24.05.2007

Skinheads and solidarity

Brett Reid reviews This is England, in which director director Shane Meadows has attempted to bring back to life the progressive side of skinhead culture

Doc Marten-clad youth were accused of terrorising all and sundry in the Britain of the early 1980s. However, this film attempts to redress the balance and provide an alternative image to that portrayed by the media. That common perception was a sweeping generalisation of a culture that was embraced for many different reasons. The appearance, the music and the air of rebellion attracted all manner of individuals, although it was the attempt of the National Front to attach itself that caught the headlines.

It is 1983, and a montage of Roland Rat, Margaret Thatcher, Rubik?s cube, the royal wedding, rioting - and skinheads - flicks across the screen to the sound of ska music. These images provide the context to the story of a ?nation at war with itself?. 12-year-old Shaun is a loner, growing up with his mum in a depressing coastal town, his dad killed in the Falklands war. Shaun has been tormented for wearing flares and on his way home from school he runs into a group of skinheads who take pity on him. He is soon part of their gang. Woody, the leader, Milky, whose parents are Caribbean, and the dippy Smell show him to a life of parties, clothes, girls and the ?spirit of 69?.

However, this happy atmosphere is soured with the return of Combo from prison. Older than the others and overtly racist, he soon splits the group. Both the innocence and the tribal instincts fall apart, as Combo plays on insecurities and fears to draw what remains of the gang towards the National Front. With the disintegration of working class culture, unemployment and inner-city decay, it is easy to see how alienated individuals could fall for national chauvinistic rhetoric that blames non-white migrants for their economic and social problems. Shaun is drawn into racist thuggery and the influence of the NF. Whereas before Combo he would go into the local newsagent and good-naturedly tease the Asian owner, after Combo he terrorises him as a ?Paki?.

Across the Atlantic, the Falklands, a collection of tiny islands of little value, became the focus for two heads of state struggling to overcome their unpopularity. With workers taking to the streets in Buenos Aires and over three million unemployed in Britain, the war provided an opportunity for Galtieri and Thatcher to gain the ascendancy against the working class. At the start of the film are triumphant images of the returning troops and the arrogant Thatcher overseeing the homecoming ceremonies - images which mask the reality those soldiers experienced in the Falklands. Clips of legs blown off and other sickening scenes are interspersed.

The powerful imperialist state beating up a smaller rival is a metaphor for Combo. However, the violent bigot and feared bully to whom we are introduced turns out to be a rather more complex character. We see him crying after an unsuccessful reunion with a past lover - all his insecurities and torments are on display. Combo is part of the underbelly of a country where unemployment is rising and living standards for many are falling. And, as Meadows has pointed out, relating his own personal experience, it is not only alienated working class youth who get sucked into the National Front - Shaun and the remaining group members are seen at an NF meeting in a country pub.

This poisonous atmosphere was certainly aided by Thatcher?s chauvinism, but what of the reaction of the left during this period? Some supported British recapture of the Falklands, others sided with the ?anti-imperialist? Argentinian junta and yet others remained passive. The clear working class principles of internationalism and revolutionary defeatism were in short supply. When we observe those on the left who today offer their (often uncritical) support to an Iranian regime threatened by US imperialism, it is obvious they have learnt nothing.

Today, with the war on terror being ratcheted up and national chauvinism directed against other targets, a revamped BNP is stepping in where the left has failed in parts of east London and northern England. I for one prefer the working class culture of rebellion - of which the original skinheads were a part.