A masterpiece of one-upmanship (or should that be one-downmanship?)
Entertainment.
One of my many, many personal Monty Python favourites — the Pope and Michaelangelo:
All text © 2009 Gary William Murning
It was inevitable, really, wasn’t it? Obama orders Guantánamo to be closed, knife robberies and burglaries are up in the UK, Gaza smugglers get back to work — and the story that everybody seems to be talking about most is Jonathan Ross’s return to television after his three-month ban for making lewd calls with Russell Brand to the actor Andrew Sachs.
And, of course, it’s just as inevitable that I feel I have to say something further on this quite ridiculous state of affairs.
Initially, because of the involvement of Andrew Sachs, I considered this “prank”, or whatever you want to call it, a joke too far. His granddaughter, in my opinion, was fair game, but to involve him in that way… it just left a rather bad taste (as the “dancer” said to the “comedian”). In the intervening months, however, with the BBC continually being pushed to monitor and restrict more rigidly what their presenters say, I find my more usual stance coming to the fore on this matter.
It is time to take a step back, yet again, ladies and gentlemen, and survey this whole episode — and all similar episodes — more rationally, without the knee-jerk response of “that’s offensive!”
What really made me sit up and take notice today was a reference that some guy made on BBC News 24 to an earlier comment Jonathan Ross had made to David Cameron — Ross asking Cameron whether he had fantasised about Margaret Thatcher. This was given as evidence of Jonathan Ross’s recidivistic tendencies. He’s a bad boy now and he’s always been a bad boy. Why? Because he makes jokes about people in positions of power/authority? Because the jokes push the boundaries of good taste? I’m sorry, but this kind of joke is very different to the mistakes he would later make — and the very suggestion that such humour should be somehow eradicated, or even edited, is, frankly, unacceptable and deeply disturbing.
As Kurt Vonnegut said “The best jokes are dangerous, and dangerous because they are in some way truthful.”
Such humour plays a vitally important role in our society. Its purpose is to challenge, to say the things that we feel we cannot say ourselves. To impose restrictions, to pander to the simpering, politically correct idiots who are scared to offend anyone and everyone, is a further imposition — a further dilution of our right to express an opinion, however unorthodox.
Jonathan Ross made an error of judgement. Speaking for myself, I’d much rather live in a world where such mistakes can occur than one where the censorship of the imagined masses removes all possibility of their ever happening.
I’m not quite up to proper blogging, yet (getting there, though), but something a friend said on Twitter reminded me (by a slightly circuitous route) of this — and I just had to share.
All text © 2009 Gary William Murning
BBC News.
Losing one’s sight must be one of the most frightening experiences imaginable. It’s something that I have thought about on occasion — how it would affect me, the sights I would no longer be able to enjoy except in memory. The vulnerability of it, I’m sure, I would find especially difficult to contend with.
But also being unable to escape to the pages of a book would have a huge impact on me and my ability to deal with such a situation. My favourite refuge would be — without the possibility of learning Braille — out of bounds. Granted, audio books would be a possibility but… the times I’ve listened to them as a sighted person this medium has always struck me as far removed from the act of reading itself. Braille, it seems to me, would be the only replacement I’d find authentic enough.
So — a worthwhile cause, I would say.
“Donations to the campaign can be made via the National Braille Week website or by calling 0300 321 0000.”
BBC News.
© 2009 Gary William Murning except for quotations.
Whilst researching, earlier today, the soundtrack for “something” I won’t be mentioning or sharing in any real detail for quite a while, I stumbled across a song that fitted my requirements perfectly. Already very familiar with it, I was again struck by just how powerful it is in its original form.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Jacques Brel, be warned — he isn’t very pretty. But as a poet and performer, he truly was magnificent.
All text © 2008 Gary William Murning
Okay, I surrender. It’s Christmas and this here atheist feels Christmassy. What the hell.
Let it snow and let there be Elvis. Christmas as it really should be.
[Edit: My apologies — I had to turn off the snow because it was messing up the loading of my page… hell, Christmas makes me feel so darned powerful…]
All text © 2008 Gary William Murning
