In the Nuclear Shadow: What Can the Children Tell Us?

Using a collection of interview clips with young people, peppered with extrapolations from professionals trying to make sense of their comments, this documentary illustrates quite clearly the sense of frustration and defeatism felt by teenagers in the early 1980s. With NATO and the Soviets heavily armed and pointing no end of missiles at each other and with President Ronald Reagan talking openly about the weaponisation of space, these youngsters take an understandably cynical view of their own future. Given that prevailing view, they feel little inclined to invest in society - after all, after the inevitable push of the button only the scorpions will be left. It makes it’s point swiftly and quite effectively, but after about ten minutes their opinions become repetitive and, as we all were at that age, simplistically naïve. It’s an important mouthpiece for a youth that feels ignored and sidelined and for those trying to understand their demotivated state, but it’s dry, humourless and flat - never good tools when trying to get your point across to a population disinterested, already converted or with it’s head firmly in the sand.