Being a product of the 80s and having had quite a number of skinhead friends way back when, I thought I’d have a look at “This Is England”. The trailer looked really interesting even though there was no way that a film about skinheads in 80s England was going to be all tiptoeing through the tulips in Doc Martens to a cool Madness soundtrack. It wasn’t as full on as Romper Stomper, but it did resemble my experience of skin head types from years ago… most of them politically apathetic and far more interested in hanging out,findin groovy clothes, shaving their heads, listening to the The Specials and The Clash etc. They used to get excited about whether or not your shirt was a genuine Fred Perry and what hole Docs you had but mostly couldn’t give a fig about race relations and I never saw any of the nasty altercations or extreme bigotry associated with the skinhead stereotype. Mostly I remember them being passionate about their music just like any other subculture group.
Anyway, I quite enjoyed the film. Still think the dopey Mum was a loon for letting her 12 year old boy hang out with a gang of skinhead types who were all obviously much older than he was. She’s depicted as only getting excitable or concerned at his shaved hair cut, no mention of Mum being concerned about her little boy being exposed to racial prejudices, violence or even a mild concern that her kid should have friends his own age… nope, it was the haircut. I quite liked the movie though and the central kid was really good.
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