He let combo go knowing he had changed...all that ..'promises were made' Al Pacino rubbish while balling his eyes out, what a total let down. I liked Milky but that just made me hate him. Talk about racist...make the black characters family act like Gangsta's
of my mind
'' I don't know what's in there, but it's weird and it's pissed off''
The thing is, if Milkys family were 'gangsters' or notorious in some sort of way (considering the planning and execution of the revenge on Combo) then why didn't they get him when he was out of jail in 1986? AND why didn't they get to him on the inside whilst combo was in jail? They must've 'known people' who could've got to him no??
shareMilky has been cowardly long before his actions against combo. He let Woody watch Lol give birth fully knowing that it was probably his child that was about to pop out.
sharedamn yeah thats true I forgot that as it wasn't
shown...yeah he's a coward right enough
of my mind
'' I don't know what's in there, but it's weird and it's pissed off''
Milky has always been cowardly, you are right. And thats whats brilliant, it's been consistent throughout the show. The fact that he didn't stand up for Lol when Mick came over when they slept together and shouted at her, scaring her. He didn't bother coming out to stand for Lol because he was worried about himself. That scene is telling.
The fact that he didn't have the balls to own up to Woody about his child and stuff. He's always been a coward.
Though, to be fair, I think it's something he has somewhat inherited having hung around Woody and his lot for number of years. The scene in This Is England where they all let just sit there quietly while Combo and his nazi friend spout racist stuff in front of him really exposed just how fractured the group dynamic really was. Milky's just the nice black bloke who gets to make his friends feel hip, but he wasn't aware of how limited his connection with them truly is....they'll drink with him, they'll watch footie with him...but they will NEVER stand up for him...they have their limitations towards blacks like Milk and I think Combo exposed that because he knew it would happen and saw it as a way to gain some momentum.
So, yeah, I guess in many ways he, on a sub conscious level, feels that way hence his cowardliness.
My strength is greater than my weakness
I think that might be a bit unfair to the rest of the crew, they all had their issues and combo was a feared leader, and when he did give that little speech about the pudding, it was quite clear that everyone was very uncomfortable with that. And being impressionable teenagers, they couldn't stand in the way of Combo and his crew who were obviously much stronger. Realistically what could they do about it? It might be a bit far to write off Milky's connection to the rest wasn't of substance.
shareAnother reason why Milky wanted to get revenge on Combo in '90 and not '86 could be the new found responsibility of being a father. Maybe Milky sees Combo as a threat to his daughter's life, and also in the sense that she would be separated from her half-sibling and her mother, and in a more general sense, disturbing the 'normalcy' of the group as Milky would no longer be able to hang out with his child-hood friends the way he used to. Maybe it's this protective/possessive instinct that triggered his actions towards Combo.
shareThem going through 'stuff' and being younger doesn't negate the fact that they still took the cowardly way out.
Only one who can be excused are Shaun and a couple of the other impressionable younger ones like Kelly and Trev...but the rest, specially Woody and Lol got exposed as not really caring about Milky. Their 'love' for him didn't extend beyond smashing around stuff in abandoned wharehouses and the group was never the same again after that scene.
Think of it this way - if Lol or Pukey had been on the brunt of Combo's verbal abuse, the group would have raced to defend her. But Milky, the teen with the ironic name, would have to make do with uncomfortableness.
I agree with your point about how Milky becoming a father might have motivated even more to get revenge on Combo. Though he should have been man enough to have dealt with him with his own bare hands instead of going all gangster.
My strength is greater than my weakness
It's easy to say oh combo has changed but in reality the guy almost killed him, I think it would be very difficult for alot of people in that position to just forgive. Not saying that he shouldn't have forgiven him but the reality is most people would not.
I thought the ending was about forgiveness, all the key people in the wedding reception were able to forgive each other for things that had happened and they were seen happy and having a good time. Milky, who was not able to forgive Combo, was seen alone and unhappy. This is what can happen in life, bitterness, anger, need for revenge etc can end up ruining peoples lives.