Why is David Cameron so keen to associate himself with a Jamaican ganster flick? As the Mail points out (scroll to the bottom of the piece), the “reggae anthem” chosen for his conference speech and the new Tory ad campaign has bloody and murderous associations. The tune — “You Can Get it if You Really Want” — is a Jimmy Cliff classic that plays at the beginning and the end of his shoot ‘em-up “The Harder they Come”.
The film’s tagline summarises the plot quite well: “dem a loot, dem a shoot, dem a wail in shanty town”. I seem to remember that Jimmy Cliff — who plays Ivanhoe Martin, a wannabe singer who turns to drug-dealing and mass-murder — goes on a cop-killing rampage to the sound of “”You Can Get it if You Really Want” near the end of the movie. David Cameron may have even watched it as a student while eating jerk-chicken from his favourite Jamaican food-joint in Oxford.
Anyway, if you’re intrigued, this video includes lots of shots from the film. You wonder whether this is the latest twist to the hug-a-hoodie theme. Does Dave want to hug-a-rudie?
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=xGE4dnrPPZQ[/youtube]
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey
