I know this is quite a serious subject but I did feel really appalled and almost ill after I watched the third episode of This is England 86 last night.
I watched the This is England film directed by Shane Meadows about three weeks ago and loved it.
The tensions, the disillusionments, the skin-heads, the anarchy and best of all the deliciously dark comedy. The last few scenes shocked me as I hate violence but it made the film real and thought provoking.
So it was with this mindset that I began watching the new This is England 86 on Channel 4. This is basically a continuation of the movie two years down the line and has all the original cast members (to my knowledge). My general feeling was that it was great TV until I began watching the third episode on Virgin catch-up last night.
Firstly i thought a lot of serious subjects were handled in an almost slap-stick style, Lol's adultery has turned her into a black and white character with no emotions for Woody but the piece de resistance was the utterly disgusting rape of Trev by Lol's hideous father near the end of the show.
It really was uncomfortable and horrific to watch. I really don't know how necessary to was to have such a graphic scene or am I just being prudish.
It's been said a lot but I think that although it's very hard to watch, it can only be a good thing that Shane Meadows portrayed a brutal rape in this way because rape is fundamentally brutal. If the programme is on after the watershed with warnings, he shouldn't have to compromise his portrayal of the darker side of society because it exists, it happens every day and to not show it would be arguably more morally wrong.
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