Blair government lampooned in ad for controversial movie

LONDON - Tony Blair and his cabinet appear dressed in the very hoodies condemned by the government in a spoof poster ad for controversial gritty British movie 'Kidulthood'.

The ad, which was created in-house by the film's distributor Revolver, puts the faces of Blair and six others on characters from 'Kidulthood', a film about deprived teens in London that stars actor Ray Winstone's daughter Jaime.

Ruth Kelly, John Prescott, Gordon Brown, Patricia Hewitt, Tessa Jowell, sacked Charles Clarke and Blair with a baseball bat all feature in the poster ad for the DVD release of the film.

The parody was produced by Revolver in an attempt to drum up debate about the government's views on poverty and violence among teens.

A spokesperson for Revolver said: "We want these images to encourage and provoke debate, not only about the content of the film, but about the ways in which the government has dealt with these problems in the eight years since they came to power, to ask how they are making their policy relevant to all young people."

Kidulthood follows a group of West London school kids as they react in different ways to the suicide of a classmate.

The hard-hitting youth drama has invited controversy from critics, who say the film glamorises underage sex and drug taking. The DVD will be released on May 22.

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