The new TV series Glee made its British debute on E4 at the start of the week. Created by Ryan Murphy, it follows your classic American formula with the good hearted, unpopular, high school misfits taking on the cheerleader and football team bullies. It is a true “rise of the underdog” story, which has been widely compared to Disney’s High School Musical. True that the word unoriginal springs to mind yet credit is due to the imaginative and witty spin that it puts onto what is affectively, just another standard high school comedy.
In Glee, the handsome quarterback, Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) secretly loves to sing when one day he is overheard by his teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison). Will, is a caring and loveable character who envisions turning the “misfit” club Glee into a nationally competitive show choir like the one he was once part of. Knowing that Finn would fear losing his reputation amongst the “cool” kids, Will uses the small bit of authority that he has to blackmail Finn into joining Glee. Finn falls in love with the stage, a story addition that perhaps seems a little familiar. The faint dusting of Disney’s High School Musical here is what is so genius about Glee as it is filled with hidden parodies.
The other Glee members include Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) who is fully aware of how talented she is. She is competitive, likes to take command and is hated by her peers. She is the victim of abuse by the other students having paint constantly thrown at her by the cheerleading squad and believes that the success of Glee will lead to their respect. Again, we have another typical geek to glamorous story, where the persecuted strives for the day that they will be noticed and rise to the top. Rachel asserts, “Being anonymous is worse than being poor…Fame is the most important thing in society.” There’s also Glee member Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley) who resents singing backup. “I’m Beyonce, I ain’t no Kelly Rowland” she says, making a clever, satirical reference to the real life singing group Destiny’s Child and a scene from the film Dreamgirls with Jennier Hudson.
It is these relevant, hidden jokes that make Glee appealing to an adult audience. Although the main storyline is not original, it deals with teenage anxieties and the complexities of high school order, not least omnipresent thoughts about sex. It effectively deals with these issues by adding some gentle humour making it appealing to younger audiences too.
It adds a modern, relevant yet comical twist onto real life problems. Will’s colleague, Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays) is a sweet, quiet but phobic women who won’t touch toilet doors and uses surgical gloves to wipe down the table in the faculty lounge. Will’s wife (Jassalyn Gilsig), who is demanding and status obsessed. She tries to force Will to leave teaching and become an accountant. Then there’s the tyrant, cheerleading coach Sue (Jane Lynch) who is obsessed with protein shakes and keeping her squad at the top of the hierarchy. It is by poking fun at such extreme characters that Glee successfully combines scepticism and sarcasm.
Glee is all age encompassing. There are the adult jokes, teenage issues and vibrant songs. It has captured elements from the past and present with its similarities to other cult American shows and adding some of the competitive aspects of reality shows such as the X-factor. The breaking out into song is not as cringe-worthy as one would expect. In fact, it’s what makes it unique and captivating. The singing is outstanding. It uses modern songs and gives them a London style, musical edge. London is home to some of the best musicals. The beauty of song has now entered our living rooms.
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Tags: american shows, e4, glee, glee musical, Jenny Bamberger, musicals, teen comedy, tv series, tv shows
These mouth watering little delicacies are taking over high end department stores by storm. Just to name drop of a few, suppliers include the world re-known Harrods and Selfridges.
From cupcake minis to cupcake giants, Lola’s range is infinite. Name a flavour, and they’ve got.
Even celebrities are pinning after them. Forgot about diets, these sinfully sweet cakes are worth every pound (both cash and calories!)
Selfridges will also soon be launching a Lola’s cupcake bar… Whilst we do live in an increasingly health conscious, the reality is that whether its a cupcake or regular bar, the latter are equally unhealthy. It’s fine to treat yourself from time to time why not check it out and indulge.
There’s trends in fashion and now food too. What will the think of next?
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Tags: birthday cakes, cupcakes, fashion food, food, lola cupcakes, lolas
Right, so it’s the start of a new week. Where X factor is concerned, the big question on everyone’s mind is whether or not Louis’ final group act- John and Edward, will survive another week.
So far, they’ve sailed through each round. From singing Robbie Williams to Britney Spears, the twin act is one of sheer comedy. We at home know that the minute the pair are in the bottom two and the choice is left in the hands of the judges, their on stage lifeline will be cut.
X factor judge Simon, has made no secret of his dislike of the comical act, threatening to leave the show if the pair won as stated on the BBC website.
John and Edward have been widely criticised for their inability to sing. Although Louis has always been supportive of the pair, week after week, there is a consensus amongst the other judges- the pair can’t sing.
However, before Louis took over in the final round of judge’s decisions, both Cheryl and Dani supported the act. Whether or not it was a tactical decision or purely to annoy Simone, we’ll never know.
What we do know however, is that the pair have come a long way and pushed out some of the stronger contestants, highlighted in the Danyl vs Miss Frank week.
