My Brother The Devil

“My Brother The Devil” is a British urban drama written and directed by Sally El Hosaini. The film is set among council estates in Hackney, East London and centred on two teenage British Arab brothers exploring male gang culture. The film is based around drugs, homosexuality, gang culture and family. There are two male protagonists in the film, Rashid, played by James Floyd, the older brother and Mo, played by Fady Elsayed.

Both brothers are very close throughout the film. At the start we see Mo on his last day of school and receiving his GCSE results which he does very well in which is juxtaposed with Rash who is unemployed boxing depicting an alpha make persona. Rash is supportive and proud of Mo’s results.

Rashid (also known as Rash)initially appears to be ‘the devil’ the films tittle is referring to, he is part of a gang DMG (Drugs Money Guns). He shares very similar tastes in music, clothing and language as his friends. Dick Hebdige suggests that youth form subcultures. These are a group of like-minded individuals who feel neglected from societal standards and who develop a sense of identity differed from the hegemony. Hebdige also goes on to say that young people construct identity through fashion, music and language. This is very supported by Rash and his gang. Rash spends the start of the film being a drug dealer thinking dealing is better than having an actual job. He longs for money and material goods; he says how wants to be rich to “make sure Mo goes to college”. It is clear he is kind hearted and has a close relationship to his family but caught up in a bad group. He changes himself dependant on who he is with (his mother, his gang, his rival gang or Mo). Tajfel and Turner social identity theory suggests that we change our “level of self” dependant on our social contexts. That explains how Rash can be so loving to his mother and yet so aggressive to his rivalry gang ‘Demon’.

We do not see a change in Rash until his best friend Izzi is stabbed. To start with he is angry and prepared to shoot Izzi’s killer but then he finds a new social identity with Sayyid, a photographer that Izzi and him dealt for. Sayyid offers him work outside gang life and a bridge to middle class life. As his friendship develops with Sayyid into a relationship he begins to see life away from gangs and tries to leave DMG.There is one scene in the film where Sayyid takes Rashid to central London and Rash tells him how all his life of living in London he had never been there. This illustrates how trapped he was and it isn’t until he finds someone from outside his gang that he can escape.Henry Jenkins came up with the term collective identity. He believed “We need to interact in order to form our identity… When we interact out own identity is influenced by other people.” Rash interacting with Sayyid has influenced his identity and makes him into a better person.

Mo does the opposite to Rash. Mo starts off well, coming out of school with good GCSEs and the possibility to go to college or get a good job. However, he idolises his brother and is keen to follow him and join DMG. Mo is a very naïve and immature character. Rash is always very insistent on him staying away from the gang culture. He is treated as a child and constantly being called “young bud”, “kid” and “cute”. The idolisation of an older brother is similar to Ricky and Curtis’ relationship in “Bullet Boy”. As the film continues and Rash distances himself from the gang Mo seizes the opportunity to join, knowing his brother wouldn’t allow it. David Gaunlett says “identities are not ‘given’ but are constructed and negotiated”, this is very much the case with Mo. The two brothers come from a good family, they construct their gang cultures. Mo has the potential to go further.

The film does not over simplify the reasons to why the boys are involved in drugs and yet we are still sympathetic of the characters. Both brothers are portrayed negatively and positively. Although the gang culture, drugs, sex, drinking are all stereotypical representations of youth, the rejection and breaking free of gangs subverts this.