The Iron Lady

If Maggie Thatcher were of sound mind at the moment, she would have a lot to say about a biopic of her life.  She was never short of things to say after all.


Meryl Streep takes the helm as The Iron Lady herself and boy does she kick some butt.  Her characterisation of Thatcher is astounding.  Its so close to the real thing, its uncanny.  Her voice is what makes her portrayal of Thatcher so accurate.  The rest is just comical.


Whatever anyone says about Thatcher, she was a strong, independent woman who fought against all odds to be the first female prime minister in British history.  She would also be the last.  I certainly don't agree with her politics (I am not conservative supporter nor would I ever be) but I do admire her courage, her strength and her voracity in an industry that was against her at all times.


This film did hit home how our current government haven't learned from the mistakes made in the Thatcher era.  In fact, they are also making the same mistakes.  The stock footage used in the film mirrors the troubles we had last year with the mass rioting.  The cuts in public spending mirrors Cameron's current government's initiatives.  And the increases in taxes on the everyday working man that Thatcher enforced also is happening today.  So what does this tell you?  Nothing changes and history repeats itself.


All this is from myself being a British citizen and having lived through the madness the first time.  The film barely goes into too much detail about her political life.  Instead it becomes a farce, a funny story about an old woman who suffers from dementia and relives her life through her memories.  I truly believe that if it had been made with an English leading lady, and made a lot grittier and true to the facts, it would have been a far more riveting story.  After all, this story is about our history.  We have a right to own it somewhat.


Instead, we got Meryl Streep acting her socks off in what will be an Oscar winning performance (even though I think she doesn't deserve it) in a comedy film.  There was just too much funny and not enough substance.  I came away from the film thinking that it was all bitter sweet.  We all end up at a point when we can remember what has happened in our own lives.  And there will always be people who didn't live through the bad times and make the same mistakes.