I live 5-7 min drive from this:
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2732917017
I would take the life depicted in the movie, living in West London, one is probably less likely to die.
Overall the movie provided good insight into what kids there go through, and how life in London is not all glitz and glamor.
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NAHHHHH MAN...wah u think of gansgter...thats everyday life on the streets in UK...in this country kindness is taken for granted...take my word for it
shareThats what everything like in the london streets, Camedon Town, Essex ect... I live in Woking, which is in Surrey, people would concider Surrey to be the safest county in the UK, but in Woking, its pretty mad too, not as bad as it is in London. But I see people in hoodies, with metal bars in there hands (im a teen too), and they just threaten people, but they smile and do a little nod to me like I know them. Its really dangerous in the streets. And I think that the film is really realistic, because thats how people actually act.
shareu sound like a dumb *beep*
shareLol here in Manchester everyone tries to re-enact the characters from this movie.
"Nobody is free, even the birds are chained to the sky" - Bob Dylan
I live right next to Compton as well and I am WAY more afraid of Compton than London. When I was in London, I didn't see much but I did hear stories from one of my friends who lives in England. There was this one time when I was walking down the street in London and heard some screaming. I turned around and there were some teenagers who I guess are considered "Chavs". The guy I was with, who is English, explained to me that this is how they act. Loud, obnoxious, threatening, etc. Growing up in America where I have seen a lot of gang violence didn't make me afraid, I just found their behavior a little annoying.
I just watched this movie for the first time and from what I have seen I can understand how the depiction of the film relates to real life London life.
But seriously, you can take any big city and see how much violence there is in it. Any city has the chance to be just as bad to live in. It will never change. Everyone here in America was afraid when I said I was going to London but living close to Compton really didn't make London seem all that bad.
The movie was good. There were some things that made me cringe. It could be the realism, especially the school setting. Eerie.
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whats with the whole comparing america to britain on this board theres no mention of america in this film at all and they are two completely different countries !
People from london just think their hard but there really no.
Im 19 and I have grown up in Edmonton north london. Right in the heart of the London gang culture. And i can say from experience this film is extreamly exadurating life in london. For the whole part london is safe. Yes if you go looking for trouble you will find it. But most violence in london is Gang vs Gang. To compare it to the american gang lands is a joke. Most people that say this is an acurate depiction of London are people that want to make living in London sound Hard when realy its not. You live in the boring suberbs, deal with it.
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ryanhebbs, you know nothing about anything. Shut up.
Did you even watch the film? You must have had a really *beep* child life if you think growing up in a council flat is a "good upbringing" (ignored your error).
I think you need to take another look at the word "gangster" which you keep throwing around. I don't remember there being any gangs in the movie? That's what a gangster is, right? A member of a gang?
And the guy going on about Compton.. Oh my god, get over yourself.
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i am from Edmonton and i approve this message...
shareIf you're going to try to impress someone about gangs in America you should pick some gangs that are actually frightening like Mara Salvatrucha.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTGNwSARj9A
to be honest. id be proud to say that the UK is not as rough as the USA. So why people are competeing to be the rougher nation is beyond me.
shareEnglish boys always copy Americans. Not just style but every single thing. Any of those "gangsta" boys from England comes to U.S and they will be on their knees being real gay and and crying. LOL homo gangstas of England buys replica guns and tries to turn them into guns. I bet the hardest thuggish gangs in England would urinate in their pants by couple of highschool kids from U.S
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There's no need for that. I'm sure there are just as many hardmen here as there are in America, proportionately of course. It's silly to say that everyone from one country is tougher than everyone from another.
shareI grew up in Belfast. Paramilitaries are trained, have political connections, thousands of members,murals on every wall, influence in every community, countless heavy weapons, and take on governments/nations. I would say they were worse than any of your "gangs" in London or L.A.
So who wins between Britain and America? Neither of you, and, who cares? so a few Cholos spin around in cars shooting each other up with a few crappy MAC-10s, big wow, there are wars going on in this world, go visit some REAL nasty countries if you think where you live is "ghetto" or "gangsta".
