268 - Small Axe: Alex Wheatle

Eavesdropping at the Movies · Jan 5, 2021 · 29m

The theme of assimilation is given a fascinating twist in Alex Wheatle, the fourth Small Axe film. While Mangrove and Red, White and Blue, in particular, depicted black people's attempts to assimilate into mainland British culture and life and the racism they faced, the title character here is a young black man brought up in an abusive children's home, orphaned from his parents, and whose move to Brixton sees him culturally dislocated and having to, in effect, learn to 'be black'. Cultural and familial dislocation are connected through Alex. The abandonment by his parents led to his…