Kitchen sink realism is a British cultural movement that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, mainstream and independent cinema, and television, whose protagonists usually could be described as "angry young men" who were disillusioned with modern society. It used a style of social realism that depicted the domestic situations of working-class Britons living in cramped rented accommodation, and spending their off-hours drinking in grimy pubs, to explore controversial social and political issues ranging from abortion to homelessness. The harsh, realistic style stood in sharp contrast to the escapism of the previous generation's so-called "well-made plays".