Not to upstage you or anything, but there are qualities I'd agree and disagree with in your statement.
First off, I think the drug cartels here in the US are pretty hardcore... I mean, they don't just have political connections and paramilitaries (by definition partisan-types, so local street gangs?) too, they also have REAL armies and hit squads, many of whom were once elites in Latin American militaries and trained by American special forces (well-spent tax dollars on "defense" I guess). They knock out journalists, drug lords, cops, lawyers, elected officials, you name it. If you don't believe me, check out the drug wars Calderon has launched against Sinaloa and Juarez... bodies and skulls are dropping left and right by the thousands up and down the border right now, in Mexico and the southwestern US (Texas and California). More people are dying in this drug war than NATO has lost in Iraq and Afghanistan combined lol. And by the way, if a foreign gang does business and kills in your neighborhood, that doesn't make them foreign anymore.
Second, what I agree with: there are worse, much crazier things in the world than either US drug cartels or the IRA. We call it the third world, people. I'd rather not get carpet-bombed by Israelis for one missing conscript, or suicide-bombed by fanatics on a usual basis. Or get castrated while sleeping in Mindanao or the Sudan. In comparison, I like my piss-scented hobos walking on broken glass-covered sidewalks in front of my graffiti-ed house very much, thank you.
yes but the point is, blood and crips are ghetto gangsters hardened by a tough upbringing, but groups like the IRA had political and personal motivations. not to mention heavy duty contacts. The lebanese, the basque seperatists, and many other groups to deal with, the IRA were even hired to train members of the PLO, the Basques, and other groups, in exchange for weapons and support.
The IRA were extremely disciplined, even the british army, *beep*, even blaire himself, said the IRA were a dedcated, organised, well armed organsation who were extremely dedicated to their cause.
Also Columbia. A couple of years ago it was reported that the IRA were training and working with FARC revolutionists in Columbia.
shareThis thread is hilarious. Some of you sound like you've watched one too many episodes of sensationalized TV shows like Gangland.
LOL@Jumping from inner city crime and gangs to warlords and politically motivated movements like the IRA. WTF?!?
So who wins between Britain and America? Neither of you, and, who cares? so a few Cholos spin around in cars shooting each other up with a few crappy MAC-10s, big wow, there are wars going on in this world, go visit some REAL nasty countries if you think where you live is "ghetto" or "gangsta".
The U.S wins hands down. I've spent time overseas too. You're hard-pressed to find very many firearms in the U.K (I'm not saying that it's a good thing either) and I never once really felt threatened while I was in England.
Once again I'm not saying that it's a bad thing to not have a bunch of knuckleheads running around with guns.
A lot of what ive seen here both amuses and exasperates me. Why oh why do people care if a country or area is 'tougher' than anywhere else?
Do people really take pride in the worst their country has to offer? You cant tell me anyone is actually proud of the *beep* that are created in these areas?
Personally id be glad if the UK was less violent and crime ridden than the US, thats a GOOD thing and noone should even have to point that out in the first place.
Definitely some bizzare priority twists these days.
I suggest for a comparison - people watch the film 'Kids' which follows a group of young teens for a day in New York. Kids by the way was made 10 years before Kidulthood, and its more unsettling I thought.
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I think its funny how some Brits like you are so insecure that you assume we're gloating about our high crime at the same time that you seem genuinely angered that we have you beat crime-wise.
There are many things I like about Brits, but the insecure chip on the shoulder vs. America is not one of them.
America is more dangerous than the UK. The US homicide rate is around 5 per 100,000, the UK has more like 1 or 1.5 I think. Among US blacks its about 20 or 25, and in some cities its above 50.
My subjective impression is that the UK has more petty crime, drunken brawling, and general yobbish stupidity.
The USA is possessed with an insane gun culture, and an all pervasive, lifelong love of blood porn.
Britain isn't. End of.
But its all too easy (and a little bit Nancy) to be "brave" when hanging off the end of a firearm. Knives, bottles, iron bars? That's a whole higher level of violence.