“We’ll never see their like again” is a refrain common to the passing of major league celebrities. With David Bowie this was because of his profound influence on pop music and performance, an impact that is probably impossible for anyone to repeat ever. And then there is Terry Wogan who, I would suggest, is of […]
Posts Tagged ‘Celebrity’
On the narcissism of Simon Danczuk
Jan 5th, 2016 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Hand on heart, I’m not Simon Danczuk’s biggest fan. Of all the Labour MPs of this Parliament and the last, his record has been downright appalling. At times when UKIP were surging, he courted will-he-won’t-he defection rumours in the gutter press. He’s taken to the airwaves to attack socialists as the equivalents of the BNP, […]
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Why Brand-ing Miliband was the right move
Apr 30th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.A Frost/Nixon for our age? No, but the media reaction to Russell Brand’s encounter with Ed Miliband is out of all proportion to what was said. The actual content of the interview is pretty innocuous, at least from the standpoint of grizzled lefties and hardened politicos. Yet where Brand’s core audience are concerned, the teens to the […]
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Why the Establishment loves Jeremy Clarkson
Mar 27th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Petrolheads everywhere, sob into your empty oil cans. For Top Gear is, as was, no more. The verdict couldn’t have been anything else. Whatever you might think about Jeremy Clarkson, which in my case is not a lot, it was impossible even for him to cling on to his job after a 20 minute tirade, […]
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Russell Brand v the Sun: long may the war continue
Dec 6th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.When I was poor and I complained about inequality, people said I was bitter. Now I’m rich and I complain about inequality, they say I’m a hypocrite. I’m beginning to think they just don’t want inequality on the agenda because it is a real problem that needs to be addressed.” Normally something to pin on […]
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Russell Brand, Narcissist and Comrade?
Oct 27th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.I’ve always had a soft spot for Russell Brand. Like many recovering Big Brother fans, I first encountered him on E4’s E-Forum, a side programme to Big Brother’s Little Brother, which in turn was an adjunct to the main event. But there was something about Brand that made him stand out even in those days. […]
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Time to ban ‘revenge porn’
Jul 28th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Another Sunday, another case of celebrity revenge porn. This time Lauren Goodger from The Only Way is Essex is the victim and the piece itself is said to be a six second clip of her performing “a sex act”. You don’t need a particularly filthy imagination to work out what that might be. The alleged culprit is apparently […]
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Benefits Street – a deliberate attempt to offend an audience
Jan 14th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.We Brits love our two minute hates, and going by the bile trickling down Twitter this evening Channel 4’s Benefits Street has cornered that market. So a few points. This programme, despite its obvious opportunism, was conceived and produced by metropolitan elite-types. And metropolitan I, of course, mean London. In typical path-to-hell fashion perhaps the filmmakers genuinely […]
