Tag Archive: Thatcherism


TEPID WHITE HEAT

Filed under: Gender, Music, Politics, Television — Leave a comment
April 14, 2012

WHITE HEAT – written by Paula Milne, directed by John Alexander (BBC Two)

The White Heat seven – the way they were.

White Heat reached a lukewarm finale this week.  What began promisingly eventually fizzled out  to a largely predictable and heavily stage-managed conclusion.

In the six part drama we followed the fortunes of seven characters over a heady 25 year period.

This group first meet as students in a shared house in North London. Each part is set in a different year, beginning in 1965 and ending in 1990.

A present day perspective is established from the outset with the now ageing group gathering at the home of one of the seven who has been found dead at his or her home.

The identity of the deceased is not revealed until the final episode and the contents of a locked safe is not opened until right at the end – this plot device  kept me watching to find out who had snuffed it and what his or her secret was; I’m not entirely sure I’d have made it to the finish otherwise. Continue reading →

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I’M NOT A ROYALIST BUT…

Filed under: Music, Television — Leave a comment
March 11, 2012

What's wrong with this picture?

I’m not a royalist but there’s something wrong with this picture of Morrissey on stage in Argentina.

For a start, he’s roped his band into wearing these provocative T-shirts without donning one himself.

But the main thing that looks so sad is how forced and stagey it looks.

I wonder if he would have make the same tacky gesture at a UK gig. It looks too much as though he’s playing up to the self appointed image of eccentric big mouth to please a foreign audience. Continue reading →

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TEACHING ENGLISH TO JOHNNY FOREIGNER

Filed under: Music — Leave a comment
April 14, 2011

Image from The How to be British collection by Martyn Ford & Peter Legon (Lee Gone Publications)

Johnny Foreigner:
1. Anyone who isn't British.
2. Anyone likely to be given a metaphorical 'bloody nose' by a plucky Brit.
(definition courtesy of Urban dictionary)

Images of British Culture and the role of English Language Teachers

In 1998 Lord St John of Fawsley stated in the British House of Lords that alongside the common law and parliamentary government, English language and literature was the greatest contribution to world civilization. He added that “at the heart of all three lies the idea of liberty. I do not believe that we can export our institutions indiscriminately, but by informing people of how they work and flourish, by imparting thoughts about them, we can enhance the chances for freedom elsewhere”.

English language teachers applying the communicative method actively seek to show language in context through the use of authentic texts. This means that material has to be selected to illustrate not only fundamental grammar structures but also to depict images of Britain through its culture and customs.

If, as Lord St John Fawsley strongly suggests, these images are chosen with a view to selling the cultural superiority of British culture, it contradicts any notion that teaching English can be politically neutral. Continue reading →

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