Time Out

[poliphilo]

And so I sat there with my tin of treats and no-one came calling. I guess Muslims just don't do Halloween.

I've been thinking a lot about the Brand/ Ross affair (sorry this is totally Britocentric). Here's my opinions- all 10 of them.

1. What they did was crappy.

2. Bullying, mean-spirited, unfunny, pointless. Talking truth to power is one thing, but Andrew Sachs isn't power- and talking truth to him was completely out of order.

3. Comedy is a dangerous game. I understand how, when you're riffing, you can get on a roll and lose sight of where you're going. That's one reason why Brand's show is pre-recorded- so an editor can take out the bits that don't work/are totally disgusting.

4. I'm sorry Brand went and Ross didn't. Mind you, I don't think it's done Brand any harm. It just adds to his legend.

5. I like Brand. No, let's rephrase that.  I'm slightly in awe of Brand. I think he's an amazing talent. I've never mistaken him for a nice person.

6. His column in this morning's Guardian is headed What a Barmy, hysterical, cosmic week- and it's all about football. Now that's class.

7. I don't like Ross. He's one of those broadcasters I mostly avoid ( Terry Wogan's another). I find him smug.

8. I don't know why the BBC pay him so much money. I think that was always a mistake.

9. Apparently most people under 30 can't see what the fuss is about. I don't fully understand this, but I'm willing to step aside because, after all, they own the future.

10. I don't want to be part of any crusade that's being preached by the Daily Mail.

And now, back to the travelogue.

Comments

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

I agree with the commenter above; I think she's milking it. I notice the photo of her in a burlesque costume invariably accompanies her "off with their heads" protestations. (Mr Strange has noticed it too, with more relish than I, so much so that I have to bring him sharply back to earth on occasion!)

That said - on what planet did Ross and Brand think that would be a good idea? With Brand I think he tends to go off on a train of thought and gets lost in the moment. Ross I am far more cynical about - something about him gives me the creepy crawlies. I like the Four Poofs and the Piano though. Keep them and drop him!

Oh and re Mock the Week - I've noticed a lot of sourness beneath the chippy chappie veneer. And I noticed a black female comedian got an awful lot of stick when she was on recently. Granted she wasn't funny but that doesn't mean they have to act like racist, self-congratulating pricks. Oh wasn't there a similar controversy re Paula Yates and Have I Got News For You?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

"Creepy". Yes, that's the adjective for Ross. I avoid anything he's in- apart, occasionally, for his film review show, because I love the movies.

I think Brand is horrible, I also think he's brilliant. The BBC was taking a big risk when it employed him. He needs stringent editing because he seems incapable of editing himself.

I've never watched Mock The Week, so I can't comment. I watch HIGNFY (not always, but sometimes) and, yes, there are times when Ian Hislop (in particular) doesn't know when to rein it in- and crosses the line into cruelty.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

I read the Metro on the tube into work most mornings. On the business page, there's a photo of a pretty woman more days that there isn't, often with the vaguest connection to one of the stories on the page possible. Photo editors on a newspaper know that pictures of pretty women sell papers.

Given the choice of one of her publicity photos or one of her standing dressed demurely, which one do you honestly think most photo-editors are going to choose?

[ingenious76.livejournal.com]

I remember the Paula Yates controversy - although if you're going to cheat on Bob Geldof, a man regarded at the time as close to a secular saint, its wise to do it with some tact. Not Paula. She was ripped apart by Hislop and Merton, but I refuse to believe a media-literate self-publicist wouldn't have known what she was letting herself in for.