August 05, 2010

The BNP and the Media

The Film, TV and Entertainment Industry is a hotbed of wishy-washy, bleeding-heart liberal do-goodniks. At least, that's the received wisdom and, it's got to be said, it's largely true.

You don't need the brain of a Stephen (Hawking or Fry – it makes no difference at that level) to work out the historical reason for this: If an industry is catering for a Mass Audience, and that Mass Audience is a Multicultural one, it isn't going to go out of its way to alienate any sector of that Audience. It follows that those who choose to work within the field are likely to be inclusive, fair-minded and generally easygoing, with an interest in people of all backgrounds and a wish for a healthy, cohesive society.

Of course there are exceptions. One elderly TV Writer I knew used to fume at anyone who'd listen to him (few did) that his late-nineties cop show was cancelled by “The Jew Yentob” because “it didn't have enough ethnics in it”. It only took a moment to look at a calendar and a Big Book of True Facts to work out that it was actually cancelled by “The Gentile Michael Jackson” because “it didn't have enough quality in it”.And “it didn't have enough audience for it”, either. He writes books now.

Last year, a TV Presenter (with his own long-running series and issues around drinking) mentioned to his Producer that he was inclined to lend his support to the BNP come the next General Election. The Producer, knowing this would end his career in a kind of instant, total, no-coming-back-from-it-ever-again, David Icke-meets-Simon Dee car crash of public humiliation and total industry revulsion, managed to talk him out of it and keep the whole thing quiet. So quiet, in fact, that it's probably only common knowledge to a few hundred people, along with the Press of several countries.

And no – it ISN'T Jeremy Clarkson. Even he isn't that dense.

The Far Right, of course, like to see a conspiracy in all of this. Some might even go so far as to write bizarre screeds like “Who Are The Mindbenders?” (I dunno; Wayne Fontana's backing group?), in which the Author, one N. Griffin, sees World Media Industries controlled by the sinister machinations of the likes of (sinister music, please...) Michael Grade, Michael Winner, Felicity Kendall and Dennis Norden (“Tremble before the majestic power and mind-splintering terror of my Occasional Light Entertainment Specials, oh quivering mortals! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”).

The Far Right will, for example, hit the roof (followed by the Daily Mail Comments Board) over a TV documentary like Panorama's recent “Hate on the Doorstep”. “You'd never make a programme like that about Ethnics!” they'll say, while calmly forgetting about other recent, equally powerful films like Dispatches' “Britain's Islamic Republic” or “Britain's Witch Children”. All important films looking, often uncomfortably, at forces that undermine a healthy society.

Having no hope of ever penetrating the Media Industry, the BNP and their like have turned it to their advantage (in their own martyrdom-obsessed imaginations) by filling the dank recesses of the Internet with their own, barely-sentient video sludge.

There's plenty to choose from. At the “high end” of the market (which, in TV terms, is a bit like calling Pricedrop TV the crème de la crème of insomniac shopping channels) there's “BNPTV” with their wonkily-framed, no-proper-mic' “reports” presented by a succession of wooden, stammering numbskulls.

Then there are the likes of Roger Phillips' hilariously inept “exposes” of London Streets With Very Few White People In Them (we could all, of course - and with far greater ease - take out a camera and shoot in places where there would be Streets With Nothing But White People In Them), presented in such nervously hushed and terrified tones by the porky skinhead that you'd think he was, at the very least, trying to catch Kim Jong Il red-handed, naked and smoking crack with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a nuclear missle silo in downtown Pyongyang.

And then you've got The Rest. Oh, so much of The Rest: Those painfully amateurish attempts at “filmmaking” (step forward and accept your Award, Mr Bertie Bert!) that all seem to follow the same pattern:

FADE IN ON:

Music: “Land of Hope and Glory”

Image: A succession of still images of thatched cottages, smiling, blonde children, old ladies knitting in rocking chairs in rose gardens, etc.

Caption:
THIS IS WHAT OUR GRATE COUNTRY USED TOO BE LIKE

CUT TO:

Music: “Islamic Call to Prayer”

Image: A succession of images of women in burqas, bearded chaps burning the Union Jack, mosques, etc.

Caption:
AND THIS IS WHAT ITS LIKE NOW

CUT TO:

Caption:
VOTE BNP

FADE OUT:

On You Tube, where you can find hundreds of these things, they're usually followed by dozens of comments like; “V Powerful stuff – the mainstream media won't dare show this as it's TO DANJEROUS!” or “That was a thought-provoking film, I shall send it to all my frends and they will join the BNP too!” (actual comments, of course).

