Transgressing typical images of age,

Looking for Eric features a

grandfather as the hero of the film.
However, unlike other elderly action
heroes, such as those in recent
Hollywood films (Gran Torino,
Indiana Jones and Rocky Balboa),
Eric is not strong: he is a fragile, grey-
haired grandfather struggling to
survive.
The mens lives centre on football and
the pub. However, the stereotypical
image of the working-class football
thug is transgressed as the fans come
together as a community to bring
down the demise of the gang overlord,
using print rather than violence to do
so.
In the opening sequence, Eric drives
round a roundabout several times,
eventually crashing his car into the
side of the road. This expresses his
feeling of entrapment.
The film represents the White British
working class as a struggling
underclass. The men form close-
knitted communities who joke about
in order to keep themselves alive.
They idolise Cantona and it is this
idolisation that leads them to succeed
in destroying the violence and crime at
the heart of their community
Lily and Sam have both brought up
their children alone and yet have not
been faze by this.
They live in poverty: Erics kitchen is a
mess and there are a large number of
people living in his small house.
When the men meet in Erics living
room, they read from a self-help
guide, books typically targeted at
women.
Erics children are easily corrupted by
the world of gang violence and/or
drugs; he lacks control over them.
The men lack father figures and role
models. That is until Cantona appears
and trains him to be strong again. This
emphasises the need for strong role
models for men and questions the
roles of most celebrity figures.
Women do not fall at the feet of men:
instead they expect men to prove
themselves to be of worth
Traditionally, the masculine image was
one of power and logic; however, Eric
represents the new castrated man-
stuck in a society which teaches him
there is no use for the old masculine
ways and emphasises that he should
care about emotions and feelings.
Lilys new life is much more organised
and successful compared to Erics,
who from the beginning of the film is
represented as a fragile mess
The men in Looking for Eric are weak. Eric fantasises about his previous life
with Lily; his emotions have the better
of him and prevent him from being a
strong, masculine her.
Women in Looking for Eric are strong
Erics inability to be a good, strong
father figure leads his sons to be
disaffected; however the film is a
masculine rite of passage following a
new mans attempt to regain
traditional masculine domination.
The youth in Looking for Eric is
misguided, desperately seeking role
models. Ryan looks for this role model
in the gang overlord, who is able to
offer him the promise of an escape
route from his poverty- a life he
thought he could only dream about.
As Ryan is dragged into the dark
underworld of gang crime, he reveals
that inside, he is just a scared little
boy, not the strong, aggressive
character he projects to Eric.
Interestingly, the film subverts the
traditional ethnic stereotypes: Jesse,
the Black teenager is mild-mannered
and well-behaved, whilst Ryan, who is
White, turns to crime. This goes
against the stereotypical image of
Black gun crime seen in other films.
Sam is studying at university and
graduates at the end of the film
Eric is symbolic of the everyman that
society has forgotten and serves as an
image of wish-fulfilment for the
audience, that they too can be heroic-
anyone can, if we just pluck up the
courage.