This Is England

To some people, this film comes across as glorifying racism, when it is in fact showcasing the complete opposite. Through the eyes of Shaun, an easily-swayed teen, This is England depicts the lead character going through what you can say is a coming-of-age experience where he makes severe choices to appease and fit in with new crowds, some choices he later comes to regret. Hence, making the "glorifying racism" aspect completely contrary. As someone who was brought up in a multicultural town in Northern England, this film hits deep, as I've experienced and witnessed first-hand the near social-disjointedness between ethnic groups in modern society. Scary to think that in nearly forty years from which This is England is set, real-life England is still suffocating from archaic morals. Shane Meadows has not made a film with This is England. He's made a statement, a statement which says that this shit happened, this shit still happens and this shit will continue to happen if nothing is done to stop it. Heart-wrenching to watch, but watch you must.