When did class become a dirty word?

By Ian Simm

As an only child, I spent a lot of time with my parents throughout my upbringing. Taking into account that my dad worked overseas for several years, mum’s impact on me was profound. It is therefore, only natural that I was ‘subjected’ to her passion for musicals and classic films, eventually gaining an appreciation for them.

The films I was shown depicted the world in a light that has since disappeared. Maybe it was never there, but the movies of Audrey Hepburn and Doris Day painted life’s challenges a kind of comfortable yellowy hue.

Granted, this is a naïve outlook that is often unrealistic. However, these women dealt with adversity with charm and grace, and NEVER swore – again unrealistic now, but a valuable lesson.

So, at the ripe old age of 28, I find myself despairing when I see “Joanna Bloggs” – presumably the female equivalent of Joe Bloggs, though Chantelle Bloggs may be more apt these days – out and about with her rabble of friends. You know the sort: could be described as “jolly” if she actually smiled, like an injured rhino stuffed into a ‘boob-tube’, stiletto heels (white or ‘see-thru’), a glitter-encrusted clutch, scribbled on eyebrows that portray confusion, an Asian-looking tattoo on her leg, and blotchy fake tan that gives a look of having been selectively ‘tangoed’.

Most of these groups of girls can be seen outside Weatherspoons 10 minutes after closing, scrapping over the dregs from a bottle of rosé, or pulling their boozed-up boyfriends apart after they’ve had too many Jaegerbombs.

At this juncture, I’d like to point out that this is not an attack on women. I love women. Men are just as bad – whether it’s the ‘Geordie Shore’ mob with their low-cut t-shirts, plucked eyebrows, fauxhawks and hair-free chests, or the ‘Lad’ brigade, grab-assing, wolf-whistling and ‘smashing’ pints.

What is class?

Exactly what constitutes classy behaviour is open to interpretation. But I can tell you what it’s not: swigging Strongbow from a can in an alleyway while complaining about tights ‘riding up’ your arse.

Class is – according to the Oxford Dictionary – impressive stylishness or behaviour.

What have we become?

This is not a damning indictment of their choice to look the way they look, more the way that it now appears to be ‘ok’ for women to behave boisterously. It was never acceptable for men to behave in this way, and for women to have an inner ‘ladette’, and let it out, is just sad.

Of course, we all need to experience our ‘wild years’, but it is reasonable to expect this to be done in our formulative 20s, not our 30s or later. When we consider that many of these people have children, it is just reprehensible.

Sic transit gloria mundi – thus passes the glory of the world.

It would be simplistic to blame TV. While the aforementioned Geordie Shore sets no kind of example whatsoever, the ‘ladding up’ of women began long before the show reached our screens.

It is however, part of a significant cause – reality TV. Not only does reality TV set the wrong precedent in terms of behaviour, it gives us the impression that everyone is somehow ‘worthy’ of 15 minutes of fame, and that they should be applauded for let’s say flashing their bits on camera.

False ‘celebritydom’ is sadly not confined to reality TV. Footballers are probably the worst of the lot. I love football, but the amount footballers are paid and the way they are idolised is immoral. They set the bar pretty damn low for the kids that worship them. And there is certainly little impressive or stylish about their behaviour.

Watching the world burn

Society loves celebrities. The favourite is the zero-to-hero tale. The guy who appears on Big Brother, having an amusing accent, sleeping with another contender, then getting his own show or a recording contract once ‘out of the house’.

In the UK, the media has a sick obsession with lifting people up – many of whom have no idea how to deal with their newfound ‘fame’ – just to see them fall calamitously.

Paris Brown, the young Police youth commissioner, appointed last week, is a perfect example. No sooner was she in on the BBC being talked up as being able to help bridge the gap between young people and the police, than she was being reprimanded by the media for having previously ‘tweeted’ offensive comments – poor girl, I really feel sorry for her.

When she wrote the comments in question, she was around 14 or 15, and would have had no idea that in a couple of years, the British media would be digging up any dirt they could. Unsurprisingly, she was unprepared to deal with this, and has been all over our screens, giving a weepy apology.

So, what is it about Brits that makes us so happy to see people destroyed by their own stardom?

The constant, morbid one-upsmanship is an embarrassment and frankly, boils down to lazy journalism. It seems that gone are the days of giving someone a compliment because they have earned it. Is it not the way that it is easier to feel better about oneself if we concentrate on the flaws of others rather than dealing with our own?

While that question what rhetorical, I fear that it may be lost on some of my audience, so I’ll give you the answer: YES!

The media has the dangerous power of being able to shatter dreams then move on to the next target. Yes, we should be held to our words, but this should apply to both the ‘stars’ who embarrass themselves on social networks, and the media. We all get it wrong once in a while, but while Joe or Joanna Bloggs, who shoots to fame overnight, has to take the hit for not biting their tongue, the tabloid writers are able to hide far from harm’s way.

We all need guidance at some point in our lives, but the creation of false idols sets the bar dangerously low. It all stems from a lack of imagination, and dreams of getting rich quickly. The fact is that we’re not all born for greatness, but we all love to believe the lie that we somehow deserve stardom. We want to replicate what we see on TV, and that is really dangerous.

So, I’m not blaming any women for the disappearance of charm and grace. I’m just saying that society has had enough dumbing down.

To the TV directors, the newspaper editors, the magazine publishers, for God’s sake, ‘dumb up’, because things are looking grim. Challenge us, make us think about our actions because not only does the current comfort with brainlessness leave us with a hell of a lot of dissatisfied people, who, given delusionary grandeur, tried to gain their 5 minutes of fame, only to have their hopes shattered – and end up on the welfare system, thus draining the economy – but it also increases the gulf between temporary and lasting achievement.