Francesca's Thoughts

6 responses to “Titling This Took Three Times Longer than Writing It So Please Just Read and Put Us Both Out of Our Misery”

1. 

   Francesca

   January 19, 2014 at 3:22 pm

   Ooh intense. The best thing to do is stay informed and vote with your gut, definitely. Though the whole thing generally makes me want to crawl into a cave until someone thinks up a better way of doing things (so, never probably).

   I don’t like a lot of what Thatcher did but I sort of admire her determination and general ‘my way or the highway’ approach. She makes most of today’s politicians look like wallflowers – kind of wish there were more people, political leanings irrelevant, with her steele.

   (Pun?)

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2. 

   Jacki StarSurfer Maw

   January 16, 2014 at 12:31 am

   For those of us watching Sherlock purely for entertainment purposes, I doubt we really care (or cared) about the politics of the writers or the fictional characters. That’s not to say that in a more considered frame of mind, we might or might not debate whether the beeb should be free from political bias. Personally, on balance, I would think there are likely an equal number of political skews in either direction.
   without wishing to get into a discussion on the merits of New Labour, and whether voting labour means you’re a leftie, (or even if you’re a leftie, should you vote labour?) I do find it bizarre that a national newspaper is discussing the political leanings of a fictional character. Surely there are more important things to be considering locally, nationally or globally? I know that we all enjoy some light-hearted respite from the trials and tribs of modern life – but that’s what blogs are for (not that some of them aren’t very serious and thought-provoking!)
   The key word there is ‘fictional’ ….. and surely the privilege of any writer is to create the character as he sees fit. The adage is ‘write about what you know’ – so surely it’s perfectly acceptable to expect a writer to imbue the character with his own personal politics. I don’t believe that the questions are ‘a) what are Sherlock Holmes’s politics; and b) have Moffat and Gatiss hijacked them for their own ends?’ …. the questions are “should we be bothered about the politics of a fictional character’ and ‘why shouldn’t writers be allowed to write their characters as they see fit because the general populace is reasonably smart enough to understand it is fiction and are unlikely to go racing off to the ballot box to vote a certain way just because Sherlock might if he were a real person’.
   Have I missed something? It just seems like weak journalism to me. Let’s have a look at the kind of person Sherlock appears to be, the lifestyle he leads (and still remembering of course that he’s fictional) and draw some correlation between that observation and ‘the kind of person who votes labour’. I’m sorry but these days hasn’t politics moved on from ‘eeh ba gum, i’m a workin’ class man from a long line o’ coalminers and i wear me flat cap n vote labour’. Is there a stereotype now for labour voters? It seems to me that politics has become far more centrist, less traditionally oppositional. Gone (for now) is the turmoil of political upheaval as the country swung from left to right wing politics. But then, I never studied politics, so maybe I’m wrong!
   And come on – the Daily Mail accusing others of political bias?!?!? PKB, man, PKB. (oops, sorry, in our house that’s the phrase for ‘the pot calling the kettle black’)
   All in all, it’s fluffy journalism – somewhat pointless & raises no real debate (which begs the question why I’m here making comment!!). But it did make me think about why I vote labour …. and (aside from being an out and out card carrying commie!) I actually vote for them because I’m committed to the principles of social justice and I don’t see any other political party with the likelihood of gaining power and achieving that. Additionally, if there is any hope of redistributing wealth, labour are far more likely to effect it than the current incumbents or any future Tory government.
   Ooops, it’s past midnight so I’d best get off my soapbox!

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   1. 

      Jacki StarSurfer Maw

      January 16, 2014 at 12:35 am

      And then I just realised I hadn’t addressed the issue of what might be on the MCR Greatest Hits! Yes, Snowflake would be EXCELLENT 🙂

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      1. 

         Francesca

         January 17, 2014 at 7:34 am

         Haha! Yessir that is all we really need.

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   2. 

      Francesca

      January 17, 2014 at 7:33 am

      Oh my goodness my favourite political writing of 2014! “Fluffy journalism” is my new favourite phrase.

      Definitely with you re: traits suggesting politics/actual voting. I think I support and hold views from across the political spectrum (equality =
      good, hard work = good, welfare = good… And there’s the big three’s original ideals in a nutshell!) but all modern parties and politicians do my head in. Policy-wise they are all becoming very, very similar with backbenchers taking things to extremes – in the case of the Tories at least – to gain votes. It’s depressing because it’ll be worthless in our system but I honestly don’t know if I could bring myself to vote for any of the main three – and UKIP’s out because it’s stupid so that leaves the Greens, independents and the Monster Raving Loonies.

      Ugh. Whoever’s in power won’t do as they promised anyway. Double-ugh.

      I like to think Sherlock shares my sentiment and spends voting day harpooning pigs and ridiculing John’s blog. Calling it ‘weak journalism’ and suggesting he keeps his personal views out of the story as to not bias the lemmings…

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      1. 

         Jacki StarSurfer Maw

         January 17, 2014 at 2:17 pm

         hmm, hoping you don’t spend voting day harpooning pigs! Rise up, pigs, and seek justice!!! and lemmings too! no, not pigs seeking lemmings …. or lempigs …..let’s just stop with this avenue of thought !

         yes the voting system is wrong – if you vote with conscience and that happens to be a ‘minor’ party, then the vote is effectively wasted. It needs to change but, as ever, those with power are reluctant to change the system and give up the power they have.

         Yes, I agree that by and large, all three main parties are much of a muchness and share common traits. But I could never ever vote Tory – they are the antithesis of all that I believe in. I lay at the feet of Thatcher many of the ills of society today. I’m not going to jump on my soapbox again but I truly abhor her and all she stood for.

         In my heart of hearts, I’m most definitely socialist – but where I live it’s supposedly a two horse race, so I went against my instinct and voted tactically ….. then the Libs drifted into bed with Tories nationally, and I decided that in future I shall vote with my heart and conscience, for who I want in charge. Though I think there was merit in many of the LibDems ideas, they have probably lost support and credibility in forming a coalition with a party so diametrically opposed. Labour & LibDem – yes … but not what we’ve got. It’s just wrong. Yes, they’re in government, but not in power.

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