ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that an ill city a manifestation of an ill socio-economic system. The system is ill because its residents are denied access to a dignified life. Instead, life of an individual depends on the will of cities to grant him/her access to basic services – food, shelter, employment, and healthcare. Ken Loach’s characters, due to their unfortunate position in society, are continually exposed to a variety of degrading experiences. They are compelled to accept and endure injury and offence in nearly all social institutions they have interactions in and they encounter daily humiliations in their private lives. In other words, Loach’s heroes exist in an environment that unvaryingly exposes and triggers their most painful insecurities, which leaves them ashamed and frustrated. A recurring theme of Loach’s films is individuals’ impotence to adequately confront the systemic oppression that keeps them humiliated and frustrated.
