MovieChat Forums > This Is England '90 (2015) Discussion > Combo - A real good guy.

Combo - A real good guy.

posted 9 years ago by BoorishBison
8 replies | jump to latest

I've seen a lot of people saying "Combo didn't deserve that ending even though he did what did.". Ok, Combdo did kick the *beep* out of Milky but it wasn't out or racism. Combo, like the majority of the characters, comes from a broken home, he was a frustrated guy. Of course this doesn't make what he did right, but understandable to some point. Also, I remember from the movie, in the scene where Banjo and Combo scare everyone right after coming out of jail, Woody says that Combo actually went for jail to protect Woody. In 86, when he reappears, what does he do? Protects Lol from going to jail by pretending he was the one that killed her father. Let's not forget that in this time 86-90, we don't see Lol nor Woody ( the one he saved, and the lover of the person he saved) visiting him at anytime, how *beep* is that? So, what do know about Combo?. He was a kid from a broken home with a lot of anger in him that made some bad decisions (which he regreted right away since we see him crying and taking Milky to the hospital right after he attacked him) but did time for two of his friends, something only a real altruist person would do.

On the other hand, we have Milky. A guy who *beep* his best friend's girlfriend and actually made her pregnant. Not only that, but a guy who hired hitmen to kill someone who BEAT him, but not kileld him, that's not justice. And how big of a *beep* do you have to be to send a guy to his death like that even after a sincere apologize at that coffe shop. Oh, and let's not forget Milky's background, a healthy, functional family for what we can see, way different of Combo's.

Basically, Combo was a good guy, although unstable, and Milky was a backstabbing coward.

[–] Bobby_Tomlinson 9 years ago

Um, we saw Lol visit Combo in the 88 series and it's implied to be a regular thing.

OOM POM PAH OOM POM PAH thats how it goes...

[–] BoorishBison 9 years ago

Oh that's right I forgot about it, my bad, thanks for reminding me :).

[–] Bobby_Tomlinson 9 years ago

No probs. it's only because I recently re watched them all so my memory is fresh.

OOM POM PAH OOM POM PAH thats how it goes...

[–] AmieEvelynLavinia 9 years ago

What Milky done to Woody was way worse than what Combo done to Milky.

It's not even like Milky had a one nighter with Lol - he continued to f^ck her - and then had the damn right cheek to go hang out with Woody and act like he hadn't done anything.

That kind of thing in my eyes, is way worse than Combo beating Milky in a Jealous rage.
Woody forgave him, helped raise his child and let him move in ...
But Milky wanted Combo dead - what a Prick.

Combo and Woody are the only two real respectful men.
Can change their views, can grow up, can apologise, can forgive ... and can do Good for those they love.
My two favourite characters.

Milky is a skidmark on society. He makes me sick.

[–] The_White_Hotel 9 years ago

What Milky done to Woody was way worse than what Combo done to Milky.

No, Combo could have killed Milky and almost did. That's worse. And Combo may have had internal psychological reasons for attacking Milky, but in the moment he was inspired by racism, a jealousy and hatred of what he saw as an immigrant with an undeservedly better life than him. However, Milky comes out of the situation as a whole as the worse man, because Combo had definitely changed and Milky (or his family or whatever) refused to accept that change. But ultimately Milky is ruining his own life and poisoning his own soul by allowing that level of revenge to be carried out on Combo, and that's the reason I didn't want him to go through with it, because I'd always liked him as a character and now he's impossible to like.

Reality is the new fiction they say, truth is truer these days, truth is man-made

[–] stio89 9 years ago

If you watch it all its made very clear that combo isn't really a racist. his father was mixed race and left when combo was young and he had a poor upbringing. Just before he attacks milky and milky tells him how lovely his own upbringing was, he says to milky "what do you thank makes a bad dad?" milky says "i dont know what do you think does" and combo says "nig*as". when he says that you think he's being racist but he is actually talking about his own father. even after combo beats him and banjo wants to hurt milky, combo bottles banjo and then takes milky to hospital. A real racist wouldn't do that. At the end of 90 combo even says he only did it because he was jealous.

seriously mate watch the movie and tv shows back to back and you'll see combo is actually one of the good ones. milky was the real snake in the grass all along.

[–] The_White_Hotel 9 years ago

I've just watched the film again after finishing '90. It's a stretch to say "Combo is one of the good ones". No doubt Combo is a changed man by '90 but in the original film he has adopted and espouses a racist ideology. He threatens children because they are asian. He pulls a machete on a shopkeeper because he is asian. He incites harted and violence. I understand that it is more complicated for him than just not liking foreign people or black people or immigrants, but in that moment the reason that he attacks Milky is because he is black. If he wasn't black Combo would not have attacked him. Whether it is really his father who he is angry with and whatever his psychological issues might have been is at that moment besides the point. He attacks Milky, almost kills Milky, because he is black. Yes he immediately regrets what he has done and yes he takes him to hospital, but that hardly excuses what he did. At that moment Milky is an innocent victim, he's not a "snake in the grass" he is blameless, and Combo is the perpetrator of a vicious, racially motivated assault, and to argue otherwise, even though we know Combo will drop his racist posturing and support for racist organisations in the future, strikes me as bizarre.

Reality is the new fiction they say, truth is truer these days, truth is man-made

[–] Sanctuary20 9 years ago

What Milky done to Woody was way worse than what Combo done to Milky.

Stopped reading right there.

Having sex with your best mate's girlfriend isn't cool. At All. But a kid being beaten close to death over racial issues is pretty sick and as low as it gets. Combo repented, sure, but he nearly killed Milky...imagine it was your little brother or sister who was on the end of Combo's boot...that's dark stuff right there.

My strength is greater than my weakness