Louis puts their success down to their “likeability” factor. However, the crowds at the live show suggest otherwise with constant booing whilst the twins are on set. Although there may be some truth in Louis words. Where John and Edward are concerned, the phrase “love to hate” and “hate to love” springs to mind.
What’s more, if one were to look at past X factors, there’s a resemblance between John and Edward and the Cheeky girls. Both are a twin act, neither of the acts are great vocalists yet both went on to be successful.
It’s the comedy that John and Edward bring to the show that has kept them in the running. In a Britain that’s still battling to get out of the recession, we could all do with a laugh or two.
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Tags: cheeky girls, itv, jedward, john and edward, louis walsh, louis' act, simon cowell, x factor
Here’s a book that brings the debate to light and I want to share my review on it…
Hallin, Daniel. C, The “Uncensored War” The Media and Vietnam, Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1989.
The loss of the Vietnam War has left many bitterly divided over the media’s role in the United State’s downfall. For the most part, the reporting of Vietnam had been regarded as having taken an adversarial and antagonistic stance rather than one of accommodation.
Hallin’s “Uncensored War” offers a fresh perspective to the debate and attempts to demonstrate how the Vietnam War was not as “uncensored” as is often assumed. Hallin draws heavily on the New York Times coverage from 1961 to 1965 for much of the first half of the book, whilst the second half is largely dedicated to the television reporting that took place between 1965-1975 and focuses principally on the ABC and CBS channels.
Hallin chronologically examines the changes in the media/ government relationship during the war. Chapters 2 and 3 look at the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, where Hallin claims that patriotism and support for the war were at their peak.
Chapters 4 and 5 demonstrate the shift in both public opinion and media representation that occurred after and during the Tet Offensive, whilst maintaining that television was a “follower rather than a leader” (p.163). On a broader note, Hallin’s “Uncensored War” has immensely contributed to the medias’ role not only during the Vietnam War, but its role in democratic societies all over.
Hallin is one of the few academics to have tackled the subject from this angle and yet his book succeeds in destroying the “pernicious myth that the U.S. could have won in Vietnam had in not been for the journalists who did not get ‘on the team’ ”.
It is a noteworthy and well-written book that reinvigorates journalism history.
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Tags: daniel c. hallin, media and politics, the media and vietnam, the uncensored war, vietnam war
Protests broke out as controversial figure Nick Griffin, made his first appearance on BBC’s Question Time earlier this week. Nick Griffin- who is both a member of the European Parliament and the BNP has caused anger amongst UK citizens for being accorded such a platform.
Griffin was put under much scrutiny and widely criticised for being inconsistent whilst on air, especially when discussing race related subjects. To close observers of the programme, it was clear that Griffin was far from his comfort zone exemplified by the twitch he developed whilst on the show.
Whilst Griffin’s appearance on QT demonstrates Britain’s commitment to tolerance and freedom of speech, extremism has always been marginalised. For instance, the First Past The Post system used for general elections has meant that smaller parties, such as the BNP will never gain wide representation in Parliament. For this reason, fascism in Britain has never taken off- even when Europe was succumbing to fascism in the post World War I era. The Fascist party at the time, the British Union of Fascists (BUF), led by Oswald Mosley were regarded as a negative, destructive force that eventually died.
However, Fascist popularity does follow a pattern and usually increases in times of economic despair. We are in a recession, which has led many to fear that Griffin’s appearance on QT could draw more followers that would overlook the BNP’s racist standpoint. A poll from the Daily Telegraph revealed that 22% of the electorate were more likely to vote for the BNP after Griffin’s appearance on BBC.
On BBC news, Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said that “The BBC should be ashamed of single-handedly doing a racist, fascist party the biggest favour in its grubby history.”
“Our black, Muslim and Jewish citizens will sleep much less easily now the BBC has legitimised the BNP by treating its racist poison as the views of just another mainstream political party when it is so uniquely evil and dangerous” exclaimed Hain.
The UK is still victim to the recession as was revealed on Friday. With the BNP attracting both media and public attention, will people turn to the extremes of fascism in hope of getting a solution? After the Wall Street Crash of 1929 Germany fell into recession and turned Hitler to be their “Fhurer”, their saviour. If history is anything to go by, then the evidence would suggest that the answer is yes.
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Tags: bbc, bbc question time, bnp, extremism, fascism, nick griffin, question time, uk fascism
So….
The words internet and impact have come to be entwined over the last decade. Internet is the new form of communication, an impersonal one at that.
However, I believe that blogs are a means to rectify that. So, here you’ll be able to see stories from a more personal angle. My angle.
You’ll be able to read and see my stance on selected discussions, events, places and stories that have caught my eye.
If I’ve written about it, it’s of interest to me. By reading it, I hope that means that it’s of interest to you too.
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Hello world!
Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!
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