Wednesday, November 04, 2009
ARE THE COURT JESTERS REALLY TODAY'S HEROES?
In their lament for how England has lost its identity and pride - the wonderful anthem 'Roots' - Show of Hands included 'Overpaid soccer stars' and 'Prancing teens' among those who now vie for our (almost completely undeserved) hero worship.
In centuries gone by, those who entertained us occupied a relatively lowly place on the social scale, as befits the role of those whose occupations may make life more interesting and fun, but who are largely unimportant and dispensable.
It seems to me that as our interest and faith in established religion has waned, we've been looking fairly aimlessly for something else to put in their place. Most people agree that shopping malls and shopping are the new temples and worship of a Godless age, but where do we position the court jesters?
So-called 'professional' footballers command salaries that are right up there with bankers' bonuses for social justification, yet the loyal fans willingly spend hundreds of pounds each season on tickets and the latest club colours trotted out by cynical and exploitative club owners. The fans may be being ripped off ourageously, but they appear to be willing victims. It seems a high price to pay to watch 22 men chase a ball around a grassy patch for 90 minutes, unless you buy into the tribalism that goes with it and which seems to satiate our warlike tendencies - well, not mine - I loathe the game and all it stands for - particularly in terms of its contribution to the sad deterioration of the quality of British life. Are soccer stars the gladiators of the modern age? Hard to compare when soccer players roll over clutching their shins on the slightest pretext - not exactly fighting for your life, is it?
Racing drivers also fit firmly into this camp. What is the point of driving a car round in circles for an hour or two, just to prove you're the fastest? I can't think of anything more tedious or a more pointless waste of time and resources. But a lot of people enjoy it and the whole circus seems to consume staggering amounts of effort and money.
Perhaps the rise of these pastimes indicates just how boring modern life has become and how we need causes and challenges to make it worth living. Maybe that's why there has been such an increase in extreme sports and activities. Life is precious to us, yet we are more and more willing to hazard it for a brief adrenaline rush.
The whole celebrity 'culture' in which we now live is cynically exploitative of people whose own lives are or must be, for the most part, tedious. Why else would weak-minded people take such intrusive interest in the minutiae of other people's lives, just because they've been on TV or in a film, pop group, X-Factor, Big Brother or whatever. 'Get a life' springs to mind, but these people think they already have a life.
I suspect that our obsession with court jesters will eventually run its course and may be foreshortened by something more significant taking its place, like war or environmental catastrophe. If we can stand up and say 'enough is enough' to bankers' bonuses, maybe we can do the same for the general vacuity of our age. I hope so - and I hope I live to see it.
In their lament for how England has lost its identity and pride - the wonderful anthem 'Roots' - Show of Hands included 'Overpaid soccer stars' and 'Prancing teens' among those who now vie for our (almost completely undeserved) hero worship.
In centuries gone by, those who entertained us occupied a relatively lowly place on the social scale, as befits the role of those whose occupations may make life more interesting and fun, but who are largely unimportant and dispensable.
It seems to me that as our interest and faith in established religion has waned, we've been looking fairly aimlessly for something else to put in their place. Most people agree that shopping malls and shopping are the new temples and worship of a Godless age, but where do we position the court jesters?
So-called 'professional' footballers command salaries that are right up there with bankers' bonuses for social justification, yet the loyal fans willingly spend hundreds of pounds each season on tickets and the latest club colours trotted out by cynical and exploitative club owners. The fans may be being ripped off ourageously, but they appear to be willing victims. It seems a high price to pay to watch 22 men chase a ball around a grassy patch for 90 minutes, unless you buy into the tribalism that goes with it and which seems to satiate our warlike tendencies - well, not mine - I loathe the game and all it stands for - particularly in terms of its contribution to the sad deterioration of the quality of British life. Are soccer stars the gladiators of the modern age? Hard to compare when soccer players roll over clutching their shins on the slightest pretext - not exactly fighting for your life, is it?
Racing drivers also fit firmly into this camp. What is the point of driving a car round in circles for an hour or two, just to prove you're the fastest? I can't think of anything more tedious or a more pointless waste of time and resources. But a lot of people enjoy it and the whole circus seems to consume staggering amounts of effort and money.
Perhaps the rise of these pastimes indicates just how boring modern life has become and how we need causes and challenges to make it worth living. Maybe that's why there has been such an increase in extreme sports and activities. Life is precious to us, yet we are more and more willing to hazard it for a brief adrenaline rush.
The whole celebrity 'culture' in which we now live is cynically exploitative of people whose own lives are or must be, for the most part, tedious. Why else would weak-minded people take such intrusive interest in the minutiae of other people's lives, just because they've been on TV or in a film, pop group, X-Factor, Big Brother or whatever. 'Get a life' springs to mind, but these people think they already have a life.
I suspect that our obsession with court jesters will eventually run its course and may be foreshortened by something more significant taking its place, like war or environmental catastrophe. If we can stand up and say 'enough is enough' to bankers' bonuses, maybe we can do the same for the general vacuity of our age. I hope so - and I hope I live to see it.
Labels: bankers bonuses, Big Brother, celebrity culture, Show of Hands, soccer stars, X-Factor
