by Radmila Mladenova in her book The “White” Mask and the “Gypsy” Mask in Film (2022), this chapter asks to what extent the series Peaky Blinders does (or does not) reproduce and perpetuate antigypsyist stereotypes. The aim of the chapter is to lay out how the “gypsy mask” manifests in the series through and within its characters, costumes, and plot.