Talking points NEWS 2512 September 2020 THE WEEKHarry and Meghan: showbiz calls“Neveroffendanenemy
inasmallway.”
GoreVidal,quotedin
TheNewYorker
“Oldageislikeeverything
else.Tomake asuccess ofit,
you’vegottostartyoung.”
PresidentTheodore
Roosevelt,quotedin
The SundayTimes“Zealisfitonlyfor
wisemen, but isfound
mostly infools.”
ThomasFuller,quoted
in Forbes“Democracy isthe
processby whichpeople
choose themanwho’ll
get the blame.”
Bertrand Russell, quoted
inthe MontrealGazette
“Poetry is just the
evidence oflife.Ifyour
life is burning well, poetry
is just the ash.”
Leonard Cohen,quoted
in Fa rOut Magazine“Writeabout what
youdon’tknowabout
whatyouknow.”
EudoraWelty, quoted
on TheBrows er“Theonlytimeawoman
really succeeds in changing
aman is when he’sababy.”
Natalie Wood,quoted
in Parade“Artlives fromconstraints
and dies from freedom.”
Leonardoda Vinci, quoted
in Lapham’s Quarterly
“The safest road to hell is
the gradual one–the gentle
slope,soft underfoot,
without suddenturnings,
without milestones,
without signposts.”
C.S.Lewis,quoted on
ArtsJournal.com“ItisneverOKtocoerce
people’sparticipation;that
isjustbullying.”Sowrote
LaurenVictorlastweek.
Sheisthewomanwho–
inavideothatwentviral–
wassurroundedbyangry
BlackLivesMatter(BLM)
protestersoutsidea
restaurantinWashington,
aftershedeclinedtoraise
afistinsupport.Victoris
aBLMsupporterwhohas
beenonBLMmarches.But,
shesaid,“Ialsosupportan
individual’srighttochoosewhetherto
participateinaprotest,ornot.”Thisisa
distinctiontoomanydonotunderstand,said
KenanMalikinTheObserver.It’sonethingto
protestagainstinjustice:quiteanothertocoerce
othersintothinking,oracting,thewayyou
thinktheyshould.So,membersoftheclimate
changeactiongroupExtinctionRebellion
(XR)have every right toprotest againstviews
expressedinnewspapers,butto stopthem being
published–asthey did thisweekwhenthey
blockadedtwomajorprintworks –was wrong.
The“disruption may havebeentemporary, but
theidea that oneshouldcensorunacceptable
political opinionsisapermanentproblem”.
What wesawthis weekwasa“monstrous”
attack onpressfreedom,saidDouglasMurray
inTheDailyTelegraph.Youcannothavelobby
groupsdecidingwhatpeople canread.Nor
shouldnewspaperownersfeel obligedto toe
particulareditoriallines,
topreventtheirbusinesses
being“disruptedordes-
troyed”.Asidefromuniting
thepressincondemnation,
whatdidthisprotestachieve,
askedTheIndependent.Has
asingledoubterbeencon-
vertedbyXR’ssuccessin
preventingthedistribution
oftheTimes,Telegraph,Sun
andDailyMail?Orhasit
damageditsreputationand
itsimportantcause?XR
claimsitwantstostopthe
“liesanddistortion”ofthepress,saidHugo
RifkindinTheTimes.Yetthepapersittargeted
doagreatdealtokeeptheirreadersinformed
aboutclimatechange.Indeed,thankstoXR’s
blockade,Sunreaderswillhavemissedanarticle
inwhichSirDavidAttenboroughstressedthe
urgencyofthecrisis.IfXRwantsthepublicon
side,itshouldbeengagingwiththeright-wing
press,notalienatingit anditsreaders.ButXRdoesn’tcareif people don’tlikeit, said
Luke Trylin TheIndependent.Itsobjective, in
stagingthisprotest,was tomakenoise –andit
succeeded:peoplemaybeoutraged,but theyare
talkingaboutclimatechangeagain.Moreover,
bypositioning itself asthe“outlandishoutrider”
oftheclimatecrisis–demanding,for instance,
that theUKgo carbon-neutralwithinfiveyears
–XRsucceedsinmakinglessextremesolutions
toclimatechangeseemmorepalatable.Itsantics
maybe undesirable,butthey’renotineffective.Extinction Rebellion: attacking free speech?“HowlovelytoseeHarry
andMeghan’slong-planned
Hollywood money-makingdream
cometogether,” saidTheSun.
Sixmonthsaftertheirdramatic
departurefromBritain, theDuke
andDuchessofSussex last week
revealed that theyhadsigned a
lucrativemulti-yeardealwith
Netflix–rumouredto be worth
$100m(£75m)–toproduce
documentaries, feature filmsand
children’sshows forthestreaming
giant’s193million subscribers.
They revealedtheir news in a
statement thatwas an object
lessonin “meaningless,self-serving
jargon”,said Madeline GrantinThe Daily
Telegraph. “Ourfocus will beon creating
content that informs but also giveshope,”the
couple declared–addingthattheywantto
“shareimpactful contentthat unlocksacti on”.
The money will come in handy too, saidRichard
Kay in theDaily Mail.Itis“no coincidence”the
couple’s firstacti on on signingthe deal wasto
make goodonHarry’s offerto pay back the
£2.4mofpublic fundslavishedon their official
UK residence,FrogmoreCottage in Windsor,
beforethey movedtoCanadainMarch.It will
alsohelpwiththe upkeep ofthe
£11mnew homeinSantaBarbara,
California–wheretheircelebrity
neighboursinclude Oprah
WinfreyandEllenDeGeneres–
andwiththeestimated£1m-£2m
theyspendeachyearonsecurity.The couple’s “megawatt” dealwill
certainly“cement theirCalifornian
dream”, saidCamilla Tomineyin
TheDaily Telegraph.Butmany
wonder“whatthe Sussexes will
be selling in return”. It’s not clear
exactlywhat they canbring to the
table,while also fiercely protecting
theirprivacy.“Butlook, Netflixis
not stupid,” said CarolMidgleyin TheTimes.It
wouldnotspend suchavastsum if it doubted
it could makeit back. Lookat themulti-year
deal it struck with the Obamasin 2018: their
documentaryAmericanFactorywonanOscar.
The “Twitter noise” generatedby thisstory
alonewilldriv esubscriptions among Harry and
Meghan’s“hug earmyof f ans”; theirstar power
willbrin ginthe talenttoworkwith them.But
the couple should be careful if,asitseems,they
are going to make “woke TV”. “No one likes
to be preachedto,especiallyif thepreachers
happentobeliving ina$15mmansion.”A“megawatt” dealStatisticsofthe week
More than 80% of land
in the UK falls within half
amileofaroad.
The IndependentAlmost nine in ten police
officers say they have been
assaulted during their career;
more thanathird have been
attacked in the past year.
The TimesXR:the“outlandishoutrider”Wit&Wisdom