The
mod scene, and thus
Quadrophenia, had another revival in the UK in the mid 90's, thanks to
men's magazines such as
FHM and
Loaded pushing sharp suits and the whole
new lad mentality.
Lots of
people bought/rented the film, watched it, then went away thinking "Mods are cool" and started scouring
boutiques for sharp suits and charity shops for
Crombies.
In reality, this is not the message the film tries to give at all.
Jimmy says he became a mod to "Be someone different", but as the film goes on he realises, with the aid of drink,
blues and
psychosis, that the mods are all the bloody same. They don't have minds of their own, they follow the
hive mind of
peer pressure, which Jimmy is sucked into to the point of helping beat up a childhood friend just because he's a
rocker.
Eventually, Jimmy goes
crazy, achieves a bizzare form of
individuality, then symbolically
chooses life over being a mod. The final scene is, like the one in
Thelma & Louise, much loved and much parodied. The central theme is still valid today - how many
Goths or
Punkers got into the scene because they wanted to be someone
different?
It's a good film, but it's a shame that
most people leave it thinking that suits are cool, and rockers should be beaten up.