‘Who do you think you are? Tarantino’s new star’….

..I think I might well end up following North and South’s (defunct 90’s Busted) advice there. According to Amina Taylor, the ever-insightful former Pride magazine editor, our Quentin’s got it right for once, what with his ‘Kill Bill’ and ‘Jackie Brown’.

To his credit, he’s managed to avoid the ‘three main categories’ black women in modern British cinema stereotypically end up in. We’ve not seen any a) strong, determined single mother’ types fighting the system; b) lone Kidulthood-style young women ‘trying to do the right thing against her peer group’; and c) the ’sexy background fodder’ most-commonly seen in a Guy Ritchie movie.

Thankfully, the days of Richard Curtis, where ‘you’d think no black women lived in Notting Hill, or anywhere else in the UK for that matter‘ are coming to an end.

Rollin’ With the Nines with its street-smart protagonist is a different matter. Taylor acknowledges that although Hope, a lady with control over her own destiny, is far from perfect.

Her presence alone is inspiring on screen, given that the much-derided ’stupidity culture’ (which both Pink and JK Rowling have mocked of late) where an editor is besieged by “young women who wanted to model but could barely spell the word.”

An interesting parallel could be drawn when considering GCSE results and exclusions and constantly-evolving social aspirations.

A recent survey suggested teenagers increasingly believe there is no link between their achievements in school and their potential to succeed because of the careers of football stars and reality TV celebrities. Dubbed “realism deficiency” or “Beckham syndrome”, researchers acting on behalf of the South West Learning and Skills Council and King’s College London concluded that “some young people are convinced that life will present them with a lucky break and that they simply have to sit tight and wait for their moment.”

Something both pupils and educators could arguably be taking note of?