The trailer for the movie from Peaky Blinders has ignited the excitement of MeinMMO author Johanna, which is mainly due to the cast. At the same time, it also reminds her of her love-hate relationship with Thomas Shelby.
After lead actor Cillian Murphy announced he would return to the role of Thomas Shelby for a “Peaky Blinders” movie, my excitement was high. Now there’s finally a trailer, and it looks simply fantastic.
For a moment, I had concerns that Netflix might turn the movie into a cash grab
. After all, Peaky Blinders is a very popular series. However, the cast shown speaks for itself and made all my doubts disappear. We obviously have Cillian Murphy himself, but also Rebecca Furgerson (Dune), Barry Keoghan (Saltburn), and Stephen Graham (Adolescence).
I’m looking forward to the character Thomas Shelby as well, but at the same time, I’m not. Because I still don’t know whether to love or hate him. That’s what makes him so interesting to me.
You can watch the trailer for the movie here:
Thomas Shelby drives me crazy
We all know the epic montages on the internet of scenes featuring Thomas Shelby. How he walks through the streets of Birmingham smoking in slow motion or casually strolls away from an exploding building.
For people who haven’t watched Peaky Blinders, Thomas Shelby may just seem like a cool protagonist who is superior to everyone else. No question, the gangster boss has his epic moments when you think, “Yeah man, what a cool character. He’s such a badass.” But just as often, if not more so, I find myself thinking, “You’re such a jerk.”
Thomas Shelby manages to test the limits of my own moral values and make me debate with myself whether certain actions are justified or not. Watching the gangster boss is almost exhausting.
His intellect makes him superior, but also cold
In countless moments, it gives the impression that Thomas Shelby is done for one way or another. His opponent has beaten him, but then comes the resolution that Thomas Shelby was once again a step ahead.
He is smart, and no one has finally beaten his intellect yet. His intelligence is one of his greatest strengths, but it also leads to his worst moments.
This often leads to his apathy. He treats other characters like chess pieces. He doesn’t even stop at his own family. He doesn’t involve them in his plans and forces them to do what he wants.
This can lead to funny situations, such as when he gets his little brother to marry and informs everyone except him. On the other hand, it also leads to situations like at the end of season 3, where Thomas Shelby knowingly lets the police take his family away.
Of course, one could say that it is the best for the family overall, but it is still not very nice.
His insatiable ambition
One thing you cannot accuse Thomas Shelby of: laziness. The man gets things done. Actually, his older brother Arthur Shelby should have been the head of the family in his place. However, he is mentally too unstable to take on a leadership role.
With his intelligence and ambition, Thomas Shelby is the perfect candidate for it. But his ambition is also an insatiable thirst.
It seems almost irrelevant what Thomas Shelby achieves; enormous wealth and influence: he seeks the next goal. For this goal, he risks everything again and employs his morally questionable tactics.
The passing on of trauma
Thomas Shelby was in World War I. He is a severely traumatized man, which is especially evident in the first season. The experiences of the war haunt him, and he can only quiet them with drugs.
Help like therapy was pretty much non-existent at that time, so Thomas Shelby couldn’t have learned to cope with it. Add to that the prevailing gender roles: as a man, showing emotions was probably considered impossible at that time, as it was seen directly as a weakness.
The trauma Thomas Shelby has suffered does not get resolved; he passes it on. He murders and employs ruthless violence generally. Whoever stands in his way gets annihilated.
On one hand, I feel pity for him; no one should have to suffer such mental damage. On the other hand, I find it repulsive that he is also part of the problem.
Thomas Shelby is not an easy character. He is especially not one-dimensional, which is mainly due to the performance of Cillian Murphy but also to the writers.
The gangster boss remains one of the best and most interesting characters in modern cinematic history for me, even if I love-hate him or perhaps because of it. For me, Peaky Blinders is an absolute must-watch. If you want to shorten the time until the Peaky Blinders movie and have already finished watching the main series, we can recommend these 5 similar series: 5 series like Peaky Blinders
