Falklands War

Cultural impact in the UK

The war provided a wealth of material for writers, and many dozens of books came from it; in the UK the definitive account became Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins' The Battle for the Falklands. Other titles focussed on the Sea Harrier (Sharkey Ward's Sea Harrier over the Falklands), the land battles leading up to the Argentine capitulation (Christian Jennings and Adrian Weale's Green Eyed Boys), and the general experience of battle (Ken Lukowiak's A Soldier's Song). Jack Higgins' thriller Exocet dealt with one of the war's most famous 'buzz-words'; for many years afterwards, 'exocet' became synonymous with 'rocket' in the UK ('Yomp' and 'Task Force' also entered the language).

Related Topics:
Max Hastings - Simon Jenkins - The Battle for the Falklands - Sea Harrier - Sea Harrier over the Falklands - Green Eyed Boys - Ken Lukowiak - A Soldier's Song - Jack Higgins - Exocet - Yomp - Task Force

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Very few films emerged from the conflict, one such being the 1989 BBC drama Tumbledown, which starred Colin Firth in an early role. It told the tale of a soldier in the Scots Guards, brain-damaged by a sniper's bullet, adjusting to disabled life after the war. In 1992 the BBC produced An Ungentlemanly Act, relating the story of the initial defence of the Islands during the Argentine Invasion, with Bob Peck as Mike Norman and Ian Richardson as Rex Hunt. Ian Curteis' The Falklands Play was commissioned by the BBC in 1986, but was not filmed until 2004; the BBC claimed that it would have been broadcast too close to the 1987 General Election. Curteis maintained that the generally sympathetic portrayal of Margaret Thatcher refuted a perceived BBC anti-government bias. On a lighter note, the character of Grant Mitchell from the popular, gritty soap opera Eastenders was written as a traumatised Falklands veteran, although this characterisation was swiftly abandoned.

Related Topics:
1989 - Tumbledown - Colin Firth - Scots Guards - An Ungentlemanly Act - Bob Peck - Ian Richardson - Ian Curteis - The Falklands Play - 2004 - Margaret Thatcher - Grant Mitchell - Soap opera - Eastenders

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Tottenham Hotspur's popular Argentine midfielder Ossie Ardiles had helped beat Leicester City one day after the invasion, to no ill effect, although he subsequently left the UK for a year of his own volition. The war also created heightened passions between Argentina and England in the 1986, 1998, and 2002 FIFA World Cups, featuring memorable, and sometimes infamous, performances by Diego Maradona, Peter Shilton, and David Beckham.

Related Topics:
Tottenham Hotspur's - Ossie Ardiles - Leicester City - Argentina - England - 1986 - 1998 - 2002 - Diego Maradona - Peter Shilton - David Beckham

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Although the war did not have a direct impact on British civilians, it nonetheless had impacts on British pop culture. Popular music referencing the war included Elvis Costello's song "Shipbuilding", Iron Maiden's song "Como Estais Amigos", Pink Floyd's songs "Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert", "The Fletcher Memorial Home", and "Not Now John" from the album The Final Cut, Billy Bragg's song "Island of No Return" and The Bluebells' song "South Atlantic Way". Joe Jackson's 1986 song "Tango Atlantico" deals with a description of the end of the war and the aftermath. Much material produced around this time by the anarchist punk band Crass was extremely critical of the war, in particular the singles "How Does it Feel to be the Mother of 1000 Dead" and "Sheep Farming in the Falklands" and the album Yes Sir, I Will. Crass were also responsible for Thatchergate, a hoax tape, originally attributed to the Soviet KGB, during which the spliced voice of Margaret Thatcher appears to imply that the HMS Sheffield was deliberately sacrificed in order to escalate the conflict.

Related Topics:
Elvis Costello - Shipbuilding - Iron Maiden - Pink Floyd - The Final Cut - Billy Bragg - The Bluebells - Joe Jackson - Anarchist - Punk - Crass - Yes Sir, I Will - Thatchergate - Hoax - Soviet - KGB

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The popular computer games Harrier Attack and Yomp presented unofficial portraits of the fighting.

Related Topics:
Harrier Attack - Yomp

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The aforementioned Simon Weston, a Welsh Guard who had suffered serious burns during the conflict, became a popular figure due to British media coverage. A series of television documentaries followed his progress and eventual recovery from his injuries (Simon's War being the first).

Related Topics:
Simon Weston - Welsh Guard - Simon's War

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The film version of Whoops Apocalypse features a conflict very similar to the Falklands War between Great Britain and a fictional country Maguadora over the fictional Santa Maya.

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