As the most stereotypical of English Literature students I am a massive Romantic poets fan. I have considered putting 'I love Lord Byron' as my Facebook status. I genuinely think Blake might be god.
Having said this Keats has always come pretty far down my list of faves (there is a list). Not as low as sell out Wordsworth, but I generally have found him a little too serious, not enough sparkle, and sometimes just baffling. Beautiful, but baffling. Bright Star however, changed my mind.
Its not the Fanny Brawn/Keats love story I was taught it seminar, where it was largely overshadowed by his potential prostitute dabblings, Byron's incest/Shelley's swinging, and the fact that there is no direct mention of the affair in his work. But it doesn't matter what really happened.
True or not, hearing Keats' poems read to Fanny, and read by her, gives them a relatable to context and meaning that illuminates their beauty beyond abstract musing on poetry and death. And fantasy it may partly be, but its a beautiful fantasy. Why do we need all the facts, a rounded picture, proof? This film is all about Fanny Brawn - how see saw it, how she saw him, how she saw them.
This is not least because of Abbie Cornish's acting, (as much as it pains me to admit out of loyalty to Reese Witherspoon). It is the best performance by a female actress I have seen in a long time. Incredibly subtle and considered. But so real. I have never seen anyone cry so realistically on stage or in a film. Not just superficial tears running down MAC finished cheeks onto heaving breasts tumbling out of a period inappropriate low cut dress; choking, hyperventilating, stubborn, resisted sobbing.
The whole film feels real. Not Hollywood realism. And, as above, not necessarily factual realism. There are some shots that would defiantly have been re shot under a more mainstream director, because there's a brilliantly recognisable awkwardness (Fanny's sister and Brown providing some of the most poignant) and one particularly aching moment ( I wont ruin it) where you're just yelling in your head: 'for gods sake say something!' But there's only silence. Because no one knows what to say then. No one ever says anything in those situations.
The film is pretty sparse on continual dialogue. There are lingering shots that add to the feeling of honesty but enough scene movement to make you feel the fleeting nature of both the love story and Keats' life.
Knowing the ending of a film before you begin is never a good way to go, although it does add to the sense of passing time and your involvement in the relationship. But the film is so beautiful and so wonderfully crafted with shots and music (typical Jane Campion stunning light, nature shots and music - all played within the film at some point as well as over laid) it doesn't really matter.
See it. If you hate Keats, if you were confused by The Piano, if you have no idea who the actors are. If you know the ending. It's worth it. And Keats gets a little more pay back for the lack of appreciation in his lifetime. And a little more street cred for looking like Ben Whishaw.
Monday, 30 November 2009
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Student prostitutes on the up...if you raise fees.
As a student the potential fees increases hang pretty heavily in the forefront of my mind. Not necessarily because it will affect me directly, but because, despite assumptions, as someone currently in the situation under discussion I do care.
Combine this with the recent unveiling of the identity of Belle du Jour and I was stuck by an interesting possibility.
If you raise fees are you going to end up with more student strippers and prostitutes?
Don't laugh, its already on the up. Belle herself became a call girl to cover PHD debt. A google search for the potentially rather compromising combination of 'student' and 'pole dancing' not only reveals a lot of classes taking place at universities around the country, but includes a report from several years ago in The Times about Cambridge students not only learning but getting paid to do this. I was actually looking for an article I remember from not long ago about students from a London university taking up work in a strip club, but my searches have proved unsuccessful thus far.
I don't wish to discuss whether this is moral, or right, that's another story. But it certainly isn't on the election manifesto of any of the three major political parties to legalise prostitution, and I'm not sure they're that comfortable discussing the future's bright young things dancing topless in bars either. It's heated enough collars as it is trying to contemplate that anyone with higher education would go into prostitution. By raising fees might the Government end up with more money in the education pot, but a whole different kettle of problematic naked fish to deal with?
