1.7 million idiots
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.
