The reaction tae the films based on Scottish history have always, well, amused me.

I was a postgrad student when Braveheart, the first big film that had @macfadyenangus in it

Long time ago. Near end a ma time. A pile a ma mates had headed back tae their parents' in England tae write up

Wan a them, middle class guy fae Liverpool phoned me up "Ye been tae see it yet?" "Too skint and too busy. And there's a waiting list fur tickets. You been?"

His Da had subbed him money tae take the girlfriend tae the pictures. "Only about 6 people in the place. It's really good. You have to go see it"

I cannae remember if his middle class Scottish girlfriend liked it

Doubt she did. She was wan a them that was never pleased wi anything. Dour face on her

Anyhoo

Few years later, student days a' done and in the US, where Braveheart had been a big success

"Oh, wow! Oh really? You're from Scotland? Did you see Braveheart? Was it any good!"

Nope, I hadn't

Wasn't there long when it was showing at what they call a cinema-grill. Watch a film while munching on a steak dinner wi a pint. Last year's big hits sort of movies

So aff I go tae investigate this cinema-grill thing they have o'er there and see the film, wi some Irish and Scots folk I'd made friends wi

WELL! What a night that was!

By the end a it, these working class Scots, and Irish, maistly builders, had stools o'er their shoulders (pretending they're bagpipes) walking up and doon the aisles blasting oot Flower of Scotland, egging on the Americans who are a' singing and up on the tables, cheering

That was a night oot tae remember and a half

The Americans had a fucking ball tae themsels.

Everybody left wi huge smiles on their faces, laughing and singing

It's called a night oot

Fast forward a fair few mair years and there I am, stoating aboot The Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda

Having a ball of a time tae masel tracking monkeys

There are parts of that forest that are really thick - hoaching wi all sorts of life

Sitting there, in the middle of thick thick forest, wi a park ranger, this wee guy appears

He was dressed in rags. It was Rwanda. There was a lot of poverty aboot. This guy was really poor. Nae shoes, just rags. And he was Twa - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twa 

He smiled, the park ranger said something in Kirwanda and the guy walks up tae me, sticks his haund oot "Good day, Ma'am. Pleased to meet you. I hope you are being well looked after. May I ask, where you are from?" "Pleased to meet you. I'm from Scotland"

His eyebrows knitted together a wee bit "Scotland? Please ma' am Can I ask you a question?" "Sure. Ask away" "Ma'am, have you seen a movie..*thinks hard, trying tae remember it's name..* " "Do you mean Braveheart?"

Everywhere I'd been in Africa I was asked about Braveheart, so it was a decent bet he was asking the same as everybody else

His face lit up like a lighthoose "YES! Ma'am, have you seen Braveheart?"

"Yes I've seen it. Have you?"

"Yes" he says wi a huge smile "It's a great movie"

"You liked it?" "Yes. I've seen it many times"

There's this guy, nae shoes, in rags in the middle of a friggin virgin forest, no a bean tae his name asking me about Holywood movies
ME!

Then his face clouds o'er a wee bit and the smile is gone

"Ma'am, please, may I ask another question?"
"Sure"
"hmm *looks at feet* *looks to side* hmm"

"It's OK. You can ask me anything. Ask me"

"Ma'am, is he real?" "Wallace? Yes.
He was real, a real warrior in Scotland hundreds of years ago. The battles were real, history."

"Ma'am, Is Scotland free now? Do you have your freedom?"

"No. Not yet"

This wee twa pygmy man, straightened his spine, looked me straight in the eyes, let a huge smile rip across his face, grabbed every bit of dignity he had and said

"Ma'am, it is my sincere wish, that one day, you and Scotland will free. Free like we are free. *WE* are free.
One day you will be too"

And he disappeared aff into the forest, leaving me wi the earth moving beneath my feet, so humbled by a wee man wi no even a pair a shoes

Ye see, folk wi bugger a', folk at the bottom of the heap, the wee people, the sma' people they "get it"

And every time one of @macfadyenangus's films get mentioned, them wi the comfy lives and their boot on oor necks FREAK right fucking out that us wee folk might get some ideas

Think very carefully about who is tellin you what, when there is the merest hint of the wee people finding their voice.

Why do they rush to condemn and smear whenever those movies make an appearance?

Why do they spit nails at the folk who like those films?

WHY?

Who likes the moves?

The plebs

Who froths at the mearest nmention of em?

The Comfies

Ye gettin it?

Ye graspin why the comfies are doing one shit load of fucking name callin the day?

Too difficult, mibbes for us wee people tae figure oot?

D'ye think?

Back on this movies and how two different social classes see the Big Movies

Away back when I was in the US, Trainspotting arrived on the screens

It was the talk of the steamie

The man wanted tae go see it, so off we went tae the up and coming part of town tae the picture hoose

The area was where a lot of the young professionals lived. Lovely condos, restaurants

The sort of condos where yer breakfast is laid on for you to pick up every day,...

...the staff take yer grocery delivery at the door, take it to your apartment and pack it all away in yer fridge and freezer and the maid gets on wi scrubbing the place tae gleamin

It's not cheap

All suits and perfect hair doos

I'm no the biggest movie fan, but it's Scottish and the man wants tae see it..

In we go, me wi ma big bag a jelly babies

Ye've a' seen it. I don't need tae describe the film

When it finished, standing ovation
Nae idea if that's normal in America, but that's whit they did, then we a' head for the door.

That slow inchin thing tae get a the folk oot the front door

They a' looked like the folk I'd been tae uni wi, only in more expensive clothes noo that they've got $$$. Professional. Wi futures.

And they were all singing the songs "Great!," excited, gushing aboot how fantastic it was

They were smiling, giggling, laughin, good night

I couldnae fuckin breathe. Tears drippin doon ma face

"Why are they all smilin? Dae they no know it's real... real stories... real lives? Dae they no know that's happening in every city in Scotland? Right noo?"

"Come on Rattles, we'll get something tae eat"

"None a them ever grew up wi somebody that ended up taking smack? They never buried anybody? They think it's great?"

I'll never understaun whit's so great about so many working class folk dying in the friggin street

At work, for months I'd a queue at ma lab bench, a folk who'd got the book, trying tae understand the terms in it.

"What's a Giro?"

"Who is Jock Thomson?"

And the folk trying tae understand?

Working class folk. And black folk. And Latino folk. The folk who volunteered in their church. Even a native American

And when I came back tae Scotland, who was asking if I'd seen the fabby movie?

Wisnae the folk I grew up wi