A case of watching us watching them
BY the time you're 40, said Abraham Lincoln, you have the face you deserve.
There are times when I think you get the culture you deserve.
I mean the quality and moral standard of your entertainment as well as your politicians.
Take entertainment. When Jade Goody was dying, it was impossible not to feel moved by her tragedy.
But with every new headline came the reminder that we had elevated to such a high status someone whose only talent was to exploit the tackier side of popular culture.
I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong with Jade being famous in the first place - a feeling compounded when I read that, not only is a stage musical of her life planned, but also a reality TV show to search for the right 'star' to play her.
In a dictatorship you don't have a choice about what television you watch, books you read or music you listen to. Your misery is passed down to you by the state. But in a free society, you make your own.
So it's no use groaning at the prospect of Jade: The Musical, when we brought it upon ourselves by watching Big Brother and reading Heat magazine. Even if - especially if - we had ironic sneers on our faces as we did so.
You might wonder what my problem is. After all, the free society in which Jade Goody was a star is the same one in which you can chuck your TV in the bin and read Shakespeare every night.
(Though if you did so, yours would be a lonely voice at the office water-cooler by day).
But I'm not the only one who feels there's something corrosive and cock-eyed about celebrity culture.
One man condemned it thus: "It is a remarkable culture when people appear on television and are famous simply for the act of appearing on television."
Gordon Brown, of course, announcing the death of celebrity culture when he became prime minister.
There are numerous examples of Brown's hypocrisy on this issue.
But he probably thinks such hypocrisy is necessary for an uncharismatic man who finds himself struggling to stay in power in a multi-media age.
Oh, he tries to get hip with the times, launching his message on MPs' expenses on YouTube.
But this was watched only 4,000 times, compared to a video of him picking his nose which scored 630,000 hits.
It must be intensely frustrating when voters are more interested in sneering at you than in listening to what you have to say.
The problem isn't Brown's alone. Remember, even the charming Tony Blair endured periods of media mud-slinging that relished every encroachment of his love-handles and facial wrinkles.
Nor is it entirely Brown's fault that he has failed to master the art of modern media.
Downing Street's YouTube portal has had its user comments disabled because No 10 couldn't cope with the deluge of offensive bile flooding in.
You can blame the prime minister for that, if you like. But in the age of the Jade Goody musical, the nose-picking video clip and celebrated bullies like Simon Cowell and 'Sr'Alan' Sugar, you can also blame the public.
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Weather for Cleckheaton
Friday 10 February 2012
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