The plight of students from low income houses has been raised, but if my prediction comes true then what about male students? The now rather more obvious search for 'PHD' and 'prostitute' pulls up an interview in New Scientist with Brooke Magnanti aka Belle du Jour, and one male commentor remarks that he would have considered prostitution for a financial stress free doctorate if he was a woman. Women it seems have a lucrative way of supporting themselves; boys faced working behind rather than on a bar might have less luck.
The same search also gets a quote from Catherine Stephens, and activist for the International Union of Sex Workers: “At a brothel I worked in, I think I was the only one not doing a PhD.” Convinced yet?
I don't think I'd be swayed, but then its not, as is so often pointed out, (including already in this article), me who is actually facing the debt increase. When push come to shove maybe that is what more female students would rather.
Combine this with the recent unveiling of the identity of Belle du Jour and I was stuck by an interesting possibility.
If you raise fees are you going to end up with more student strippers and prostitutes?
Don't laugh, its already on the up. Belle herself became a call girl to cover PHD debt. A google search for the potentially rather compromising combination of 'student' and 'pole dancing' not only reveals a lot of classes taking place at universities around the country, but includes a report from several years ago in The Times about Cambridge students not only learning but getting paid to do this. I was actually looking for an article I remember from not long ago about students from a London university taking up work in a strip club, but my searches have proved unsuccessful thus far.
I don't wish to discuss whether this is moral, or right, that's another story. But it certainly isn't on the election manifesto of any of the three major political parties to legalise prostitution, and I'm not sure they're that comfortable discussing the future's bright young things dancing topless in bars either. It's heated enough collars as it is trying to contemplate that anyone with higher education would go into prostitution. By raising fees might the Government end up with more money in the education pot, but a whole different kettle of problematic naked fish to deal with?
The plight of students from low income houses has been raised, but if my prediction comes true then what about male students? The now rather more obvious search for 'PHD' and 'prostitute' pulls up an interview in New Scientist with Brooke Magnanti aka Belle du Jour, and one male commentor remarks that he would have considered prostitution for a financial stress free doctorate if he was a woman. Women it seems have a lucrative way of supporting themselves; boys faced working behind rather than on a bar might have less luck.
The same search also gets a quote from Catherine Stephens, and activist for the International Union of Sex Workers: “At a brothel I worked in, I think I was the only one not doing a PhD.” Convinced yet?
I don't think I'd be swayed, but then its not, as is so often pointed out, (including already in this article), me who is actually facing the debt increase. When push come to shove maybe that is what more female students would rather.
Monday, 16 November 2009
Couldn't see the wood for the 'n'
I had thought that in the whirl of my dissertation I had missed the wave to write about this - but then Le Monde changed my mind.
http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2009/11/15/guerre-ouverte-entre-gordon-brown-et-le-sun_1267431_3214.html#ens_id=1245893
The issue under discussion is Gordon Brown's 'offensive' letter to the mother of a soldier who died in Afghanistan; the coverage of which has been frankly appalling and revealed the poor excuse for journalism that The Sun continues to tout.
I saw the letter in The Times last week. Brown arguably didn't spell anything wrong. The 'n' of 'Janes' could be an 'm', but it's not really clear either way. Also the minute nature of the spelling error, even if it is so, is what makes it laughable. I frequently think peoples names have 's' on the end when they don't, or put 'e' is Davis when that's not right. It's not really a big deal.
The issue over whether he spelt 'Jamie' wrong is a non point. His pen clearly slipped and he wrote over it. Oh no.
I consistently have people spelling my name wrong. On my driving licence it is spelt 'Argtropulo'. That's not even pronounceable. And it also means my driving licence is an invalid form of identification for things like CRB checks. I did not however write into a tabloid.
My landlord think my name is 'Argdyropulo'. This is also not pronounceable. But in the wider context of world events merely slightly irritating, although I have wondered if it doesn't possibly void my contract if that is the name they have me signed under.
When I ring the bank no one says my surname. They ask if they can call me by my first name, or simply call me 'Miss Palmer'. Highly offensive obviously as the hyphen between the two denotes that they are both my surname. Obviously.
