Auf Wiedersehn Blogger (kind of)

I'm moving my my blog to Wordpress to make it a bit neater - or at least my reviews and theatrey shizzle (so eloquent)

My new site is here:

http://melissarynn.wordpress.com/

I've done nothing to it but have one post so far - eventually it will hopefully be as full as rubbish as this ugly page!

xx

Die Welle Review

Die Welle, or The Wave is a German film exploring the concept of autocracy and how it can strike at any time and in any place.



Having just completed a module on fascism, the exam on which was my last EVER at university, I understand (albeit a) a minute amount about the topic and could raise numerous historians (Kevin Passmore as an example) that follow an argument somewhat similar to the idea behind the film. I believe it to be a worthwhile(ish) issue to raise though the very definition of what exactly autocracy can mean is somewhat questionable.

German films have a certain style to them that marks them away from a lot of Western cinema, and I very much like the driving force behind the film. However, I'm not a huge fan of the execution. Die Welle originated as a highly popular and widely read novel in Germany before it worked its way to the big screen and I’m very eager to read the originating text having seen the film

In the film, however, the story runs as a somewhat shallow exploration of the whole concept of fascism and dictatorship, lacking in both the complexity that could be warranted to the German experience and an integrity that makes the piece worth what it's exploring. Herr Rainer, a teacher at a German college, is entrusted to teach autocracy and, rather than taking usual approaches, chooses to take a practical angle to get the concept across making his class a movement called ‘The Wave’.

If you've got any basic form of knowledge on fascism or autocracy, the film somewhat runs as you'd expect it to. The students become over enthusiastic and divulge in their new social experiment to an unhealthy extent; at the end we have a typically moral message as to the nature of movements like this.

The problem with the film lies in its simplicity; it attempts to explore such a complicated and potent issue with narrow interpretations by some actors, and far too little development thematically. The crux of the story takes hold far too quickly, and the actions of these students make very little effect in their setting. I’m not a huge fan of the script; both superficial and uninspiring, and the whole film fails to address how exactly movements like this become popular, concentrating instead on what happens when they take hold (which most people are much more aware of than the origins of public support).

Feeling somewhat lazy as it is nearly three am (and saturated with a two litre bottle of Pear Cider) I shan’t explore more than this, but I would suggest it a film to watch. It isn’t fantastic; it’s well shot (as German cinema often is), but a very shallow piece that completely overrides its potential to become an important piece of popular media. The very concept is so loaded and the ending (disregarding the final few minutes of utter tripe) adds a particular potency to the underlying process. If we could only rid of the actual film and keep the basic line of the story, this piece would be an utterly fantastic work (though I fear ridding of the entire film somewhat misses the very point of, indeed, a film?).

End of the world?

So, tomorrow is the end. Or at least that's what Harold Camping would have you believe. So I thought I had better get one more blog out there before it all ends, you know, just for all those good'uns who are about to ascend into heaven in a great golden beam.

I've finally finished my degree (so long as I don't fail the exams I've just taken). My last exam was yesterday, and as a result I've spent my 'last few months' working away instead of indulging (perhaps the distraction away from debauchery might just lead to my ascension to the fluffy white clouds?).

Right now seems an appropriate time to share a video my friends and I used to love.




It's a shame they missed out the beaming of the 'good' in that video. Could have been a true prophecy, though I think that was best left to Rebecca Black who rightfully predicted our last day to be Friday. And to think we all laughed at the fine-vocalled thirteen year old with lyrically gifted songwriters.



I don't know about you, but I think regardless of what happens, it's definitely near the end for Harold Camping. He's more than on his old legs? Perhaps this is all some hideous conspiracy to cover up his impending death and make everyone believe he's only pegged it because he's the chosen one to find his place in heaven? I'm watching the film of Stephen King's It, and to be honest partying down in hell sounds preferable to watching this. Tomorrow sounds positively exciting, maybe?

Fuehrer of revision!

I've an exam on fascism on Thursday and I've done no revision. I spent the day in the library yesterday trying to do it: I've learnt nothing but instead did this




This would all be well were the notes I've made during the lectures not decidedly similar:











HOWEVER - I do not just draw Hitler! I also draw lions




And my lecturer. As Miffy.





I won't bore you with the rest of the drawings, I think you now see I am going to do well in this exam.

Does my brain look big in this?

I am doing the uncouth thing of blogging twice in a day (especially when I've had the most sporadic display of posts previously - I'm not the most consistant blogger and for that I apologise!)

It will only be a quick'un as I'm attempting to teach myself the whole history of the EU from post-war developments to the ECSE to the EEC to YOU GET THE IDEA!

However, the Observer has published their list of the top 300 intellectuals and it's something I'm not all too inclined to agree with. To me it reads somewhat like a 'popular fiction' list rather than a genuine list of those changing and shaping our cultural discourse. I'm thinking of compiling an alternative list when I've not got these exams. Any suggestions?

The list runs something like this...