Either our Nazi Friends are so starved of anything to bolster their imaginary world view that they are genuinely moved, impressed and galvanised by such dross, or they're simply such undemanding knuckleheads that the very spectacle of a succession of still images projected with such rapidity as to give the illusion of movement is enough to excite them. (Having said that, there are so many BNP supporters on Facebook who list the cinematic oeuvre of Mr Danny Dyer among their favourite movies that the latter is entirely possible.)

The BNP and their like wouldn't last five minutes in the Real Media. No conspiracy; no Master Plan. Just that their message is both unwanted and unwelcome by Audiences. Quite apart from that, they simply aren't up to the task of making real programmes. And I suspect they never will be.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

And you didn't mention Marmite, a disaster that underlines not just the BNP's lack of professionalism in the media but their general incompetence. The comments pages of my local newspaper's website, the Sheffield Star, is full of badly-spelt, badly-written, badly-articulated rants from semi-illiterates from the BNP. They think it will win them votes. That's how clueless they are.

Barbara said...

Another masterly article for Lancaster Unity by AndyMinion. With Ketlan, Denise and others LU has a formidable stable of writers.

The youtube posts from the BNP demonstrate how true and funny this article really is.

And if you dare comment on BNP youtube anything even vaguely critical, the BNP champions of free speech will ban or block you in the blink of an eye.

Just another of the inherent contradictions in this moronic party.

unplugged from the matrix said...

Now thats the way to undermine the BNP; humour.
Good article

Anonymous said...

You all seem to have your heads in the sand. If Griffin is thrown out and another leader takes over (whether you like it or not) then this party could be rebourne. Everyone who is anyone in that party have now dicided to back Butler. He is very capable of sorting that party out. There are a good few coming forward to stand as leader including women. All the comments on here are micky taking nonsense. You need to go for Butler more.

John P said...

Anonymous said...

You all seem to have your heads in the sand. If Griffin is thrown out and another leader takes over (whether you like it or not) then this party could be rebourne. Everyone who is anyone in that party have now dicided to back Butler. He is very capable of sorting that party out. There are a good few coming forward to stand as leader including women. All the comments on here are micky taking nonsense. You need to go for Butler more.

Personally I hope Butler does get the 20% he needs to trigger the leadership campaign. I don't think he will without a court case because of the way it has been set up.
As it has been pointed out on here a few times by setting the bar so high to trigger an election to stop challenges, anybody successful would immediately show Griffin that a fifth of the party is against his leadership.

As for "Everyone who is anyone in that party have now dicided to back Butler" that's not really true is it at the moment?
Jonathon Bowden
Nick Cass vanished after being sacked.
Scott McLean likewise after being replaced as deputy.
Michael Barnbrook isn't really that well known in the party no matter what the sleazebuster says.
Mark Collett, his support will win Butler a lot of support won't it with his history.
A couple of regional organisers and former councilors, several people who have been kicked out of the party and other odds and sods don't really look like big hitters from here.
Of course that might change if Butler gets 20% or the money runs out but the people who can hurt Griffin have their noses in the trough and have too much to lose.

Stockport Red said...

This site is losing its grip on reality.

Anonymous said...

Andy, you are showing your age Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders?

This piece will really upset Dicky, he has over the years boasted about the BNP videos he has starred in, of course we all know that they are crap, but, poor old Dicky believes they are Oscar material.

tulip

John P said...

Stockport Red said...

This site is losing its grip on reality.

3:02 PM, August 05, 2010

I've been contributing to this site on and off for over 3 years and I don't think its grip although I would be interested in knowing your reasons why you think it is.
Denise and Ketlan are not around much at the moment for various reasons so the tone and moderation of the site might changed slightly. Normal service will be resumed shortly

Anonymous said...

"Last year, a TV Presenter (with his own long-running series and issues around drinking) mentioned to his Producer that he was inclined to lend his support to the BNP"

Who is it? Awww - Give us a clue?

The NF in the 70's had a few (very) minor celebs come on board. Tennis player 'Buster' Mottram was certainly a member and there were always rumours about kids' TV presenter Tony Bastable being a supporter. So far, not even a 'Z lister' has opted for the BNP openly as yet so I'd like to know.

Anonymous said...

"You need to go for Butler more."

The whole leadership race is an exercise in one fascist attempting to replace another. IMO Anti-fascists should have an interested but neutral opinion in regards to the whole business. Even in the unlikely event that Butler does win, I think there is comparatively little he'll be able to do to reverse the definite decline in BNP support. External factors will decide the BNP's fate more than internal ones.

Anonymous said...

"one N. Griffin, sees World Media Industries controlled by the sinister machinations of the likes of (sinister music, please...) Michael Grade, Michael Winner, Felicity Kendall and Dennis Norden "

There's a bizarre YouTube clip of Griffin having a go at Vanesssa Feltz and Gaby Roslin, pointing out that they are illustrative of Zionist influence in the media!

