"Dirty Pretty Things" Acts of Desperation: The State of Being Desperate

In the United States alone, there are over 11 million illegal immigrants. A majority of them, in the hopes of living a normal and somewhat successful life, work innumerable hours and numerous tedious jobs compared to the average American. Some of these illegal immigrants have to succumb to drug dealing or even prostitution as their source of income. In the film Dirty Pretty Things, the lives of immigrants living under extremely harsh conditions are exposed and depicted in a very well and convincing manner. Desperation was a key factor, which led them to do unimaginable things in the intention of living their day-to-day lives and achieving their dreams. The best example to begin with is Okwe, a native of Africa, as well as an illegal immigrant. He worked multiple jobs around the clock, lacking prestige and was a man who seemed as if he had not much to lose but much to gain. Okwe’s characterization was very well done. First and foremost, he chewed an herb called khat, which he was using as a stimulant to keep awake since he never slept. He was doing great harm to his body in order to work two endless jobs. In addition to that, desperate to find a place to stay, Okwe ended up residing at his friend, Guo Yi’s hospital mortuary after fleeing immigration, a dark and eerie accommodation. These two examples demonstrated how desperate Okwe was in order to continue to work day and night and hide from immigration. His frantic acts showed the audience a side of immigrants that many are unaware about. Equally as interesting was each character that had a very intriguing background. None of them lived normal lives, or at least what an average person would consider being normal or just. For instance, Senay, a Turkish immigrant who was under asylum and not allowed to work, fell into her employers blackmail scheme out of desperation. If she hadn’t performed sexual acts on that deranged man, he would have swiftly notified immigration, which was a risk Senay could not take.