ACADEMICS

Gillian Beer
John Carey
Stefan Collini
Terry Eagleton
Lawrence Freedman
Caroline Humphrey
Hermione Lee
John Mullan
John Sutherland
Michael Wood

ACTIVISTS

Tariq Ali
George Monbiot

AUTHORS

Martin Amis
Julian Barnes
Brigid Brophy
AS Byatt
John Cornwell
Margaret Drabble
Elaine Feinstein
Sean French
Nicci Gerrard
Germaine Greer
Jeremy Harding
Alan Hollinghurst
Richard Holmes
Michael Holroyd
Martin Jacques
AL Kennedy
Hari Kunzru
Hanif Kureishi
John Lanchester
Charlie Leadbeater
Doris Lessing
Anatol Lieven
Penelope Lively
David Lodge
Hilary Mantel
Ian McEwan
Blake Morrison
Nicholas Mosley
VS Naipaul
Tom Nairn
Andrew O'Hagan
Tim Parks
Philip Pullman
Jonathan Raban
Matt Ridley
Salman Rushdie
Malise Ruthven
Ziauddin Sardar
Will Self
Nicholas Shakespeare
Lionel Shriver
Gitta Sereny
Simon Singh
Zadie Smith
Francis Spufford
Raymond Tallis
Paul Theroux
Colm Toibin
Claire Tomalin
Jenny Uglow
Marina Warner
Fay Weldon
AN Wilson
Jeanette Winterson

CLASSICISTS

Mary Beard
Helen King

CRITICS

Rosemary Ashton
Melissa Bennett
John Berger
Michael Billington
Rachel Bowlby
Marilyn Butler
Anne Carson
Susannah Clapp
Patricia Craig
Valentine Cunningham
Gillian Darley
Rosemary Dinnage
Jenny Diski
Geoff Dyer
William Feaver
Philip French
Kitty Hauser
Clive James
Waldemar Januszczak
Charles Jencks
Gabriel Josipovici
Martin Kemp
Declan Kiberd
Anthony Lane
Mark Lawson
Alison Light
Colin MacCabe
Robert Macfarlane
Karl Miller
Christopher Ricks
Frances Spalding
George Steiner
James Wood

ECONOMISTS

Ha-Joon Chang
Diane Coyle
Partha Dasgupta
Howard Davies
Noreena Hertz
John Kay
Mervyn King
Richard Layard
Amartya Sen
Robert Skidelsky

HISTORIANS

Perry Anderson
Anthony Beevor
Maxine Berg
Miranda Carter
David Cannadine
Peter Clarke
Linda Colley
Martin Daunton
Ruth Dudley-Edwards
Eamon Duffy
Richard J Evans
Niall Ferguson
Orlando Figes
Sheila Fitzpatrick
Roy Foster
Antonia Fraser
Timothy Garton Ash
Martin Gilbert
Peter Hennessy
Rosemary Hill
Boyd Hilton
Eric Hobsbawm
Tristram Hunt
Lisa Jardine
John Keegan
Noel Malcolm
Neil McKendrick
Ross McKibbin
Margaret MacMillan
Noel Malcolm
Keith Middlemas
Richard Overy
David Reynolds
Simon Schama
Brendan Simms
Quentin Skinner
Gavin Stamp
David Starkey
Jonathan Steinberg
Norman Stone
Charles Townshend
Theodore Zeldin

JOURNALISTS/EDITORS

Bryan Appleyard
Neal Ascherson
Jackie Ashley
Christopher Booker
Melvyn Bragg
Victoria Brittain
Samuel Brittan
Madeleine Bunting
Ian Buruma
Christopher Caldwell
Beatrix Campbell
Alexander Cockburn
Matthew D'Ancona
Matthew Engel
Daniel Finkelstein
Robert Fisk
Jonathan Freedland
John Gapper
Misha Glenny
Ben Goldacre
Robert Harris
Max Hastings
Simon Heffer
Zoe Heller
Isabel Hilton
Christopher Hitchens
Peter Hitchens
Will Hutton
Marina Hyde
Ian Jack
Simon Jenkins
Liz Jobey
Paul Johnson
Anatole Kaletsky
Martin Kettle
John Lloyd
Bronwen Maddox
Andrew Marr
Paul Mason
Seamus Milne
Charles Moore
Suzanne Moore
Caroline Moorehead
Ferdinand Mount
Fintan O'Toole
Robert Peston
Melanie Phillips
Gideon Rachman
Andrew Rawnsley
Mary Riddell
Peter Riddell
Alan Rusbridger
Karl Sabbagh
Robert Shrimsley
Andrew Sullivan
Gillian Tett
Polly Toynbee
Geoffrey Wheatcroft
Mary-Kay Wilmers
Martin Wolf
Francis Wyndham

LAWYERS

Clive Anderson
Conor Gearty
Anthony Julius
Helena Kennedy
Michael Mansfield
David Pannick
Gareth Peirce
Philippe Sands
Clive Stafford Smith

