Media production Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Media production - Essay Example The film opens with a school boy, Shaun, starting a fight after one of his classmates, Havey, jokingly hurls an insult. Harvey annoys Shaun by insulting his father who had earlier passed on during the Falklands war. Shaun later leaves school and meets a group of skinheads among them Woody who pities Shaun and welcomes him to join in the crew. With time, Shaun finds comfort under the umbrella of this crew after Woody offers him a shoulder to rely on. A striking feature among the group is the only black skinhead, Milky, who seems quite pleased to share with the group despite all the others being white. As the film advances, more characters such as Meggy, Trevy, Smell, Kes, Kelly and Woody’s girlfriend Lol are revealed as members of the group (Meadows, 2006, Para. 1-2). An old skinhead member of the gang, Combo, has just completed a jail sentence and returns to the group with a new member, Banjo. Combo, a rather transparent character, expresses the differences between English nat ionalists and the racists as a way of inspiring leadership within the group. Resultantly, the group breaks into two and Shaun is attracted into Combo’s group as he regards Combo as an image of change and a mentor. Together with Combo, they attend meetings that are meant to sensitize the whites against the existing prejudice. Those who are opposed to the political ambition of this group, like Pukey, are rejected by the group (Fradley, 2006, para 5). As the group wages a war against racism, they have a chance to face harsh members of the nation such as the likes of Mr Sandhu who had warned Shaun against visiting his shop. This war against racism marks the climax of the film as the members of the Combo’s group fly the flag of change high despite Woody’s group remaining apolitical. At the denouement of the film, Combo suffers from depression after his old love, Lol, turns him down at such a critical time. To cure his stress, he buys bhang from Milky and they both pa rty under intoxication and learn more about one another. When Combo learns that Milky has a rich background, he develops bitterness and beats Milky to a coma when he invites him for a family gathering. The sense of guilt wears Combo up and he resolves in violence and fights his friends including Banjo and Meggy. As he and Shaun drag Milky to hospital, they lose their calmness and cannot avoid crying out of fear (Ferreira, 2000, para 1). Later, the camera catches up with Shaun as he laments over the whole experience and his Mother, Cynthia is the only icon of hope as she assures him that Milky will recover. As the film ends, the disappointed face of Shaun cannot be mistaken as he roams near the Sea beach where he throws the Saint George flag. Themes In the film â€Å"This is England† a number of themes are well pronounced by the vivid and lively coverage of the various scenes in the film. The main theme of this film is cultural bias or racism as pointed out by its main charact ers. The antagonist of this film is Combo as he organizes a gang that would fight against the racial prejudice that is exhibited by characters like Mr Sandhu who denies Shaun the right to buy in his shop. The words of Combo â€Å"this is England†