3.07.2008

what i'm watching: this is england

Have you seen the movie "This Is England"? We saw it last night; it's excellent.

This movie came to me at a good time, as I'm finishing up Chris Hedges' War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning, and thinking a lot about the dangers of nationalism. "This is England" illustrates the similarities among nationalism, racism and bullying, and how those three forces are inextricably bound.

The movie is also a painful coming-of-age story. If you saw the excellent film "Thirteen" (one of my favourite movies about teenagers), "This Is England" can be seen as a male version of it. The specifics are completely different. But both movies illuminate how the deep desire for belongingness informs so much of what we do as we stumble towards adulthood - how the craving for community can sweep over a young person like a fever, a fog through which no other perspective, no matter how rational, can penetrate.

No comments: