Pulp is no Fiction

Of all the discreet, respectful observance in Hollywood of the horror of the Sandy Hook school massacre, the figure who has been the least unreserved has once again been Quentin Tarantino. It's no coincidence that for generations the rise of American cinema has been synchronous with that of its increasing obsession with guns. (The very first Hollywood films were Westerns because of the proliferation of cowboys and gunfighters from the Wild West.)

Up till now, the most infamous case of film violence inspiring real life violence was that of John Hinckley, who actually went out of his way to build a personal arsenal and attempted to assassinate an influential politician (President Ronald Reagan) just like Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, out of their mutual obsession for Jodie Foster.

The argument that movies are movies and real life is real life is starting to wear a little thin, particularly in the case also of the horrific massacre earlier this year at a Colorado cinema (before the opening screening of The Dark Knight Rises - see below). This was not just someone influenced by the romance of violence in films, but by a particular film.

Filmmakers have a responsibility, not only to the past (where history is often rewritten to suit American tastes), but also to the present, to show this society in, if not a whitewashingly positive light, then certainly not such a dark, negative one.

Is publicity like this supposed to entertain, or to give bad people bad ideas?

Saville and the Sixties

By an unpleasant coincidence, in the same week that both the Beatles and the James Bond films are celebrating their 50th anniversary, this week also sees another child of the 60's in the news, for rather more scandalous reasons. A product of the pop scene and the "free love" era of the 1960's, "Sir" (for how long I wonder?) Jimmy Saville must surely now rank as one of its most blatant examples of philandering committed under the dazzle of celebrity, and one of the biggest turnarounds in a man's reputation since Oscar Wilde. Oddest of all, was that this dark secret wasn't really so secret at all.

For those who ever watched Jim'll Fix It or the countless other TV programmes and events that he was involved in, there was always that slightly seedy look to him. Maybe it was this obviousness that blinded people to the nastier undertones. His popularity and enormous accumulated wealth - and if we're honest, the love in which this man was held - seemed to have bought him a few liberties.

It is sometimes said that the good deeds of men outweigh their flaws. Death does not improve the character, but nor I think should it totally destroy it. A certain amount of care should be taken to totally demonise the man or to undo his charitable work (even though this, most despicable of all, was a cloak under which he could commit further abuse). It would be hypocritical of the nation (as hypocritical as Saville's own bad behaviour) to turn a perceived saint into a devil so vehemently - but already the lynch mob feeling is rampant throughout the nation, fuelled by a hungry Media eager to catch up on what they missed out on when Saville was alive.

It may be wrong and unfashionable of me to say it, but I still recall with affection his Jim'll Fix It programme (and the time when some lucky kids had their dream wish of visiting the set of the Star Wars films), and how he was a regular contributor to several London Marathons. Such a life is varied, and as we now know, with many sides to it. The Hyde has come out from his Dr. Jekyll. What Jimmy Saville did to young girls was wrong, but what he did away from all that was still right.

If there is a Hell, he may well be sitting there now with a cigar coming out of his mechanical armchair throne.


Jimmy Saville: Erasing the Memory (BBC website)

Tony Nicklinson: And So It Came to Pass

The news that Tony Nicklinson has died of natural causes after his long campaign to have himself voluntarily put to sleep is, in the most charitable sense of the word, a good thing for all concerned.

The debate about euthanasia will rage on, and I must admit I've occasionally felt my sympathies towards that movement (why we put down animals when they're in agony and not humans is a mystery to me), but looking at it from all sides, his case would be the first of many dangerous precedents, if his plea to commit suicide had been allowed in the courts.

Legacies...

The last two slightly unreal weeks in this country are now over, and, excepting the further exciting prospect of the Paralympics at the end of the month, there is much talk of what will be the lasting effect of the 2012 Olympics for Britain. There will be lots of hype for Team GB leading up to the next Olympics in Rio in 2016, a few more potential athletes will be encouraged to train harder, and a few more tourists will be tempted to come into London to see some of the sights.

Personally I was sad not to see some of Britain's own national sports get their chance at the Olympics, such as golf and cricket. In that sense, it felt like an Olympics like any other, that could've been staged in any part of the world.

Ultimately, I don't think it will actually make much difference either way to Britain's sporting fortunes. Britain has always been a spirited competitor for such a small island, in comparison to the size of huge land masses like the US and China. It's the spirit that built an empire.

Thank God also that Al-Qaeda didn't gatecrash the party, after the horrors of July 7th 2005 - whose victims were so movingly commemorated in the opening ceremony.

Golden Days

SIX Gold medals won by Great Britain yesterday in the Olympic Games - and it's even transmuted its way over to England's cricketers, who looked to have turned the corner at Headingley against the tough South Africans. And all this one year after those dreadful riots. The nation has not felt as good about itself as this for a long, long time.

This sums it all up in a way.

Good Things

24. The Internet 
I include this one reservedly, for it's a Pandora's Box of possibilities. As much of a hindrance as a help, most significantly it brings information to those who would not otherwise be able to access it.....which brings me on to the Internet's great antecedent:

25. Libraries 

"Powerhouses of knowledge", as Stephen Fry once memorably put it, and along with churches and countryside, one of the few places for quiet reflection and thought.

Empty tables and chairs

It is indicative of the hype surrounding Team GB that people should be so surprised at their lack of success in the Olympic medals table so far.

Only slightly less surprising is the sight of empty seats in some of the venues. As those of us who've attended major sporting events will know all too well from bitter experience, a good.number of the tickets are by corporate allocation, with the result being that most of those guests fail to show up. As to the lack of Olympic success, perhaps we can put it down to that noble British tradition of bringing sport to the world - and now the world pays back.

Bravo to the tireless (Lord) Sebastian Coe however, for speedily organising a ticketing system for spectators on the day.

Richard the Rotten

Such a novel idea, in this unbearably over-hyped Jubilee season, to stage Richard III in the punk era of the previous Silver Jubilee in 1977. Blighted by the atrocious weather, the company continued on fearlessly at the Harwich Redoubt, and now it has moved on to Colchester Castle. 

The result is another quaint but challenging Priory Players production in foreign surroundings, out of their old Trinity Square setting. Interesting to watch, though like many modern dress Shakespeares the use of the modern costume can be a little distracting, and lacks restraint - where Ian McKellen's 1930's version brought in the fascist clothing gradually as the symbol of Richard's sinister rise to power, this version has everybody in punk fashions, from the word go.

As a result actors like Will Parrick and David Elliott look comfortable in the DM boots, while the rest look in fancy dress. In the title role Kevin Topple - modelled on Johnny Rotten - bravely hurls himself into the part, although it lacks emotional depth and only comes into his own when the ghosts of his victims return. The performances, despite one or two wooden contributions, were all hard working, although lacking chemistry between the characters, except briefly between Gloucester and Buckingham. 

The most brilliant moment was when the excellent Chrissie Kettle looked up to the window of Colchester Castle - a Norman castle, just like the Tower of London. After a while I forgot about the costumes and got into the history, once Shakespeare took over - occasionally interrupted by that infernal music.

Nice idea, it could have been done better.

d: Lorraine Dunt
s: Kevin Topple, Will Parrick, Chrissie Kettle, Brian Malone, Liz Mullen, David Elliott, Ben Field, Nigel Walford, and others
 

King David

A few years, I wrote on this very blogpage about the sad passing of a local actor Brian Moore, who played the Fool in the Headgate Theatre's production of King Lear. Now, Lear himself has unexpectedly died, at a not very elderly age after a massive stroke following extensive hip operations.

It's a terrible loss. In many ways, David Knight was looked upon as Colchester's Olivier - certainly in local amateur theatre circles. I first remembered him in Julius Caesar as Brutus (one of his many Shakespeare performances for Priory Players), where during rehearsals sometimes I just took the sheer pleasure of sitting and listen to him and Cassius (George Flint) doing their stuff so compellingly.

I last saw him in March, in the audience at the Village Players production of The Real Inspector Hound in Nayland (another of the groups to which he was devoted), facing up to his condition quite stoically (with no real thought of what was to come), having enjoyed the show with his usual consideration and good humour.

Urbane, beautifully spoken (yet to my amazement, never actually a professional actor), but also generous to a fault, he was the quintessential example of how to act and act well with others. Sympathies must go out to his widow Sara and his family.

Water, water, everywhere...

...but not a drop to drink, so it appears, with hosepipe bans and reservoirs emptying to dangerously low levels. With the local area of East Anglia semi-flooded, and the River Colne outside looking rather brown to near-overflowing, the underlying question is, where is all this water going? My suspicious gaze wanders towards the huge numbers of houses - many  of them empty - being built, all of which of course, have water mains. Demand is exceeding supply.

Maybe voluntary water rationing will be the answer? On which irreverent note, my mind strays towards this amusing WWII information short.

Beware the beast Man

...so said Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) in Planet of the Apes.

Two prime examples of this: at Liverpool Street station at the weekend, three middle aged blokes just stepped over a limp (possibly pregnant) pigeon after some ginger footwork. One of them however, took it upon himself to stamp on the poor creature.

Almost as moronic and even more violent, an American soldier in Afghanistan has also now mown down 16 civilians, to whatever reprisals the Taliban may well inflict.

"I now pronounce you man and ... ?"

Or, as two women at a wedding in The Birdcage ask each other, "Which one's the mother?", "I don't know!"

The term 'gay marriage' seems rather an anachronism - particularly as in many of these couples there is usually the one who is the more fastidious and takes on the attributes of a female and the other the more aggressive male-asserted partner. There is also the simple matter of biological reproduction, which is only possible through adoption or the further dabbling into science.

The legality for this kind of union already exists in the form of civil partnerships: to extend it further to actual legal marriage is less a campaign for gay rights than another attempt by the opportunistic David Cameron to make his mark over his predecessors.

Good Things: 23

Great British Railway Journeys with Michael Portillo

Great little teatime half hour treats these, travelling round various picturesque parts of Britain in the spirit of Bradshaw's rail guide, Portillo's own boundless enthusiasm for the subject even overcoming the array of dingy little trains he has to travel on!