Wasp vs. Fish Tank

Wasp and Fish tank

Andrea Arnold was the director and writer for both Wasp and Fish Tank. She grew up on an estate much like both our protagonists so she has a very deep understanding of how tough that life was bringing a realistic level of emotion to the film.

Both Wasp and Fish tank have the same theme of social realism as a focus point. Wasp looks at the social realism of a mother struggling with money and feeding her children while Fish tanks’ looks at the story of a teenager called Mia’s view trying to break out of her miserable life in her social placement.

Both films have the theme of helplessness and desperation in them. Wasp the mother-our protagonist- Cannot look after her children properly and is struggling to get money while being threatened with child protection from another mother whom she got into a fight with. Our protagonist is often displayed as powerless in these situations- she cannot win in a physical fight and she cannot win when having an argument.

Both films are part of the social realism genre provoking empathy in the audience when they see how others have it much worse than them.