Talking points NEWS 21
21 March 2020 THE WEEKDaniel Craig: licence to strip
“Warsandelectionsare
bothtoobigandtoosmall
tomatterinthelongrun.
Thedailywork–thatgoes
on,thataddsup.”
WriterBarbaraKingsolver,
quotedinTheTimes
“Wearefartooreadyto
concludethatjustbecause
wehavewordsinour
languageforsomething,
theremustbesomething
forthewordstodescribe.”
MatthewParris,ibid.
“Thepastisalwaystrickling
underthesoil,aslowleak
youcan’ttrace.”
HilaryMantel,quotedin
theFinancialTimes
“Asenseofdutyisuseful
in work,butoffe nsive
in personalrelations.”
BertrandRussell,quoted
inForbes
“Man is the only animal
that can remainon
friendly termswith the
victimshe intends toeat
until he eatsthem.”
Samuel Butler, quotedin
Lapham’sQuarterly
“True ignorance is not the
absenceof knowledge,but
therefusal to acquireit.”
Karl Popper,quoted in
TheTimes
“Believethos ewho seek
the truth; doubt those
who find it.”
AndréGide, ibid.
“I knewIwas going
baldwhen itwastaking
longerand longer to
washmyface.”
HarryHill, quotedin
TheGuardian
“The mindofabigotis like
the pupilof t he eye; the
morelightyou pour upon it,
the more it will contract.”
OliverWendell Holmes,
quotedinForbes“ButI’minnocent.I’m
innocent,”HarveyWeinstein
toldhislawyerslastmonth
afterajuryfoundhimguilty
ofthird-degreerapeandof
sexualassault.Thefallen
Hollywoodmogulshowed
littlemoresignofpenitence
athissentencinghearing
lastweek,saidCeliaWalden
inTheDailyTelegraph.
Hechoseinsteadtoliken
himselftothevictimsof
McCarthyitewitch-hunts
andtoclaimthatmencaughtupinthe#MeToo
movementwerebeingaccusedof“thingsthat
noneofusunderstood”.“Thousandsofmen
arelosingdueprocess,”hecomplained.“I’m
worriedaboutthiscountry.”Weinstein’s
desperatebidforleniencyfailedtoimpress
anyone.Inalandmarkdecisionwelcomedbythe
morethan8 0 womenwhohavecomeforward
withallegationsagainsttheformerproducer,the
judgesentencedhimto23yearsinprison.
As oneof Weinstein’s victims,saidCaitlin
DulanyonNBCNews,Ifearedthisday
would never come.The jailingofthe once
all-powerful producerisevidenceofaprofound
“culturalshiftin howsurvivorsofassault are
treated, understoodandbelieved”.It’san
“absolutegame-changer”.There’scertainly
no way back forWeinstein now, saidScott
Roxborough inDeutscheWelle.Withthe
68-year-oldfacingaseparateseries ofcriminal
cases and amajor civil suitinvolvingdozensof
women,he’llspendtherest
ofhislifeincourtorin
prison.Itremainsan“open
question”,though,whether
hisdramaticfallwillhave
broaderrepercussionsin
theentertainmentindustry
(wheremenwithpowerand
moneystillverymuchcall
theshots)andbeyond.Weinsteinmayyetturnout
tobe“thebloodsacrifice
thatenablestheabusetogo
oninsmallerways”,saidTanyaGoldinThe
DailyTelegraph.Thefactthathewasabletoget
awaywithhisbehaviourforsolongshowshow
warpedthesystemis.TheinadequateWeinstein- “thefatboyfromQueens”–toyedwiththe
livesofactressessuchasKateBeckinsale,
whoclaimedthisweekthatheabusedherfor
dressing“likeaf***inglesbian”whenshewore
asuitratherthana“tightdress”tooneofhis
premieres.“If Iwant pussyonthe redcarpet,
that’s whatIget,”he raged. Weinsteindestroyed
womenif they saidno,and “hedestroyedthem
if theysaid yes”.Manypeople inHollywood,
includingthedirectorQuentinTarantino, knew
he wasdoingthis,yetdid nothingtostopit.
Ittook twofemalejournalists, and twobrave
victims –LauraMadden,who was assaulted
byWeinstein whenshewashisassistantyears
before, andthe actressAshley Judd,whoput
hernameto the exposé –to bringhimdown.
“Hollywood hasnoself-redemptionhere; they
havenothingtocongratulatethemselveson.”
Weinstein: Hollywood’s guilty secret
Adesperatepleaforleniencyrejected“If moobsandapaunchare
whatyouhavetoshow foryour
middle-agedphysique”,then
photospublishedlast weekof
Daniel Craig’sripplingtorsomay
turnyou greenwith envy,said
PetaBeeinTheTimes.Craigis
52, notthatyouwould know it
fromhisphotoshootinApril’s
GQ, heralding his (now-delayed)
final outing in thelatest Bond
film,No TimetoDie.The whole
worldisaskinghowhegot that
bodyin his50s, said Joshua Burt
in TheDaily Telegraph. Thirteen
years after the“iconic Bond
moment” inCasinoRoyale,when
Craigemerged fromthe sea inapairofblue
budgie smugglers,his muscles“glistening” and
“bulging”, hehardly seems to have agedatall.
Iknowhowhegot that body,said GilesCoren
in TheTimes. “He ate nothing but sticks,moss
andproteinshakesforsix months andspent
ten hoursaday in the gym.” Then he slapped
on somefake tan. WhatIwant to knowis why
he gotit. What didaman whoearns$100m a
movie,ahappily marriedfatherof two, feel
wouldbeachieved“by buildinghimselfagreat
pair of Samantha Foxesand baringthemfor a
magazine”? Imean,“inthe
nameofallthatisholy,lookat
him. Look athisboobs.”Lookat
himpouting,“likea19-year-old
stripperon Instagram”.Scariest
of all,“look athiseyes”.“Ifone ofthe Bond girlsposed
likethis,therewould, ofcourse,
be outrage,” saidCamilla Long
in The SundayTimes–reamsof
furious commentaboutthe“Stone
Agesexism” of thefranchise. Yet
apparentlyit’s OK forCraig to
flaunt his“meatyman breasts”,
his“laminated turkey crowns” –
looking forall th eworldlike“a
desperate Florida male escort”, completewith
“a pairoftousled jeans openedjust enough to
revealthreeinchesofart-directedporno man
fuzz”.Ihavealwaysbeen a“Craig enthusiast”,
said RowanPellin ginthe DailyMail.Heand
his“sculpted pecs” have“done us proud”
over theyears:hewas thefirstBondsinceSean
Connery whoseemed “physicallycapableof
crushing his foeslike walnuts”. But,perhaps
now, as heheads intohis m id-50s, he might
considerachange of approach. Mr Craig, “Isay
this as your001fan –the t imehas come to leave
us onahighand putyour shirt back on”.007 flaunts his physiqueStatisticoftheweek
The UK has 6.6 critical care
beds per 100,000 inhabitants,
more than China (3.6) and
India (2.2) but fewer than
France (11.6), Italy (12.5),
Germany (29.2) and the US
(34.7) [Data from 2009 (US),
2012 (EU) and 2017 (Asia)]
The IndependentWit&
Wisdom