Ok so I'm back in England after 5 months of traveling around South America. It feels fucking weird to be back, perhaps the strangest thing is sleeping in a comfortable bed with extended periods of darkness and silence, as opposed to spending entire evenings in hostels being woken up by drunken Irish and odd Germans.
Anyway I got back into normal life pretty quickly with a Sunday Roast and a quality pint before bed at 4 in the afternoon. The following day, a Monday, I went to a preview of 'Looking for Eric' directed by Ken Loach at the London School of Film followed by a Q and A with the producer Rebecca O'Brien. I'm pleased to say that it was pretty good, not fantastic but not shite. As a United fan and Cantona devotee I was impressed by the accurate depiction of nuanced fan culture and the true Mancunian spirit upon which Manchester United was built. A quick glance at the IMDB website depressingly reveals that one disgruntled viewer has labeled the film as 'awful' because in his eyes it wrongly depicts United as a working man's team. Its sad to say but today most people associate United with business, with greed, with Korean fans armed with cameras and with the death of football. To a large extent they are right. As Loach's film perhaps unwittingly reveals, the older generation of United fans, who stood by the club during the barren decades that were the 70's and 80's now can't afford to go. Traditions and passion have been replaced by corporate boxes and replica shirts, whilst many fans have finally decided to leave United to the cuntish Glaziers and their horrible grasp of basic economics.
Without wanting to ramble on for hours and sound like an angry grandparent 'Looking for Eric' was a film that really brought home to me the problems facing not just modern football and Manchester United but Britain as a whole. Many people of my generation (18-25) can't find solace and escape in the simple joy of going to a live football game. Everything has become so dominated by money, media hype and envy that young people today are blinded by the bright lights of wealth and glamor rather than the simplicity of being with your mates, having a sing-song and getting pissed. Of course there are many more important nuances to life than this but the point Loach is making is clear: priorities and culture has changed, where once the football fan was portrayed as a working class hooligan they are now more than likely to be a corporate free loader, munching on prawn sandwiches and drinking champagne.
Enough complaining about football, I'm currently weighing up the pro's and con's of renewing my United season ticket and I'm erring to ending the love affair and trying out some FCUM games next year. Until next week, GS. !!