From BBC News, an historic Lancashire pier has burned down in a fire during the night.
Fleetwood Pier fire
Weston Super Mare’s legendary pier burned down last month:
Weston Pier
And of course, Brighton’s own West Pier a few years ago:
Brighton's West Pier
The West Pier was an inspiration for Brighton Wok. Gabriel, Sam and Rich filmed the fire as it happened. That video turned out to be the first footage to make it into the final cut (as part of the news reel sequence). The movie starts with a long shot of the pier on fire. It was such a dramatic scene that we suggested it to Glenn for the movie’s poster:
Glenn Fabry's poster for Brighton Wok
These piers are the pride of the community, a symbol for the town. When they burn down like this, it must have an enormous psychological effect. Often nothing can be done; people and news cameras have to watch the fire burn itself out.
People experience feelings of helplessness and undirected anger. They ask themselves, ‘what kind of town would let this happen?’
Weston pier reopened three days after the fire and they are rebuilding the damaged parts, but Brighton has let the ruined West Pier collapse and slide into the sea. It is a constant reminder of our inability to rebuild our town.
In Brighton Wok, we used the West Pier fire to let the audience empathise with the wounded civic pride of Brightonians. That anger is then directed towards the fictional ninja Vafan Cuolo, an outsider and the ‘real’ reason for the fire.
The truth is, the people of these towns blame themselves. Whether it was teenage boys or property developers, a member of their community almost certainly started the fire.
The question is, what do they do next? Do they, like the people of Weston, rebuild and flock to the opening to show support; or, like Brighton, do they let it rot?
