Celebrity matters
Fraser Nelson 4:39pm
We have just seen Naomi Campbell coming out of No10 – her appointment was with Mrs Brown, apparently, but she bumped into Gordon while he was there. So where does that take us in the celebrity stakes? Well, Shakira, Clooney, Beckham and Kylie have all met with our Dear Leader. This quote sprang to mind: “I think we’re moving from this period when, if you like, celebrity matters, when people have become famous for being famous. I think you can see that in other countries too. People are moving away from that to what lies behind the character and personality.” This was ahead of the publication of his book on courage. One wonders what his post-No10 biography would be called.
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Trumpeter Lanfried
May 15th, 2008 5:52pmBrown and Naomi have something in common: chucking mobile phones about in fits of temper.
Max
May 15th, 2008 5:57pmHow to schmooze, smile and alienate people
salieri
May 15th, 2008 6:16pmHow about "Famous for being Infamous"?
At least Blair didn't disguise his weakness for the company of cretins.
Austin Barry
May 15th, 2008 6:55pmThe triumph of the trivial at Chez McBroon. I suppose that if, like Gordon, you've spent gossipy vacations with the lively Ganymedes on Cape Cod, the world of showbiz would have a certain louche charm. It would though be good to see a celebrity with a bit more substance like Hitchens or Amis emerging from No. 10.
Ethan Hurlington
May 15th, 2008 8:08pmBrown on GMTV this morning:
"Look, people put me in, not because I am some sort of celebrity, they put me in to do a job; and the job is to help the economy through difficult times, to build for the future, give people better chances for the future, a better health service, and we are creating that; tackling violence, where it happens, and anti-social behaviour, and we are doing more of that; now these are the jobs I am doing, and that’s what I get up in the morning to do, on behalf of the country…"
Chuck Unsworth
May 15th, 2008 9:11pmLet's be realistic. Brown is surrounding himself with his intellectual equals.
Trumpeter Lanfried
May 15th, 2008 10:03pmEthan Hurlington @ 8.08 p.m. Your Brown quote, which I think must be verbatim, encapsulates one of his worst faults as a speaker; he seems to think he must tick every box in every sentence. In your example, he can't mention the economy without dragging in health, and anti-social behaviour. That's no way to persaude people. They switch off before the end of the sentence.
Strange that his spin doctors haven't told him this. Perhaps they have. And perhaps he thinks he knows better.
Perry
May 16th, 2008 10:42amIt is all about appearances. Falsity. Puff. And yes, very much to tie Mz. Prudence of Noo-Lie-Bore, the doyen of dodgey debt, to pathetic celeb culture.
Perry
May 16th, 2008 10:54amIt is depressing, as many accurate comments here portray. Those who tried to maintain standards in subjects requiring discipline and zeal, - for instance maths, physics, (real) english, and chemistry, - have been mocked, derided, marginalised, quit the system, or been shunted out.
Worse, the situation is perpetuated by new entrants, products of Noo-Lie-Bore ‘educashun’, who know no better.
[A strong case could be made that a similar situation obtains in the NHS where experienced principled people have been supplanted.]