Quote analysis

David Gaunlett (2007)
"Identity is complicated. Everybody thinks they've got one. Artists play with the ice of identity in modern society".

I think this quote means that people do not necessarily have a fixed identity therefore film makers and the people in the films experiment with the variants of identities that are seen in modern society. 'Everybody thinks they've got one' suggests that everybody may in fact be more similar than they know, the fact that everyone thinks they have an identity may be the very thing that makes them all the same.

This is represented in This is England. Combo tries to find his identity by being a racist skinhead and like wise Milky tries to find his identity as a British Jamaican and Shaun tries to find his identity by discovering a world he's never known before. They are all living the same journey in their own ways which makes them common. 'Artists play with the ice of identity' suggests that maybe a person has more than one identity for example Shuan first has this identity of a weak bullied kid but as he evolves, he gains a identity of a strong willed and quite tough guy. I think identities have a way of evolving and therefore artists play around and experiment with this to create a reflective view of society. Also 'identiy is complicated' could be something to do with the many overlapping identities such as Combo and Woody both being skinheads but Combo being a racist unlike Woody. Overall I think this quote is just saying that nobody really knows who they are and atleast go through phases where they feel this way and artists use this to create a form of reality in the entertainment world.