Having mindlessly and stupidly watched ‘The Execution of Gary Glitter’ the verdict I have reached is that this programme should have been put out of its misery from the start. Firstly, why Gary Glitter? More controversy but without the politics…and without a decent script. Secondly, it wasn’t grounded in reality. There are better and more realistic scenarios to be had. Though C4 was being too clever by half.
It trivialises the debate around the death penalty, docudrama with added talking heads from Miranda Sawyer to Gary Bushell. The real serious issues about the death penalty were lost without trace in the sensationalism of the tabloid-esque language and stereotypes. Real questions about why people support the death penalty weren’t examined. Also, what was it meant to be? Fictionalised drama…with wooden acting, dialogue, lack of dramatic tension and a confused storyline. What was Channel 4 trying to present?
We were spoon fed a diet of whipped up controversy and sensationalism as a distraction from the real issues which was such a shame as the death penalty debate never goes away.
I really think C4 were being too clever by half and it showed!
A wasted bloody opportunity.
Charlie Brooker is spot-on btw.
Btw: if someone from C4 is reading this then how about making a drama about the loss of the ‘right to silence’. An erosion of civil liberties if ever. Just a thought….
“What was Channel 4 trying to present?”
Ratings for advertisers. You count in the figures. Simples.
Unfortunately, it seems that many of the writers now seem to be schooled in the art of reality telly…and they don’t possess the skill set in creating good dramatic imaginative and creative television. Tonight was a stark and v. good example of this.
Shamelessly blurred the line between fact and fiction, in order to overlay a superficial script on a biased concoction of facts and emotions. Was it Glitter taking part – they didn’t make it clear – the individual presented was clearly presented as psychotic. Was Glitter? This was disgraceful television – trivialising a fundamentally important issue by presenting half truths and fantasy personalities. As for Gary Bushell…..words fail…
That Brooker piece was ‘larious. Right on the money. I think it’s less that the TV companies think we’re stupid than they’re hoping that by treating us like morons, some moron dust will rub off on us.
Sounds like the writers and filmmakers have nothing to say, no bigger internal world from which they can draw enough informed material in order to build a solid thought-provoking drama. Not exactly Our Friends In The North, is it?
Oh to have a culture framed from the tabloids.
It was undoubtedly appalling, everything is so reality tv couched precisely tabloid-esque dialogue. Madam Miaow, I agree the writers and film makers have nothing of consequence to say, those skill sets have been lost it seems.
Stephen, it wasn’t Glitter it was some actor I had never heard of. Gary Bushell….words always fail me about him..
But you all watched it! Giving Channel 4 the much wanted viewing figures to show advertisers. Words fail me!
In the words of the great Trotskyist thinker, Ernest Mandel, “I can only offer this final apology: historical materialism can -and should-be applied to all social phenomena. None is by nature less worthy of study than others. The majesty of this theory – and the proof of its validity- is precisely in its ability to explain them all”
Btw: Mandel was writing about crime fiction but it can easily be applied to popular culture/reality shite tv/badly written ‘drama’ as well as it is all part of social phenomena.
“But you all watched it! Giving Channel 4 the much wanted viewing figures to show advertisers. Words fail me!”
Well, that helps in the debate. Jeez!
You obviously don’t understand the meaning of my comment. But feel free to attack anyways. Thanks, that always feels nice
I missed this. I was busy watching the slow tortuous death of the Reds’ (Liverpool FC) season against Birmingham last night. It sounds bizarre and Brooker is usually bang on in his reviews of this sort of thing. Therefore I won’t watch it on catch up.
I’m sure they could have chosen someone else beside Gary Glitter. To make the narrative more dramatic they could have used a right-wing pro-capital punishment tory mp or a journalist such as Richard Littlejohn. That would have made for far more interesting viewing.