For two hours last night BBC2 broadcast Jerry Springer � the Opera. The stage show production was transferred directly to screen. It was a caricature of a caricature. Thousands complained to the publically-funded corporation. Liberals in their parrot cages squawked about freedom of speech but otherwise they are indifferent to the BBC�s utter contempt for art. It showed Godard�s Eloge de l�Amour beginning 30 minutes after a Thursday midnight. Nobody watched it. Nearly two million watched the opera.
One wonders whether the born-again cretins will complain if and when the BBC broadcasts Gibson�s The Passion of the Christ, which is kitsch, camp and demeans Christ in similar measure?
Another thing this film and the opera have in common is a complete absence of doubt. One is trapped in the solemnity of a sermon, the other in the guffawing of yuppies talking loudly in bars. The issue is not whether either should have a voice. This goes without saying. The issue is what goes without hearing.
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