Is the world crazy or am I?

It was probably the most controversial event of the week – postal strikes and Afghanistan aside– and caused mass outrage, but in the end the appearance of BNP leader Nick Griffin on question time went ahead as planned. Having Griffin on the show was always going to be contentious, as many see the BNP as a fascist and racist organisation. Unfortunately (and no matter how well meaning the protest may appear to people who want an end to racial intolerance) whether you like it or not, the BNP have been democratically elected to the European Parliament by the North West and York and Humberside electorate, so it was right that the BBC invited Griffin on the show, as to not would have contravened the idea of democratic free speech. After all if we marginalise undesirable politicians who were voted in legitimately, we therefore deny a voice to the people who decided to vote for them. Sure some people may argue (as the protesters outside the BBC effectively did) that that’s allowable given the ...

Today I think I’m going to add my voice to the growing number of critics of a column article written by Jan Moir for the Daily Mail. In the article Moir alleges that there was, “Nothing natural” about the death of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, who died last week aged 33. And goes on to make several quite backward comments about the singer’s lifestyle – Gately came out as gay in 1999 - referring to it as “Sleazy,” and that his sudden death is “a blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships”. To turn an unfortunate public figure’s death into a case against gay marriage is a strange one. It only seems to undermine a petty and homophobic mindset. It’s almost like she’s seen Gately’s death as a way to put the boot in to the gay community, although without saying it overtly. Still most people can read between the lines of that, and have. It would appear that in Moir’s eyes, there is no smoke without fire, in the case of a gay man dying; even going against the conventional logic...

I went to see the Invention of Lying, the most recent vehicle for Ricky Gervais’s movie career playing fictitious versions of himself. Having seen his last offering, Ghost Town, I was a little worried that this film would be similarly promising, but ultimately lacking in consistency when it came to laughs. So like Ghost Town, The Invention of Lying is a high concept film which features an alternate universe where people are unable to say anything that isn’t 100 per cent true. So naturally there are numerous scenes, where we are led to titter at someone unflinchingly telling a waiter that the restaurant's food was terrible, or in other scenes where people bluntly and unflinchingly say that they hate their co-workers. It's a bit like a reality TV talent show really. That’s where Mark Bellingham (Gervais) comes in, as the tubby loser (I’m not being harsh, this fact is repeatedly shoved down the audiences throat by many of the characters), who after being fired from his job, and ...

Really, who actually cares about what the Geldof children are up to? Anybody? No one’s had a long, roving, and highly stimulating discussion about the latest antics of the brood with pretentious names? I don’t see any hands? Come on, does no one give a toss that one of them was seen freshening up with a wet wipe, or another was seen enjoying a coffee and a slice of carrot cake? Well if this is the case, then the press have wasted a massive amount of time, space, and resources on Bobby, ‘Saviour of Africa and that guy who sung I don’t like Mondays’s,’ princesses. I suppose what I’m saying isn’t new, mainly: “who are these people and why should I care about them”. It’s an issue endemic to the cult of celebrity that the media has become besotted with. Still, I can understand why people might prick up their ears if some, famous for the sake of it, pratt – like the hordes of interchangeable FHM and Sun glamour models, or Jordan - gain some attention, as their train-wreck lives are so compel...