Books

[badfaith]

Actually, I don't know what to make of it all, I'm bewildered by the fact that what with current levels of hysteria about Paedophilia, and the merest suggestion of it, people are practically forming lynch mobs (not defending kiddy fiddlers you understand), we have cases like R Kelly, Michael Jackson, Gary Glitter, and now Roman Polanski' situation has come to a head, Where Glitter may as well be Hannibal Lecter in the public's eyes, and his music is all but erased from cultural history, but jackson is defended with a passion by his fans, Kelly is able to dissolve into the scenery, and the main defence of Polanski is that he's a brilliant man, and should be left alone.
While I know One of these cahps is a convicted pederast, and the last has admitted the incident, the thing that gets me, iis that if such a suggestion were made about an ordinary bloke, he could probablly expect total ostracision from society, no question.

The message I take from it is that the degree to which society will overlook a crime, is in direct corelation to the degree to which you have entertained us.... "it's OK that you've killed the pope, because you made a cracking work of art once, we'll forgive you"

People soon forget their morals when it suits them to do so...hypocracy!

[badfaith]

Had Gary Glitter made better albums, perhaps he'd be in the clear!

[telefunker]

yeah, i think it's quite self-evident that fame (elevated social status to the point of being a cultural idol) offers considerable leeway for eccentricity and even criminal activity.. as far as i can see this appears to hold true across cultures

if an mp/congressman steals money from the taxpayer to fund his daughters college or home renovation project, the most he's likely to receive by the way of punishment would be a slap on the wrist or the negative publicity of the incident itself.. if a guy in the street steals the equivalent amount from a cash register he's hauled before the criminal courts and invariably prosecuted, fined, jailed, whatever

if a president or prime minister kills innocent people in the name of war, it's collateral damage and again, the worst he can hope for is a bit of damage to his reputation.. if a street gang leader follows suit, he's a monster, animal, menace to society etc and a prime candidate for the electric chair

so, much as i love michael jackson's music, it's bleedingly obvious that if he were a window cleaner or a bank clerk, he would have been signing the sex offenders register a long time ago - even if he were indeed innocent - as the threshold for his idiosyncracies is stretched even at the level of demi-god..

the moral of the story folks? ..get famous!
_________________
no fat chicks

[Richie Hunt]

telefunker wrote:

[telefunker]

hah! yeah, 99.9% of criminals do fall at the first hurdle..
_________________
no fat chicks

[badfaith]

We could then infer, that anyone seeking fame is therfore seeking immunity for a criminal predisposition.

By jove you've cracked it!.... we can arrest anyone who appears on tv talent shows and charge them with conspiring to commit crime.

We may just bring Cowell and his cronies down yet!

[Richie Hunt]

haha, thats forward thinking for you. Badfaith, I can only think reading those books has helped solve this link between fame and crime. I bid you good luck on your journey as you search for literature which may be used to hasten the downfall of modern man.

[badfaith]

If i'm honest, the only link it's helped me establish is betwwen my arse and my elbow... and I'm not convinced about that... my elbow has five toes, not four and a thumb!

[badfaith]

Well folks, I've decided to have a Go at the big one... Finnegan's Wake has been sitting pristinely unread on my shelf for about four years now, but now I'm going to to have a crack at it.
It had a big reputation in my own mind before I bought it, and I've only built it up even more since... to the point that it's become a terrifying prospect. Like the scene at the begining of 2001, with the apes, It sits on the shelf staring out at me like an inscrutable monolith, daring me to try.
It wouldn't be so bad if I was what you'd call by any academic standard an intelligent person, but the best I can say is that I'm a glutton for mental punishment. To draw an analogy, I'm no opera singer, but I can just about hold a tune. Will book my padded cell in advance, just in case it all goes wrong, and my stupid little brain pops a fuse.