Clearly the matter under question is more sensitive, and perhaps with a more complicated name more excusable (although I think, perhaps biasedly that it makes it worse - if you know you're not going to be able to spell something why not check? 'Janes' could easily with an accent or speed be miss heard as 'James'. 'Argtropulo' cannot be said, as pointed out before, therefore this is not an excuse.)
But I think what was ignored by The Sun and Mrs. Janes, and pointed out by Le Monde, is that Gordon Brown is a busy man. A busy man with very poor eyesight. Yet he took the time to hand-write a letter to a mother with whose situation he can sympathise with having lost his own daughter.
I also found the timing of the outburst rather inappropriate. The week of Armistice Day, when we are supposed to be thinking about everyone who has died in war - those never found, the civilians caught in the cross firing, those who suffered terribly - what this woman wanted being thought about about her son was not his bravery or that his death was a tragic loss, but that Gordon Brown didn't spell his surname right.
I'm not denying that the loss of her son is awful, and as with every death in war prompts questions about the campaign. But I've had to look past my dislike of his mother who seems determined to grab 5 minutes of tabloid fame using her son's death, whilst criticising a man who actually has nothing to be ashamed about, to remind myself of this.
Le Monde reports that PoliticsHome did a survey and found that 65% of people asked disagreed with the actions of The Sun. That means 65% of people feel the same as me about Brown, Mrs. Janes and The Sun in this incident. Well Done. Good Move.
Gordon, if you would like to write me a letter, at anytime, feel free to spell my name wrong.
http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2009/11/15/guerre-ouverte-entre-gordon-brown-et-le-sun_1267431_3214.html#ens_id=1245893
The issue under discussion is Gordon Brown's 'offensive' letter to the mother of a soldier who died in Afghanistan; the coverage of which has been frankly appalling and revealed the poor excuse for journalism that The Sun continues to tout.
I saw the letter in The Times last week. Brown arguably didn't spell anything wrong. The 'n' of 'Janes' could be an 'm', but it's not really clear either way. Also the minute nature of the spelling error, even if it is so, is what makes it laughable. I frequently think peoples names have 's' on the end when they don't, or put 'e' is Davis when that's not right. It's not really a big deal.
The issue over whether he spelt 'Jamie' wrong is a non point. His pen clearly slipped and he wrote over it. Oh no.
I consistently have people spelling my name wrong. On my driving licence it is spelt 'Argtropulo'. That's not even pronounceable. And it also means my driving licence is an invalid form of identification for things like CRB checks. I did not however write into a tabloid.
My landlord think my name is 'Argdyropulo'. This is also not pronounceable. But in the wider context of world events merely slightly irritating, although I have wondered if it doesn't possibly void my contract if that is the name they have me signed under.
When I ring the bank no one says my surname. They ask if they can call me by my first name, or simply call me 'Miss Palmer'. Highly offensive obviously as the hyphen between the two denotes that they are both my surname. Obviously.
Clearly the matter under question is more sensitive, and perhaps with a more complicated name more excusable (although I think, perhaps biasedly that it makes it worse - if you know you're not going to be able to spell something why not check? 'Janes' could easily with an accent or speed be miss heard as 'James'. 'Argtropulo' cannot be said, as pointed out before, therefore this is not an excuse.)
But I think what was ignored by The Sun and Mrs. Janes, and pointed out by Le Monde, is that Gordon Brown is a busy man. A busy man with very poor eyesight. Yet he took the time to hand-write a letter to a mother with whose situation he can sympathise with having lost his own daughter.
I also found the timing of the outburst rather inappropriate. The week of Armistice Day, when we are supposed to be thinking about everyone who has died in war - those never found, the civilians caught in the cross firing, those who suffered terribly - what this woman wanted being thought about about her son was not his bravery or that his death was a tragic loss, but that Gordon Brown didn't spell his surname right.
I'm not denying that the loss of her son is awful, and as with every death in war prompts questions about the campaign. But I've had to look past my dislike of his mother who seems determined to grab 5 minutes of tabloid fame using her son's death, whilst criticising a man who actually has nothing to be ashamed about, to remind myself of this.
