Don't be a Plum

I loved this film — It’s the best British film I’ve seen in a long time.  It follows a young boy named Shaun (who is a lot like the director Shane Meadows) in the 80s in England who is trying to find himself and fit in, and he somehow gets into situations and hangs out with people that are a bit older and more complicated than he should be involved in.

The movie begins with Shaun getting teased for how he dresses and getting into a fight becuase someone makes fun of his dead father who died in the war. On his way home, he meets some friendly skinheads that make him feel like he’s a part of something. He has fun with them, including getting to date a girl, dressing cool, hanging out and fitting in. He gets to finally have some good experiences.

Through his friends, Shaun meets more skinheads, and they turn out to be very different from his first friends. They tell him that to make his dad proud, he should stand up for England by being racist and xenophobic. Somehow, through trying to make his dad proud of him, Shaun gets involved in hate crimes, violence and hatred.

I think that it’s interesting that all Shaun wanted was to feel like he belonged and he was sad because he lost his father and he was trying to deal with it. I think it’s interesting, and it kind of reminds me of Tyson– how young men get involved in activities to try and deal with their hurt and pain and somehow it can go wrong when they were just trying to feel better and a part of something and feel loved. I definitely recommend the movie. The song at the beginning of this post is a great song from the soundtrack; it’s a version of the song Louis Louis by Toots and The Maytals.

–Plum