Masculinity

Masculinity is a key theme of the film ‘This is England’, as obviously a lot of the characters in the film are men. There are two main characters, in my opinion, which not only exhibit masculinity to the characters in the film, but also represent two types of masculinity in the eyes of the viewer. On one hand, you have Woody, who embodies the male in Britain at the time who was accepting of everyone, no matter of their appearance, age, gender or ethnicity, which is shown by him inviting Shaun in to his group despite being such a young age. Then you have Combo, who embodies the males who had very right wing views and who believed that through Britain caring for minorities that the white working class male had become a minority themselves.

Women

Women throughout the film of ‘This is England’ are shown to be caring towards the male characters in the film, such as Shaun’s Mum to Shaun, the girls in the gang to Shaun and Smell to Shaun. They’re also used in the film to portray some of the horrible that happened to women during that time period and still happen today. This is shown through the interchange between Combo and Lol in which Combo claims that the thought of their ‘love’ got him through prison. Lol then implies that Combo raped her whilst drunk, as she says that she’s been trying to forget about that night ever since it happened. They’re also portrayed as the more sensible characters in the film and soceity at the time, as shown by the second montage in the film where the boys are messing about and walking solemnly towards the camera, and also when Shaun’s mum takes him to the shoe shop and insists he gets a certain pair of shoes.

Young People

Young people throughout the film are shown to be quite impressionable to their surroundings, such as when Combo convinces a handful of Woody’s gang, including an extremely young Shaun, to join him in committing these heinous, racist acts that we see them do throughout the film. They are also actually shown to be more sensible than adults that we see throughout the film, and even though they do destroy an old abandoned house, that has a nice, friendly tone to it, as they aren’t hurting anyone and they’re bonding with one another over something. On the other hand, the adults throughout the film do horrible, disgusting things, such as prank Woody’s party with a machete. It is only once the young people find themselves under the adult’s tutelage that start to do horrible things, such as racially berate children and men and sexistly taunt women. This film maker showing the audience how impressionable the youth of that time was.

Older People

In terms of older people in the film ‘This is England’, some of them shown to be the caring parental figures in Shaun’s life, such as his mum and Combo, even though Combo does have malicious intent, he is shown to be caring towards Shaun at certain points throughout the film. Politicians, such as Margaret Thatcher, are shown to be, just like in real life, uncaring fools, shown by the graffiti on the side of the church, which is constantly shown throughout the film. Her lack of caring for the working class is the reason for the emergence of these subcultures, such as the ska movement that Woody’s gang follows and the right wing liberalism that Combo believes in.

English People

English people in the film ‘This Is England’ are portrayed in a majority of ways, one being the way in which they are portrayed as violent through the characters that support the political views of the far right, such as Combo. This portrayal is also shown through the opening compilation, in which there is quite a lot of footage that shows British people rioting. Another in which British people are portrayed are quite accepting other people no matter their age or ethnicity. This shown through Woody’s gang and how he invites Shaun, a child, into the gang/friend group as well as being friends with Milky, who is black. This representation though is contradicted later on by the far right characters who berate and abuse people of other ethnicities, such as the man who owns the corner store.

Asian/Black People

Asians and Black people are represented through the characters of Milky, the only black skinhead, and the Asian man who owns the corner shop and the group of Asian boys playing football. Throughout the film, these characters are constantly discriminated against, the most memorable examples for me being when Shaun calls the shop owner a paki and when Combo beats Milky nearly to death whilst berating him with racial slurs. This representation in the film shows to the audience the discrimination people of different ethnicities faced during this time period.

Place (the Midlands where it is set)

The setting of the midlands in the film feels like its own sort of character and as a way for the director to show to the audience the feelings that people had at the time towards those in power, evident from the mise-en-scene which portrays a run-down northern town, telling the audience that the government don’t really care about these people, which is why they’re angry at them. Another element which portrays this anger towards government officials is the ‘Maggie is a twat’ graffiti shown throughout the film.

Class

From the very beginning of the film, directly after the montage, the audience is presented with a clear image of a working class home, which is the opening scene of Shaun’s bedroom and the basic furnishings that it has. The audience is then shown the negative effects that poverty can have upon a person mentally, besides from the obvious effects such as lack of food, as Shaun is bullied for his outdated and ill-fitting clothes. Other images of class presented throughout the film are Combo and his defiant stance on society that the working class male has now become a minority, due to too much immigration, which even those is wrong, could be viewed as right in the case of Combo, as he has clearly had a poor education and where he lives isn’t the nicest of places.