Le Monde reports that PoliticsHome did a survey and found that 65% of people asked disagreed with the actions of The Sun. That means 65% of people feel the same as me about Brown, Mrs. Janes and The Sun in this incident. Well Done. Good Move.
Gordon, if you would like to write me a letter, at anytime, feel free to spell my name wrong.
Monday, 28 September 2009
How do you solve a problem like the BNP?
Jack Straw's decision to attend Question Time along side the BNP leader Nick Griffin has been met with a certain amount of shock and appal.
The BNP are undoubtedly abhorrent. Their website includes 'articles' such as one on how 3rd generation Muslim immigrants to Europe will be 'forever aliens' and claiming they are pouring out of countries like Germany to go to Al Qaeda training camps in the Middle East. This is clearly mainly exaggerated scare mongering; the piece itself admits that when this revelation from the German foreign ministry was reported in the mainstream press only one white German was actually listed as going to one of these camps. Why they admitted this I don't know. They seem to think it shows that they have managed to do some incredible undercover reporting, rather than just showing them to be lying. The Telegraph did cover this 'phenomenon', but from their article it does not seem that there is a mass exodus, rather an extremely small and isolated community. And by my count there are a whole two people named.
The comments following this article are even worse including:
"We desperately need a British National Party Government in Britain, at least we can get organised to protect ourselves from the inevitable muzzie rioting!"
This made me feel faintly sick on an empty stomach very early in the morning.
This certainly needs to be stopped, but ignoring the BNP and pretending it isn't happening is clearly doing nothing to stop their growing popularity and their apparent ability to stir up support by using paranoia and racist fears. In the European elections they gained seats, and they may not be credible, but they are unfortunately now unavoidable. They are an official political party, and they haven't done anything that has been confirmed as illegal, yet, and so we undermine our democracy if we just ignore them. People voted for them, enough people for them to actually get seats, and as such they have the right to a say. Also anything which is suppressed often ends up being more popular than it would have been if it was openly allowed. In a comparatively petty example, fox hunting was a dying activity until the government placed restrictions on it. If the BNP are offered the chance to debate with MPs from the other political parties it will simply show how ridiculous and un-supportable their views are, and show them to be as frankly laughable as they are - its not the people who want this Question Time to be boycotted who need persuading, and if people are drawn to watch because they support the BNP or because its controversial it will not give the BNP a platform, but rather some medieval stocks in which to hang their heads whilst rotting fruit is thrown at them.
And if people don't believe that this will happen, don't think that the MPs from the 3 main parties are capable of that, if they think that the BNP might come out looking good or winning the arguments, then Britain, our political state and parties, are in a much worse state that I believe us to be, and simply preventing the BNP from taking part in Question Time would not even come close to sorting us out.
This edition of Question Time will take place in London on October 22nd. There is also a protest against the debate planned outside the BBC centre in Newcastle next week.
The BNP are undoubtedly abhorrent. Their website includes 'articles' such as one on how 3rd generation Muslim immigrants to Europe will be 'forever aliens' and claiming they are pouring out of countries like Germany to go to Al Qaeda training camps in the Middle East. This is clearly mainly exaggerated scare mongering; the piece itself admits that when this revelation from the German foreign ministry was reported in the mainstream press only one white German was actually listed as going to one of these camps. Why they admitted this I don't know. They seem to think it shows that they have managed to do some incredible undercover reporting, rather than just showing them to be lying. The Telegraph did cover this 'phenomenon', but from their article it does not seem that there is a mass exodus, rather an extremely small and isolated community. And by my count there are a whole two people named.
The comments following this article are even worse including:
"We desperately need a British National Party Government in Britain, at least we can get organised to protect ourselves from the inevitable muzzie rioting!"
This made me feel faintly sick on an empty stomach very early in the morning.
