At face value, Rikki Beadle-Blair's Bashment centers around the issue of homophobia in Britain's reggae dancehalls. But this film, adapted from a stage play, is about much more than that, touching upon issues of racism, gender, sexuality, love, hate and the influence of music.
The film's title comes with a double meaning; bashment is a style of reggae music and also refers to the incident central to the story's plot — a brutal gay-bashing at an MC competition at a reggae club. The three men responsible for the attack — members of the group KKK (Krazy Kop Killer) and its manager — leave Orlando, the boyfriend of their competitor, MC JJ, brain-damaged. The trio receives incredibly light sentences when they argue in court that they were provoked.
This article appears in Oct 13-19, 2011.