Nobody does sex worse than the UK.
When you combine the complexes derived from the legendarily endemic British prudery, vacuous sexual ignorance, deprived opportunity, and covert sublimated desires, you end up with manifestations like the ugly Sun and News Of The World tabloids, the phoney 'sex' shops and clubs in London's Soho, TV watersheds, and arts censorship. The UK's so-called porn industry is, likewise, a complete sham - and when the awful Channel 4 decided to do a documentary series entitled The Dark Side Of Porn, you fear the worst. (Comments on each episode continue below.)
So, yes, they'll titillate you with enough erotic promise to want to watch it - then either deliver nothing, or worse, a fucking lecture on why sex in its various manifestations is so wrong. And like the ugly sweating repressed hypocrites they are, you know they've got semi-hard-ons under the table whilst addressing you in this patronising yet eminently uninformed tone. Whilst watching that shocking scene just one more time to see if it's really as offensive as they first thought. Whilst betraying that enduring paternalist attitude that women could not possibly have extreme sexual impulses of their own.
Thanks to greater integration with the far more enlightened European continent, and the internet's obliteration of the UK gatekeepers' powers, encouragingly it seems that current generations have been largely freed from these hang-ups. Nowadays, young people might be far more focused on their weekly ethanol binges than getting laid, but at least they're not prigs.
And it does seem to have become a generational issue. I know that from my own bittersweet experiences making music over the years, and also something addressed in other posts (KILLING FOR CULTURE - BLACK METAL PENCIL - NOSTALGIE DE LA BOUE).
Me And My Slaves
this study concerns a pint-sized peroxided punk who laughably calls himself a BDSM 'master' - if we'd got more of the fucked-up childhood sexual anecdotes, along with deeper questioning into his weird belief in Jesus, then this would have been far better
Searching For Animal Farm
the poignant story of Bodil Joensen, and her extraodinary relationship with animals, is the focus of this edition - unfortunately anglo-prudery contaminates the entire documentary in its most judgmental and ignorant form; Headpress's David Kerekes gets completely outed as a grade A prig, something to which his writing often alluded
Hunting For Emmanuelle
Sylvia Kristel is an amazing woman: remarkably beautiful and intelligent, with a singularly attractive energy - in this documentary about the groundbreaking original Emmanuelle, she reflects on its making and subsequent events in her life; the excruciatingly beautiful Emmanuelle theme by Pierre Bachelet forms the backdrop to this respectful study into the movie's cultural impact, tainted only by the inclusion of the reactionary opinions of that soulless old biddy, columnist Polly Toynbee
Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered
the presuppositions of the inherent 'dangers' of porn are all over this look at what was just another oh-so-boring porn flick: it's amazing how easily and lazily accepted the docu's producers' notions are that participating in making porn, watching porn, buying/selling porn, all have negative consequences (other than sheer tedium) - what tenuous faith they have in human life that the viewing of DDD, or the participation in the making of, could have such devastatingly far-reaching consequences
Porn Shutdown
a black male porn star goes to Brazil, contracts HIV, and you have the perfect exercise for Channel 4 to darkly propagate the evils of the mainstream porn industry (ironically, one as moralistic and reactionary as any other, especially in the US) - it's like the sensationalist 80s reporting of AIDS all over again, so conveniently does it serve the prudes' agenda; somehow, extraordinarily, the fucktard narrator seamlessly conflates this with the deleterious effects of our being exposed to 'gonzo' porn
Diary Of A Porn Virgin
Amateur Porn
I call bullshit on both these two fake documentaries which seem to be by the same UK production company - the subjects are all just trashy floundering wannabes that are desperate to be on TV, one way or another; also features plenty of the usual myths about the evils of porn
Death Of A Pornstar
a character study into the curious case of Lolo Ferrari, she of the monstrously large lips/boobs - it's a sad tale, and her long-term partner Eric Vigne might be a bit sleazy (and so what if he is?), however I don't accept the programme's sinister insinuations that he had anything directly to do with her death
Does Snuff Exist?
