"Football Hooligans" - the growth of a man

Iliana 2022-03-23 09:01:45

Matt:
Gentle, kind, weak.
At first, I was afraid to stand my ground, afraid of conflict. Framed by roommates and expelled from school.
By Peter's side, he found his own beliefs, and finally began to stick to his own position.

Peter:
Rough, persistent, bloody.
Mouthful of Fuck, smashing opposing fans in the head with a beer bottle.
He will also give up his seat to a woman in a gentlemanly manner on the subway.
In the end, he took revenge to "defend the glory" and died to protect others.

On the one hand, I see myself in Matt, and I see that there are times when I dare not stand firm.
At the same time, I saw Peter's dedication to belief and cherishing of glory.
Saw Matt's upbringing as a man.

On the other hand, I also saw that what Peter insisted and defended was so vain and meaningless.
Their behavior is bloody, but it doesn't make sense, the air is swelled with adrenaline.
(Sorry, I really think it's childish to fight and destroy each other because of the teams I follow.) The
constant fighting evolved into an escalation of hatred, which can only be ended with more blood.

Faith and glory they hold.
Just like the bubbles mentioned in the movie, it is very beautiful and beautiful, but it is light and meaningless.

In my opinion, this is actually a movie about British young and dangerous.
Everyone gained self-affirmation through violent profligacy and firm belief.

Matt's life experience should be called Male Initiation.

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Extended Reading

Green Street Hooligans quotes

  • Pete Dunham: [Matt and Pete are sitting at a food vendor stall, reading a newspaper the morning after the Birmingham game/fight] Fuckin' journos. Look at this.

    [he slaps the paper]

    Pete Dunham: West Ham wins 3-nil in a blindin' performance, and our little scrap makes the headline. Bloody muckrakers.

    Matt Buckner: So, what is this?

    Pete Dunham: Bollocks journo bullshit.

    Matt Buckner: No, no, this, the GSE.

    Pete Dunham: [whispering] Shhh! Lower it, son!

    Matt Buckner: What are you guys, like, an organized political movement or something?

    Pete Dunham: No, mate. We're a firm. You never heard of a firm in the States?

    Matt Buckner: No.

    Pete Dunham: All right. Every football team in Europe's got a firm. Some have two.

    [Matt gives him a blank look]

    Pete Dunham: Christ, I forgot how clueless you Yanks are. All you've seen of us is the stadium riots on TV, innit? Come on.

    [they get up and walk away from the stall]

    Pete Dunham: See, West Ham football is mediocre. But our firm is top-notch, and everyone knows it. The GSE: Green Street Elite. Arsenal... great football, shit firm... the Gooners. Tottenham... shit football, and a shit firm... the Yids, they're called. I actually put their main lad through a phone box window the other day.

    Matt Buckner: [Matt looks down at the newspaper] What about Millwall?

    Pete Dunham: Ah, Millwall. Where to even fucking begin with Millwall. Millwall and West Ham firms hate each other, more than any other firms by far.

    Matt Buckner: Sorta like the Yankees and the Red Sox.

    Pete Dunham: More like the Israelis and the Palestinians.

    [Matt laughs]

    Pete Dunham: We haven't played Millwall in ten years. Their top boy's this geezer named Tommy Hatcher. 'Orrible ol' cunt. Back in the Major's day, Tommy's son was killed in a scrap. After that, he went completely mental. Lost the plot.

    Matt Buckner: Well, who's the Major?

    Pete Dunham: Ah, the Major. Quite a legend 'round here. He ran the GSE in the Nineties, when I was comin' up. Hardest bastard you ever saw. They say we kinda lost our way when he left. But believe me, my boys are bringin' the ol' GSE reputation right back.

  • Matt Buckner: So basically, firms are gangs?

    Pete Dunham: Kind of... but we're a far cry from all that Bloods and Crips bullshit. I mean shootin' a machine gun out of a movin' car at an 8 year old girl, that's just cowardly. See, we might be into fightin' an all that... but it's more about reputation. Humiliatin' another mob in a row, doin' somethin' the other firms get to hear and talk about - like a Yank in his first fight battering one of Birmingham's main lads.