Shaun’s development:
Why do you think Shaun is attracted to Woody and his gang?
I think Shaun always felt a little outside, I believe that Shaun says at one point, that he was in Germany because of something related to his father, so it’s not unlikely to assume, that it could be military related, so taking that theory, we could imagine that Shaun perhaps spend a lot of time moving around, and then taking up this rude behaviour as already seen in the start, so he wouldn’t get to close to people, knowing that he most likely would just move away. Skinheads, draws many of their appearance from military culture, such as their boots and hair, so that could be a factor to why Shaun had this attraction towards woody and the gang, other factors could include that they were almost instantly accepting of him, and he really just wanted to belong somewhere, where is persona would be accepted.
Describe the development Shaun goes through in the film, and give examples of choices he makes which shape his development:
Shaun starts out as a kid, who has just lost one of the most important people in his life, to an event that is constantly being talked about, so the thoughts are always on his mind. Shaun goes from being a rude little boy, to finding people where this persona is more or less accepted, in other words he finds a place where he belongs, where he can be himself. At first, he is absolutely thrilled to belong to the gang, adopting their culture and way of acting towards each other, as seen when he interacts with people from the gang, (ex. the hugging when trying to comfort and ensure each other). After he’s more and less settled into the gang, he becomes happier and much more confident, even getting popular with a certain lady. After Combo comes back from prison, and starts preaching about how they need to fight for England, and starts talking about the war that Shaun’s father died in, everything else in overshadowed by the old feeling of loss, and Shaun, goes after what he believes to be right, and turns his back to the people who helped him in the first place. After Combo beats up Milk, Shaun realized that Combo really just were a racist, Shaun throws St George’s Cross in the ocean, meaning he no longer believed what it stood for.
What theme(s) do see in the film? Give examples from the film to substantiate your answer.
There is the obvious coming of age, because of the change that the main character Shaun goes through. Family, you see and hear about Shaun’s family situation, and a great deal of Shaun’s motivation for going against woody, is the death of his father. There is also the idea that the gang becomes like a second family to Shaun. War: Shaun’s father died in war. The “ war between woody and Combo. Skinhead culture, the film involves around the subculture, also playing with the stereotype that skinheads were nationalist and some where, stereotypes is stereotypes for a reason, sadly.