MEDIA EXECUTIVES

David Elstein

MUSEUM DIRECTORS

Neil MacGregor

MUSICIANS

Brian Eno
Peter Maxwell Davies

PHILOSOPHERS

Anthony Appiah
Julian Baggini
Simon Blackburn
Alain de Botton
AC Grayling
Mary Midgley
Onora O'Neill
Derek Parfit
Roger Scruton
Richard Sennett
Mary Warnock

PLAYWRIGHTS

Alan Bennett
Howard Brenton
Michael Frayn
Bonnie Greer
David Hare
Tom Stoppard

POETS

Kevin Crossley-Holland
Carol Ann Duffy
James Fenton
Seamus Heaney
Christopher Logue
Michael Longley
Andrew Motion
Paul Muldoon
Tom Paulin
Craig Raine
Denise Riley
Derek Walcott

POLICY ADVISERS

Anthony Adonis
Robert Cooper
Geoff Mulgan
Adair Turner

POLITICAL PHILOSOPHERS

Phillip Blond
John Dunn
John Gray

POLITICAL SCIENTISTS

Vernon Bogdanor
Mary Kaldor
Derek Marquand
David Runciman

POLITICAL THEORISTS

Stuart Hall
Julia Neuberger

POLITICIANS

Tessa Blackstone
Gordon Brown
Frank Field
Michael Gove
Rory Stewart
Shirley Williams
David Willetts

PSYCHOTHERAPISTS

Susie Orbach
Adam Phillips

RELIGIOUS LEADERS

Jonathan Sacks
Rowan Williams

SCIENTISTS

Colin Blakemore
Brian Cox
Richard Dawkins
Marcus du Sautoy
Susan Greenfield
Stephen Hawking
James Lovelock
Paul Nurse
Hugh Pennington
Roger Penrose
Steven Rose
Robert Winston

SOCIAL SCIENTISTS

Anthony Giddens
Paul Gilroy
Julian Le Grand
Julian Thompson

THEATRE DIRECTORS

Richard Eyre
Nicholas Hytner
Jonathan Miller
Katie Mitchell

Merry Maytime Maggie Thatcher?

First off, my comma and full stop keys have broken so I can't type properly and therefore need to copy and paste commas and full stops which is highly annoying so please excuse any shortcuts I may take (like the following use of this exclamation mark as opposed to a full stop)!

Last night/this morning, the Twittersphere was alive with rumours that Margaret Thatcher had popped her cloggs and, of course, with these rumours came the obligatory arguments Twitter is so well known for (which I inadvertently got involved in). It stands to reason Thatcher's not a popular one and people are going to make that known, however I was a little taken back with the indecorous nature of some of the comments.

I'm not here to give anyone a lecture on what to believe regarding the lady; my opinion is hardly a fully informed one and there's not many that are unless you've truly studied her policies and results. However, what I really dislike is the frivolity in which some people treat the matter of death; countless people have proclaimed their mirth in Thatcher's (unconfirmed and now seemingly unlikely) departure in a rather joyous manner quoting along the lines of 'well she hurt the country so she deserves it'. Now perhaps I'm just prudish but I fail to see how death bringing genuine celebration and mirth represents a healthy society. I'm not talking about jokes or stray comments said in jest, what I'm talking about is the genuine, somewhat sadistic elation some people relate with the demise of the 'iron lady'.

Perhaps I'm just a pretentious 'youth' but it just reminds me of the 'crush-em' attitude taken in the Versailles Treaty. I appreciate a lot of people disagree with her policies and what she stood for, but how is rejoicing in the death of an 85 year old who's been absent from office for over twenty years rectifying this? Fair enough, you celebrated her departure in 1990, but how on earth does her being alive affect you now? I for one see her current condition as quite haunting, regardless of what you think of her it's a sign of the tear of dementia; once a formidable pillar (be it of hatred or no), now a small, fragile woman barely recognisable.

I received several statements along the lines that 'I didn't grow up on a Northern council estate so I wouldn't know' - no, I didn't. My parents did though, my family still live in County Durham, and my ancestors were indeed miners. Those of you who 'endured the pain' of growing up in Thatcherite Britain didn't live through the war, but does that make you any less entitled to your opinion on what happened? Of course I'm not denying you may well have had it rough when you were growing up, but I find it highly ironic the majority of the people making statements like the earlier listed work in a 'luxury' trade; hardly what fits the socialist ideal, is it? Many people complain they had their life ruined by Thatcher, but have done bugger all to change it. In fact, they've lived right up to the Thatcherite dream (hasn't the majority of society in essence?), the only difference is that while we sip our Champagne, we can comment how terribly hard the whole system is!

I'm not at all saying anyone who dislikes Thatcher is wrong, of course you're not - especially those who were affected by her time in power. I'm at that stage where I can see both the good and bad in her policies and was really only shocked by the lax attitude to death; perhaps my opinion would change were I to learn more (though I'm certainly not ignorant and know a fair bit both from books and having spoken to my family) perhaps I'd ultimately hate her, however I'd like to think that whatever my opinion of the woman may be, I wouldn't genuinely wish death on her as a result.

I am an idiot

I only just noticed I didn't write the 'ing' after mislead in my blog name. I have no idea why and how I can rectify this. How cringeworthy.