David Porter » Archive
Roots Matter in the Diversities of Life, Culture and the Arts
In an age of ever-extended families and diverse communities, peoples’ need to know where they come from and belong to is reflected in their arts. From Genesis in the Bible on the one hand and Darwin’s Origins of Species on the other, to Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Two Tribes (Go to War) (1984), everything from religions, traditions, lifestyles and world-views are determined by people’s roots. Heritage-search companies offer programs to research family trees for probate, adoption or interest in genealogy. Military records from the first world war (1914-1918) are now accessible on line. Interest is high in getting a picture of how a great grandparent lived and died. In 1977 historical epic Roots aired. It‘s an early example of a TV mini-series, based on the studies author Alex Haley made into his own … Read entire article »
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Creatives, Mavericks and Non-Conformists in the Movies
Movie plots need conflicts and tensions. Readily available is the solo fight against society, the system, big business or baddie(s). Atticus Finch opposing racial prejudice in small town America in To Kill A Mocking Bird (1962) is the beating heart of the story: it rings true. Rebel Without a Cause (1955) made James Dean the maverick star. Lynch-mob mentality of hysterical masses clamouring for somebody’s blood makes a perfect protagonist. The voice in the wilderness, the lone person of conscience/courage within the crowd, is the stuff of inspiration. Those who refuse to toe the (unjust) line are often regarded as heroes, but not till later. Irish political philosopher Edmund Burke (1729 -1797) is attributed with: ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’. The truth … Read entire article »
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Lotteries, Raffles, Games of Chance: People Certainly Like a Bet
From football pools to local/national lotteries, horse racing to snow falling at Christmas, the gambling instinct is strong, despite psychological doubts. Life assurance, taking a financial risk on how long somebody will live, has been big business since the Romans inaugurated ‘burial clubs’. In the UK, betting on football pools has been around since 1923 (Littlewoods, with Vernons in 1925, Zetters in 1933 and Brittens in 1946). Catering for people to have a flutter or punt on horse or greyhound races, the Cambridge/Oxford Boat Race or other sporting events, on the weather, a bingo card or political fortunes creates a turnover in the UK alone of £95 billion a year at conservative estimates and employs 35,000 people directly and indirectly. In the USA people gamble on baseball games or other sporting events … Read entire article »
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Hotels in the Arts: Special Places in Film, Music and Literature
Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” and The Eagles’ “Hotel California” are not the only hotels, real and imagined, that have played a major part in great arts. Hotel businesses market themselves on historical events or people, celebrity connections, geographical/movie locations to develop customer bases. Lucy Komisar, in The Travel Lady said: “no longer just places to sleep and shower, hotels are now environments for experience.” She reckoned in Paris, for example, the left bank Bel Ami (utilising Guy de Maupassant’s 1885 novel) and for art links, the right bank Hilton Arc de Triomphe, should be visited. Such boutique hotels sit alongside guest houses, inns, pubs, clubs and restaurants the world over, exploiting all connections to boost trade. Hotels in Literature Hotels are perfect settings for creativity. Hedwig Baum’s novel Grand Hotel (1929; movie 1932) was set … Read entire article »
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Modernist/Futuristic Architecture: Shaping Lives, People, History
Modernism is not new: yesterday’s modernist architecture becomes today’s joke becomes tomorrow’s nostalgia. But like all art, it progresses age by age. Architects cannot start with completely blank paper. There are planning laws, neighbouring older property, local traditions, geography, topography, space, transport, utilities, client needs, economics and political constraints to take into account in every design. Most architects also yearn to make an artistic, creative, innovative and original impact, and ‘futuristic dreaming’ has frequently inspired them. Obsession with the future is an understandable human trait, reflected in things people do, say, wear, eat and the spaces they live in. Nowadays, such modernism or futurism, is mixed with concern for the environment and resources, with energy and cost, so ‘eco’ and ‘sustainable’ have become part of the language landscape. Modernism’s Past According to Trend Hunter: … Read entire article »
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Creating Great Arts in Hard Economic Times
Tough periods for the arts and practitioners can be inspirational, producing original and challenging work; but is it necessary to suffer for the arts? As recession haunts the early 21st Century, and budgets are cut to tackle government debt and borrowing, people ask: What is the role of the arts in hard times? How do they help people deal with both social problems/crises and their own private fears? Writing in the UK’s Daily Telegraph, 23 October, 2010, Mark Hudson wondered: ‘Is austerity the mother of creativity?’ As a writer himself, he described the difficulty of earning a living writing, particularly in the UK, but said that financial pressure can act as creative spur when people are forced to be inventive to survive. The same may be true of arts organisations, theatres, dance studios, … Read entire article »
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Acronyms Have Become a Language in Their Own “Write”
Officialdom, bureaucracy, media and people love acronyms, especially when they make a word that stands alone and means what the abbreviation actually is. The use of abbreviations to describe lengthy organisational names and regularly used terms in daily life has become well established. RAM (Random Access Memory) is universal in computers. Politics has embraced them wholesale. GOP is equally: Grand Old Party, Gallant Old Party or God’s Own Party. ACLU is American Civil Liberties Union and in the UK SNP is readily acknowledged as Scottish National Party. FLOTUS (First Lady of the United States), GOTV (Get Out the Vote) and WaPo (Washington Post) need little explanation in the USA. In the currency of communication across boundaries, an agreed, concise and comprehensible way of describing complex issues and structures is essential. It’s crucial … Read entire article »
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Making Fun of Parliament & Politicians: A Fine British Tradition
Britain has long enjoyed a liberty to deflate political pomposity and bring egos to earth with art, print & performance that is envied in other democracies In July 2007, Press Gazette reported that New Zealand’s Parliament voted ‘far-reaching powers to control satire and ridicule of MPs in Parliament, attracting a storm of media and academic criticism’. The new standing orders dealt with use of images of Parliamentary debates, and made it a contempt of Parliament for anyone to use footage of the chamber for “satire, ridicule or denigration”.’ No such prohibition yet exists in the UK. Indeed, there is a tradition of criticising policies and politicians through comedy, satire, ridicule, lampooning and caricature. The UK Parliamentary website argues that political satire ‘represents a distinctive and innovative tradition in British art and is … Read entire article »
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A Christmas Carol
Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 19 December 2011 Charles Dickens’ iconic tale of redemption from darkness, A Christmas Carol, is a seasonal but timeless favourite, and The Maddermarket is true to the spirit of the original classic. Besides the well-known ghosts, the Cratchitt family, the nephew and, of course, the great British curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge (Noel James), the play has many minor parts, some doubled up well by the large company. The use of some of these characters as a Greek-style chorus to convey the narrative, comment and directly address the audience effectively sheds new light on the familiar. Movement is restricted on the stage, but even so, the sombre, death-like atmosphere of those Victorian days was captured, including the chill grimness of the counting house. The tragedy of the impoverished … Read entire article »
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Celebrities’ Jobs and Head-Starts Before They Were Famous
Some famous people get a lift-up in life from already successful parents; others have to work their way up from unpromising, often humble, beginnings. Stories and pictures about celebrities, particularly when they were children or high school kids seem to be endlessly fascinating. The lives of such people who started other careers before they heard fame knock on their door calling them to public stages, are equally absorbing. Reality TV shows like America’s/Britain’s Got Talent or The X Factor frequently take older people or starry-eyed teenagers from colleges, supermarket check-outs, restaurants, telesales or almost anything except what they once only could dream about. British comedians and presenters Clive Anderson and Harry Hill were both general medical practitioners and magician Paul Daniels was an accountant before deciding that they could earn more making … Read entire article »
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