in spite of all temptations to belong to other nations he remains an Englishman

[satyrica]

So I don't watch that much TV but I caught a few things when I's loitering around sorting out my plans for the next week or so & all of it seemed obsessed with race & national identity; we had:

Extras- embarrassment humour about a white woman trying to pull a black guy and inadvertently turning race into a huge issue
(bits of) Catherine Tate- more jokes about a white woman trying to meet men online and dressing up in a burka to meet a Muslim guy
Absolute Power (which is great)- jokes about the reality of English identity if we genuinely tried to free ourselves of American influences
H.M.S. Pinafore at The Proms- semi-jocular nationalism a-go-go

now I'd no doubt that they are very much Issues in the public consciousness & media propaganda, especially where race and national identity collide, but I wasn't prepared for everything to be *so* steeped in it

Comments

channel wars

[fascicle.livejournal.com]

I know Stephen Fry is great, but for some reason the schedulers
have pitched him against his chum Hugh Laurie, starring as the
magnificent Gregory House over on Channel 5.

Given the choice, I'll watch the consistently brilliant _House_
utilising Laurie's disaffection/depression to great effect with
beautiful bitter lines and with a faux American accent so flawless
that he fooled the director (who'd said "no more British guys" for the auditions) and also the Emmy nominators ('whaddya mean "He's a
Brit?"'), rather than the clever but patchy _Absolute Power_. Still don't know how AP got away with the Bin Laden game, given how close
to the truth it was... I'd've expected a libel suit!

Re: channel wars

[satyrica.livejournal.com]

oh yeah, I remember hearing about Laurie in House, didn't realise it was screening here though, my TV viewing being as sporadic as it is

Re: channel wars

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

Not just Laurie, also the kid out of Dead Poets Society and Billy from Neighbours.