This certainly needs to be stopped, but ignoring the BNP and pretending it isn't happening is clearly doing nothing to stop their growing popularity and their apparent ability to stir up support by using paranoia and racist fears. In the European elections they gained seats, and they may not be credible, but they are unfortunately now unavoidable. They are an official political party, and they haven't done anything that has been confirmed as illegal, yet, and so we undermine our democracy if we just ignore them. People voted for them, enough people for them to actually get seats, and as such they have the right to a say. Also anything which is suppressed often ends up being more popular than it would have been if it was openly allowed. In a comparatively petty example, fox hunting was a dying activity until the government placed restrictions on it. If the BNP are offered the chance to debate with MPs from the other political parties it will simply show how ridiculous and un-supportable their views are, and show them to be as frankly laughable as they are - its not the people who want this Question Time to be boycotted who need persuading, and if people are drawn to watch because they support the BNP or because its controversial it will not give the BNP a platform, but rather some medieval stocks in which to hang their heads whilst rotting fruit is thrown at them.
And if people don't believe that this will happen, don't think that the MPs from the 3 main parties are capable of that, if they think that the BNP might come out looking good or winning the arguments, then Britain, our political state and parties, are in a much worse state that I believe us to be, and simply preventing the BNP from taking part in Question Time would not even come close to sorting us out.
This edition of Question Time will take place in London on October 22nd. There is also a protest against the debate planned outside the BBC centre in Newcastle next week.
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Not in whose name?
Today in The Guardian's excellent online comment section a piece about euthanasia appeared, written by Jane Campbell, entitled: 'Assisted Suicide: Not in Our Name'
Now, I apologise to people who have heard my views on this subject before, but this piece really wound me up. And this annoyance started before I'd had even read the piece with just its title.
I'm not saying that Jane Campbell doesn't have the right to an opinion, or to expressing that opinion. This is also obviously a subject that she has experience of and that has personal resonance. However, neither of these things give her the right to claim to speak for all disabled and terminally ill people. In her opinion the majority of these people might be anti further relaxing of assisted suicide laws, but this is not a fact, unless she has in fact carried out a survey of everyone in the United Kingdom who are either disabled or terminally ill. In which case I would have liked some actual statistics to back up her assertion that she is speaking for 'hundreds' of other people, who she is suggesting to be the majority.
I also think that just because a majority, if we agree that this is so, want the laws not to be changed, it is a law which gives people a choice, and therefore if even a minority of people are in favour why not change the law? It's not going to force everyone with these conditions to be euthanised, its simply going to legally and in a dignified manner give the opportunity to those who want it. There's a huge level of fear involved in objections to changing the laws, and unfounded ones as euthanasia programmes have been successful in other countries. This is not Nazi Germany, laws can be regulated and controlled, doctors aren't just going to go around overdosing unwilling victims. She argues that giving in to this minority will mean that the living loose benefits, that they stop fighting. This things need to be addressed, but when she is calling so strongly for her, and other's voices to be heard, why does she deny the voices of those terminally ill and disabled people who are in favour? Do we just ignore them rather than looking for solutions to the other issues?
Campbell's argument centres on the fact that those the law 'is intended to benefit' aren't in favour of it, but people can develop terminal illnesses and disabilities, and do we now only get a democratic say in things that utterly directly affect us? In which case no man should ever have the right to air an opinion on abortion again, or decisions should be made about it based simply on a vote amongst women.
She also seems to think that people are going to be "killed-off" as soon as their diagnosed, cast off as having no useful purpose and gotten rid of. The individual decides when they want to die. This isn't about not trying to give people a good quality of life, its about trying to give people back their humanity. If someone feels they can go on fighting then great, its not compulsory. But Campbell also seems to ignore the fact that there isn't a fight for some people. There isn't hope. There aren't miracles. Some people suffer from illnesses they WILL quickly die of, and in an awful condition.