predictably here, all the myths and prejudices come out in full force; the programme makers, the arch-prudes, the institutions of censorship, authorities such as the FBI, all unite as one, all desperate clinging to the hope that such a thing as 'snuff' exists - they rationalise it hard because they need it so bad, just like the illusory Communists under the bed, just like the Al Qaida mirage, it's the existence of the evil without which gives little reason to live
Showing posts with label channel 4. Show all posts
Showing posts with label channel 4. Show all posts
Monday, November 23, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
DISPATCHES AND DELIVERANCES
I've never trusted Dispatches - the long-running current affairs series on UK's Channel 4. Nearly every edition is full of factual inaccuracies, deliberate distortions, and downright bias - all with the unprincipled aim of provoking deliberate alarm for the reward of increased journalistic impact.
The first manifestation I noted of its shady deceitful methods was in the early 90s - a programme focusing on activities of Genesis P-Orridge (or whatever people call him these days) and cohorts. Normally, P-Orridge is so full of shit about how he founded The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys; invented LSD, the wheel and the internet; and redefined popular music as we know it; yet this is one rare occasion that I've found myself sympathising with him. He and several of his associates were scandalously stitched up by this disreputable team on the Satanic Ritual Abuse episode, to the extent, as I understand it, that he was forced into exile for his own safety.
Since it's presented under the aegis of a respected TV channel that receives state funding, the credibility of Dispatches is rarely questioned, and is therefore taken far more seriously than would be say an article in the rabid Murdoch tabloid press (News Of The World, The Sun), thus resulting in an even more insidious impact.
Interestingly, there are transparent concessions employed that can, upon further analysis, be identified as giving more cause for suspicion. For example, the studiously solemn voice-over of the narrator and melancholy creepy soundtracks, are both typically employed to give extra gravitas to the topics, eliciting an emotional response from the viewer of deep concern. Also, the frequent use of the word 'story' to describe the topic of each edition cunningly presupposes that what we are being presented with has a genuine narrative - the metasignificance of which is the implied notion of something happening that is interrupted by an event. In the context of current affairs therefore, something existentially bad interrupted by the force of good. Furthermore, having recently seen the documentary Helvetica and noting Dispatches' use of said font, it points to a subtext of the triumph of presentation over content.
Below is a handful (from a long list) of other examples of the Dispatches team up to their dirty tricks.
SAVING AFRICA'S WITCH CHILDREN
It almost goes without saying that a middle-aged middle class white male evangelising Christian 'saving' children in Africa should not be trusted. The fact that the Englishman in question is condemning the use of Christ's name in identifying witch children in Christian Nigerian communities would be like Gary Glitter warning kids not to join the Cubs. The poor kids in question don't stand a chance. Dispatches is guilty of a form of demonisation and imposition of 'superior' Western beliefs that wouldn't have been out of place in the 19th century, and all without any questioning whatsoever of the suspect motives of the would-be 'saviours - either way, the poor kids in question don't stand a chance. The great irony here being that the real issues at its heart are the twin legacies of the beliefs of the very same Christian zealots in conjunction with the West's ruthless exploitation of the country's natural resources.
UNDERCOVER MOSQUE
Far be it for me to be defending radical Muslim preachers, but once again this was a disgraceful episode where secretly filmed speeches in mosques were carefully spliced together to portray the clerics in as bad a light as possible: distortions for which TV journalists are only too expert in creating, both in small subtle ways and others more obvious (as exemplified here) provoking serious consequences.
ABORTION: WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW
Timed very carefully to affect a government debate on the timing of abortion interventions, Dispatches screened some highly shocking graphic footage of aborted foetuses in a blatant attempt to create disturbed emotionally charged responses. The programme's virulent anti-abortion agenda became clearer when it was discovered that said footage was provided to them by an extreme 'pro-life' group.
