Tagged with Celebrity

Terry Wogan and the celebrity system

ehdv7a“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 a similar type of celebrity.

What? As beloved Terry Wogan is, how can he as a Radio 2 presenter, former talk show host, and longtime commentator on Europe’s silly song contest be considered to have much in common with our culture-defining legend? Yes, and it comes down to the political economy of celebrity. Continue reading →

On the narcissism of Simon Danczuk

Hand on Danczuk and the Sunheart, 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, and we shall not forget that Danczuk was paid handsomely by the two most right-wing rags in the land to dump all over Labour’s general election efforts, and then use those same pages to say oh-so provocative things about the party that has provided him a damn good living. As far as I’m concerned, he’s no better than a scab, a Westminster equivalent of a working miner who taunted pickets with wads of fives and tens. He brought himself and his office into disrepute a long time ago, and it’s a miracle it’s taken this long for him to get his comeuppance. Continue reading →

Why Brand-ing Miliband was the right move

xaz8xuA 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 mid-30 somethings who tend not to pay politics anywhere near as much mind as the likes of you and I, it’s a different story. That is why Ed was absolutely right to seek him out and take whatever ra-ra-revolutionary verbiage cum cheeky banter on offer, and once again the expectations of the commentariat were confounded. The worst they could fault him for was dropping his tees and gees which, all told, is a bit pathetic. Continue reading →

Why the Establishment loves Jeremy Clarkson

Jeremy ClarksonPetrolheads 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, followed by a 30 second assault – all because a steak dinner wasn’t available. At a stroke, Clarkson became a demi-god to babymen everywhere but cost him a prestige job and an international audience numbering in the tens of millions. Continue reading →

Russell Brand v the Sun: long may the war continue

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 your tumblr, this week it’s become something of a prophecy. Russell Brand was ambushed on Channel 4 news (two million views and rising) for having the temerity to stand with New Era Estate residents against the sale of their homes to American-based property sepculators. Scenting an opportunity to shift a few papers, The Sun joined C4 with front page attacks on Brand on Wednesday and Thursday. And so it came to pass that the Dirty Digger’s tabloid terriers went to war with Russell Brand.

I pity the fools. Continue reading →