There was a time when I wouldn't miss an episode of EastEnders if I could help it. I started watching when it first aired, way back in February 1985; and I've been watching it on and off ever since. A few years ago, I was really into it; and that's basically how I discovered the Internet, via the BBC message boards.
I've just seen another episode and I can't say that the show has gotten any better since I lost interest. It's still a quality soap, and hugely entertaining, but it's so silly. Everyone's sneaking around, having it off with their sister, with their son's girlfriend, with their girlfriend's stepmother, or at the very least, fancies the pants off their brother-in-law; and the women all fall pregnant at the drop of a hat -- it's 2005, yet apparently none of these girls is even on the pill; and there's only 3 career choices for inhabitants of the Square: the pub, the market or the chippie. People get sacked, thrown out of house and home on Christmas Eve, and no one mentions tribunals, rights or thinks of taking themselves and their family to the DSS. The first fiver anyone earns is spent buying a round for all the wasters in the Square. No one owns a washing machine and the manicurist's nails don't do her any credit. And it's all so addictive. I think I might tune in again next week! ;-)
Another soap was played out in the pages of the morning papers. Such a hue and cry about Prince Harry. Of course, it wasn't very clever of him to be seen to wear a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party, and it certainly wasn't in very good taste, but...why be surprised? The boy might have had a chance to get to know something of the real world had he still had his mother, but he was doomed from the moment the Windsors took over. With a grandfather who refers to Chinese people as chinks, is it any wonder Diana's boys have turned into yobs? Methinks not.
I've just seen another episode and I can't say that the show has gotten any better since I lost interest. It's still a quality soap, and hugely entertaining, but it's so silly. Everyone's sneaking around, having it off with their sister, with their son's girlfriend, with their girlfriend's stepmother, or at the very least, fancies the pants off their brother-in-law; and the women all fall pregnant at the drop of a hat -- it's 2005, yet apparently none of these girls is even on the pill; and there's only 3 career choices for inhabitants of the Square: the pub, the market or the chippie. People get sacked, thrown out of house and home on Christmas Eve, and no one mentions tribunals, rights or thinks of taking themselves and their family to the DSS. The first fiver anyone earns is spent buying a round for all the wasters in the Square. No one owns a washing machine and the manicurist's nails don't do her any credit. And it's all so addictive. I think I might tune in again next week! ;-)
Another soap was played out in the pages of the morning papers. Such a hue and cry about Prince Harry. Of course, it wasn't very clever of him to be seen to wear a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party, and it certainly wasn't in very good taste, but...why be surprised? The boy might have had a chance to get to know something of the real world had he still had his mother, but he was doomed from the moment the Windsors took over. With a grandfather who refers to Chinese people as chinks, is it any wonder Diana's boys have turned into yobs? Methinks not.
- Current Mood:
cynical - Current Music:'Please Mr. Gravedigger' - David Bowie
Comments
I believe that's probably a very astute observation. And it's not just Britain where sensationalist journalism is de rigueur: if the press is to be believed, we're currently going through a religious war in The Netherlands, and it's Us against Them. It's bad enough our own press are making a mountain out of a molehill, but foreign papers are taking over the story and the end result is that I get asked by people half a world away from me whether I've barricaded myself in already! Holland brennt, a German paper headlined recently. Really? I hadn't noticed.
As for Prince Harry -- I think the British reaction has been one of complete hysteria. Does no-one have a sense of humour anymore? Does anyone really believe that if he dresses as a Nazi at a fancy dress party, that that actually means he sympathises with them? Britain has a long comic history of dressing as, and taking the piss out of Nazis. John Cleese, anyone? I feel really sorry for Harry, actually. If everything I did when I was a daft 20-year-old got splattered all over the press, I'd be a complete wreck.
Well, speaking for myself: I can't see what's funny about anyone dressing up in Nazi uniform except when they're playing the part on stage or in a film; and I refuse to believe that a young man bedecking himself with swastikas to go to a party is not out to get a reaction, but I agree that you don't need to make such a big deal out of it unless a) it's clear that the boy really is a neo-Nazi and an attempt ought to be made to show him the error of his ways; or b) the boy in question is 3rd in line to the throne and after 20 years of living in a glass cage ought to have developped some sense of propriety and an understanding of what they can and can't do if they wish to hold on to their priviliged position and good reputation.