John P said...

Anonymous said...
"There's a bizarre YouTube clip of Griffin having a go at Vanesssa Feltz and Gaby Roslin, pointing out that they are illustrative of Zionist influence in the media!"

Here is the clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJSMNwqPdB4

Ben Trunch said...

Just got the "Dear Leader" begging email from Nick PigPen... Banging on about the BNP's new Communications Dept. They provide training to the sheeple on "crisis management", an everyday occurrence for the BNP I would imagine as they lurch from one crisis to the next...

And Uncle Joe Goebbels/Stalin would be proud of their banning system for journalists they don't like (that will be most of them then...)

So much for a mainstream political party...

AndyMinion said...

"This site is losing its grip on reality"

No it isn't - it's just having a Summer Wobble. Remember when you bought the "Summer Special" of your weekly comic, and all the stories were done by different artists and writers and it was all a bit rubbish? Same thing here.

The TV Presenter? It'll come out one day, but not from me, I'm afraid! While he certainly isn't Z-List, He's already had the rashness of his decision brought home to him - He moved channels last year pretty sharpish, and, so far as I'm concerned, the longer his political leanings are kept under wraps the better.

If I had it in me to write great, incisive analyses of the goings-on of the Far Right I would, believe me!

Sadly, you're stuck with my cheapjack ramblings as a filler until, as I've said already, the A-Team are back with us!

Anonymous said...

"The TV Presenter? It'll come out one day, but not from me, I'm afraid!"

Ooohh....You tease!

Anonymous said...

Current contributors are doing a grand job and will continue to do so.

Collett's been expelled according to BDF. Will Eddie continue to hawk him around thus losing support?

Look out for further confirmation that the bnp is officially bankrupt.

This is better, much better, than the very best of Coronation Street.

Anonymous said...

"He moved channels last year pretty sharpish"

If I said, "has trouble pronouncing the letter R", would I be close?

I'd be honestly surprised if it was him. I was thinking more along the lines of "House Party" and the "Sky at Night".

John P said...

Anonymous said...

"He moved channels last year pretty sharpish"

If I said, "has trouble pronouncing the letter R", would I be close?

I'd be honestly surprised if it was him. I was thinking more along the lines of "House Party" and the "Sky at Night".

Let's leave that sort of speculation to Popbitch or Holymoly although the first one you mentioned was still on the BBC until a few weeks ago.
Anyway lets leave that there.

I've not seen the Collett story confirmed anywhere as of yet but it wouldn't be surprising really. If it's true then that opens up an entirely new can of worms.

Anonymous said...

Collets kicked out!!

Pete Green said...

"This site is losing its grip on reality."

Rubbish. Although Ketlan and Denise seem to be taking some time out, we've been treated to some excellent writing by Andy and Iliacus. Although I'll welcome the first two back, we've been well served by the latter pair. This site - even with two down - just keeps on improving.

Anonymous said...

"This site - even with two down - just keeps on improving"

Yes, it's the best place to find out about what's going on in the far-right. That's why so many fascists come here to discover what's going on in their own parties!

John P said...

Anonymous said...
The whole leadership race is an exercise in one fascist attempting to replace another. IMO Anti-fascists should have an interested but neutral opinion in regards to the whole business. Even in the unlikely event that Butler does win, I think there is comparatively little he'll be able to do to reverse the definite decline in BNP support. External factors will decide the BNP's fate more than internal ones.

I totally agree with that statement. The BNP have managed to gloss over a lot of their internal problems because of the Euro wins last year which they were very lucky to get. They were confident of picking up a lot more than that and they got 2.
Even before that it was obvious to anybody who watches their election results that they were failing apart from a couple of places where they did better than expected.

Their vote is still too high for comfort in places around the country but at the moment to quote Irish Tony they have less than councilors out of over 22000, 3 county councilors out of roughly 3000, 2 MEPs and a GLA member. Not a good return when they have had the perfect storm of circumstances and media interest.

The BNP leadership election and the couple of months leading up to it have been astonishing to watch. I've tried a few times to write a recap of the events for this site as a general overview for people who pop in and out and so little of it sounds believable.
So little of it gets reported outside garden party or election time in the national media.

Barbara said...

"The BNP leadership election and the couple of months leading up to it have been astonishing to watch. I've tried a few times to write a recap of the events for this site as a general overview for people who pop in and out and so little of it sounds believable."
I know, what you mean, John P, it is such fun to sit back and watch the BNP members themselves do the mid-slinging and dirty linen thing in public, revealing secrets and character flaws for all of us to enjoy, doing the work of anti-fascists for us.
Incredible, but a delightful gift that just keeps giving.