You won't fool the Children of the Revolution

I really enjoy retrospective English films that go to great pains to capture the aesthetics and character of the age they are portraying. There have been a rush of them lately... Nowhere Boy, An Education, and most recently Cemetery Junction.

Cemetery Junction, like the others, explores the psyche of England in its chosen decade ( in this case early seventies) and explores the need for escape. Escape from the rigidity of the older generation, from expected norms, from damaging relationships, from prejudice, from class expectations, etc. Great care is taken to portray the struggle between old values and the expanding horizons of youth, and the film has a distinctly English flavour i.e. its honest. Instead of a glossed over glory days outlook, it instead works to portray an era as it is - the good, the bad the ugly.

Any age is not without its strengths and weaknesses, and any piece that is retrospective will always marvel at the innocence of days gone by. Hindsight is 20 20 as they say, and it is much easier to take a diagnose a societies ills post facto, however it is a shame that more film makers cannot make such incisive films about our own age.

Sometimes it seems as though the world we live in is spiralling out of control. With the media ever more prevelant in our societies the youtth of today live under the shadow of a bevy of big stories that are bandied about in a constant frenzy of fear and disappointment - dramatic financial upheaval, weak leadership, a dragging war, the shadow of terrorism cast across life in large cities, so called Broken Britain, the disengagement of youth from society, etc. I often here people say that our generation missed all the good stuff, we missed the change and we missed the party. Fuck that - the change is here, the party is happening!

With the proliferation of the mass media comes that more many chances to know. You can read mainstream media, or you can read blogs, or other people's tweets, or podcasts - you have an abundance of information you just need to learn how to filter. And if we are so dissatisfied with our leaders and the paths they have led us down in recent years, then do something about it. Register to vote, make yourself heard, discuss politics - we have a very well protected right in this country, to chose our own politicians and to make ourselves heard. The very same people I know who have bitched and moaned through the expenses scandal, the Afghanistan war, the recession, are now telling me they can't be bother to vote. Can't be bothered to register. You want to make a change? Now is the time. Don't wait for someone else to tell you what to do - go out there, read, talk to people, watch the debates...Engage!

And those of you who believe you missed the party... Travel has never been as popular or as possible. With the advent of Facebook, we are all keeping in contact with people we haven't seen for years, all over the world - Show up at their doorstep. There are countries all over the world waiting for you to visit. There are people to be met and things to be seen, and a million lessons to be learned. Go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, a Full Moon party in Thailand, Hogmanay in Scotland, Carnival in Rio, Oktoberfest in Germany. Go diving in The Bahamas and feel the spray of Victoria Falls soak your skin in Zimbabwe, drink tequila in Mexico and have tea in Morocco. Hike the Inca trail, and see the Sistine Chapel, and have your own revolution... Go get a passport.

Sometimes these things are easier said than done, and there are a great many things from other eras that I wish I had been a part of...But the point is, those things had to happen so I could be here now, doing what I get to do. There is still a party, and we still have a chance to make a change...we just have to grab them both!

Rant over.