VIDEO GAME VIOLENCE AND CHILDREN
Ironically when considered in relation to the aforementioned Abortion episode, the Dispatches team once again were guilty of blatant scaremongering aimed at promoting their questionable and reactionary ulterior motives. The science of 'proving' that video games are harmful to youngsters is entirely spurious at best (the converse is likely to be nearer the truth) - but it's the hysterical paranoid fear of books, of pornography, of horror films, of television, in a shiny new wrapper. As far as I'm aware, Hitler and Stalin were never into COD4, Halo 3, Killzone 2 - nor indeed Super Mario.
The first manifestation I noted of its shady deceitful methods was in the early 90s - a programme focusing on activities of Genesis P-Orridge (or whatever people call him these days) and cohorts. Normally, P-Orridge is so full of shit about how he founded The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys; invented LSD, the wheel and the internet; and redefined popular music as we know it; yet this is one rare occasion that I've found myself sympathising with him. He and several of his associates were scandalously stitched up by this disreputable team on the Satanic Ritual Abuse episode, to the extent, as I understand it, that he was forced into exile for his own safety.
Since it's presented under the aegis of a respected TV channel that receives state funding, the credibility of Dispatches is rarely questioned, and is therefore taken far more seriously than would be say an article in the rabid Murdoch tabloid press (News Of The World, The Sun), thus resulting in an even more insidious impact.
Interestingly, there are transparent concessions employed that can, upon further analysis, be identified as giving more cause for suspicion. For example, the studiously solemn voice-over of the narrator and melancholy creepy soundtracks, are both typically employed to give extra gravitas to the topics, eliciting an emotional response from the viewer of deep concern. Also, the frequent use of the word 'story' to describe the topic of each edition cunningly presupposes that what we are being presented with has a genuine narrative - the metasignificance of which is the implied notion of something happening that is interrupted by an event. In the context of current affairs therefore, something existentially bad interrupted by the force of good. Furthermore, having recently seen the documentary Helvetica and noting Dispatches' use of said font, it points to a subtext of the triumph of presentation over content.
Below is a handful (from a long list) of other examples of the Dispatches team up to their dirty tricks.
SAVING AFRICA'S WITCH CHILDREN
It almost goes without saying that a middle-aged middle class white male evangelising Christian 'saving' children in Africa should not be trusted. The fact that the Englishman in question is condemning the use of Christ's name in identifying witch children in Christian Nigerian communities would be like Gary Glitter warning kids not to join the Cubs. The poor kids in question don't stand a chance. Dispatches is guilty of a form of demonisation and imposition of 'superior' Western beliefs that wouldn't have been out of place in the 19th century, and all without any questioning whatsoever of the suspect motives of the would-be 'saviours - either way, the poor kids in question don't stand a chance. The great irony here being that the real issues at its heart are the twin legacies of the beliefs of the very same Christian zealots in conjunction with the West's ruthless exploitation of the country's natural resources.
UNDERCOVER MOSQUE
Far be it for me to be defending radical Muslim preachers, but once again this was a disgraceful episode where secretly filmed speeches in mosques were carefully spliced together to portray the clerics in as bad a light as possible: distortions for which TV journalists are only too expert in creating, both in small subtle ways and others more obvious (as exemplified here) provoking serious consequences.
ABORTION: WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW
Timed very carefully to affect a government debate on the timing of abortion interventions, Dispatches screened some highly shocking graphic footage of aborted foetuses in a blatant attempt to create disturbed emotionally charged responses. The programme's virulent anti-abortion agenda became clearer when it was discovered that said footage was provided to them by an extreme 'pro-life' group.
VIDEO GAME VIOLENCE AND CHILDREN
Ironically when considered in relation to the aforementioned Abortion episode, the Dispatches team once again were guilty of blatant scaremongering aimed at promoting their questionable and reactionary ulterior motives. The science of 'proving' that video games are harmful to youngsters is entirely spurious at best (the converse is likely to be nearer the truth) - but it's the hysterical paranoid fear of books, of pornography, of horror films, of television, in a shiny new wrapper. As far as I'm aware, Hitler and Stalin were never into COD4, Halo 3, Killzone 2 - nor indeed Super Mario.
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