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.
