Sunday, November 05, 2006
Brown's yawn factor
There is nothing more disturbing than a politician wrapping up a new initiative in a popular television show format in an effort to appear trendy and in-touch. My advice to Gordon Brown therefore is to put the X-factor down and walk away slowly.
The Chancellor says that he likes TV programmes like X Factor, Dragons' Den and The Apprentice because they "show the value of aspiration, how anyone can achieve things." He wants to make the core of his political message that of empowering people to succeed.
I am sure that the initiatives he has in mind will be worthwhile and not the gimmicks he has just branded them as. However, X Factor, Dragons' Den and The Apprentice are about entertainment not success. The point is that it is not just anyone who can be empowered by these shows, they are as much about the losers as the winners. If Brown wants to model Britain on that sort of format then he truly is grasping at straws.
The Chancellor says that he likes TV programmes like X Factor, Dragons' Den and The Apprentice because they "show the value of aspiration, how anyone can achieve things." He wants to make the core of his political message that of empowering people to succeed.
I am sure that the initiatives he has in mind will be worthwhile and not the gimmicks he has just branded them as. However, X Factor, Dragons' Den and The Apprentice are about entertainment not success. The point is that it is not just anyone who can be empowered by these shows, they are as much about the losers as the winners. If Brown wants to model Britain on that sort of format then he truly is grasping at straws.
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Have you been reading Angela Phillips?
"Huge numbers of us tune in to watch television programmes in which individuals compete against each other for prizes - and those who fail are routinely ridiculed. What does a generation of young people brought up on Pop Idol followed by The Apprentice learn about social solidarity?"
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/angela_phillips/2006/11/blame_the_parents_again.html
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"Huge numbers of us tune in to watch television programmes in which individuals compete against each other for prizes - and those who fail are routinely ridiculed. What does a generation of young people brought up on Pop Idol followed by The Apprentice learn about social solidarity?"
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/angela_phillips/2006/11/blame_the_parents_again.html
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: 6:58 PM
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