People aren't going to stop looking for cures, for ways to slow down diseases, to help people live. People aren't going to stop fighting because its easier to give up. As the programmes in Holland, Switzerland and Oregon an all work more relaxed assisted suicide laws will simply allow those who want to, when they feel appropriate to end their life with a dignity that their illness or disability has often taken from them. Not all will want or choose it, but for those, even if it is those few, who do, they deserve the right to choose. We all deserve the right to choose, and unfortunately it might be a choice some of us have to make, or are involved in making. This is not a decision to only or mainly be made by those who it directly affects now, their voices have to be heard too, but so do other people's. And it is a decision we all need to make. If laws at the very least allow people to help loved ones go abroad to die without fear of prosecution it will mean that people can die in their own name.
NOTES FROM A SMALL TOWN...
This week in Shrewsbury I saw...
Nuns pointing excitedly to the Micheal Jackson commemorative issue of OK in the Post Office.
A man who was either standing bizarrely close (nose touching glass) to window of an art shop, or trying to surreptitiously take a picture through it of a naked nymph statue.
Now, I apologise to people who have heard my views on this subject before, but this piece really wound me up. And this annoyance started before I'd had even read the piece with just its title.
I'm not saying that Jane Campbell doesn't have the right to an opinion, or to expressing that opinion. This is also obviously a subject that she has experience of and that has personal resonance. However, neither of these things give her the right to claim to speak for all disabled and terminally ill people. In her opinion the majority of these people might be anti further relaxing of assisted suicide laws, but this is not a fact, unless she has in fact carried out a survey of everyone in the United Kingdom who are either disabled or terminally ill. In which case I would have liked some actual statistics to back up her assertion that she is speaking for 'hundreds' of other people, who she is suggesting to be the majority.
I also think that just because a majority, if we agree that this is so, want the laws not to be changed, it is a law which gives people a choice, and therefore if even a minority of people are in favour why not change the law? It's not going to force everyone with these conditions to be euthanised, its simply going to legally and in a dignified manner give the opportunity to those who want it. There's a huge level of fear involved in objections to changing the laws, and unfounded ones as euthanasia programmes have been successful in other countries. This is not Nazi Germany, laws can be regulated and controlled, doctors aren't just going to go around overdosing unwilling victims. She argues that giving in to this minority will mean that the living loose benefits, that they stop fighting. This things need to be addressed, but when she is calling so strongly for her, and other's voices to be heard, why does she deny the voices of those terminally ill and disabled people who are in favour? Do we just ignore them rather than looking for solutions to the other issues?
Campbell's argument centres on the fact that those the law 'is intended to benefit' aren't in favour of it, but people can develop terminal illnesses and disabilities, and do we now only get a democratic say in things that utterly directly affect us? In which case no man should ever have the right to air an opinion on abortion again, or decisions should be made about it based simply on a vote amongst women.
She also seems to think that people are going to be "killed-off" as soon as their diagnosed, cast off as having no useful purpose and gotten rid of. The individual decides when they want to die. This isn't about not trying to give people a good quality of life, its about trying to give people back their humanity. If someone feels they can go on fighting then great, its not compulsory. But Campbell also seems to ignore the fact that there isn't a fight for some people. There isn't hope. There aren't miracles. Some people suffer from illnesses they WILL quickly die of, and in an awful condition.
People aren't going to stop looking for cures, for ways to slow down diseases, to help people live. People aren't going to stop fighting because its easier to give up. As the programmes in Holland, Switzerland and Oregon an all work more relaxed assisted suicide laws will simply allow those who want to, when they feel appropriate to end their life with a dignity that their illness or disability has often taken from them. Not all will want or choose it, but for those, even if it is those few, who do, they deserve the right to choose. We all deserve the right to choose, and unfortunately it might be a choice some of us have to make, or are involved in making. This is not a decision to only or mainly be made by those who it directly affects now, their voices have to be heard too, but so do other people's. And it is a decision we all need to make. If laws at the very least allow people to help loved ones go abroad to die without fear of prosecution it will mean that people can die in their own name.
NOTES FROM A SMALL TOWN...
This week in Shrewsbury I saw...
Nuns pointing excitedly to the Micheal Jackson commemorative issue of OK in the Post Office.
A man who was either standing bizarrely close (nose touching glass) to window of an art shop, or trying to surreptitiously take a picture through it of a naked nymph statue.
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