I Predict A Riot

I was intending to write a gushy post on my film blog tonight, but having spent the past few hours watching News24 religiously, I have to say that my heart really wouldn't be in it.

I've never written about current affairs or news on my blog before, quite possibly because it's been quite some time since I've found the news quite as embarrassing, disgusting and personal as this. The riots that have been ripping through Britain in the past few days have truly shocked me, and have actually succeeded in battering through my usual 'oh well, it's not happening to me', selfish attitude to affect me. I'm not sure why this is, but all I can say is that this seems so much more relatable to me, because it's people my age, in cities and on streets I've visited, doing things that I find utterly appalling.

It has genuinely saddened me to realise how many people there are in my country who apparently don't think twice about destroying independent businesses that rely on profit for income, burning family cars, looting local stores and generally behaving like mindless pack animals. It's not only horrifying, it's embarrassing. That these pathetic individuals cause chaos, for no reason they have bothered to assess or explain. It's also deeply embarrassing and misleading -- that this minority of young British people behave in such a way does nothing but taint the already damaged image of ALL young British people. I wish there was some way I could explain to these young adults, teenagers and sometimes flat-out kids that I - along with the majority of the country - find what they're doing pathetic, humiliating, ignorant and (frankly) very stupid. They really are rebels without a cause, and never before have I realised quite how pitiful such a thing is.

All that said, I have to say that it almost revives my image of my home to see all the people on the news, on the internet and on the streets who have gone out to try and fix the damage done by the cretins of the nation. The number of volunteers participating in the riot clean-ups of today have restored a little bit of the British pride that has been so badly damaged but the events of the past few days. I hope those people realise how fantastic what they're doing in, and how heartening it is for those of us lucky enough to be far away from the riots to see that there is at least one kind, intelligent and altruistic person out there for every ignorant thug.

Incidentally, my favourite completely unviable but hilariously confident solution to the riots so far has been my mums suggestion: "Chain the lot of them together, and tell them that they're not eating until they've cleared up their own mess." Sounds like a plan, to me.