An insightful video. I expect part of the reason for the unresponsive gaze is that 2TK and his cabinet minions are trying so hard to think ahead and not answer the next question (which will expose them as fools) that their response to the present question is stale and uninvolved.
Just as the Two Ronnies did a number of 'Mastermind' sketches including 'Answering the Question Before Last' the current Labour government are 'Answering the next Question while I speak'. Not as funny, though.
Part of this phenomenon is the recent tendency for politicians to simply ignore what people say to them, and just plough on with delivering a pre-set message. I remember being a bit shocked when we had a guest lecture at university from a media consultant, and he told us this was how things were going. It was new then, but now seems to have accelerated.
Perhaps the government think they have such an important task to get completed that they have jointly agreed not to listen to dissenting voices. And the android stare goes against his deepest personal inclinations; part of the job, just like having someone open the limo door for you.
But I doubt it. I don't think he's ever been quite right since he appeared on the public stage. He's doing a wrong 'un's job, but he's well suited to it.
Charlie Brooker (guardian, 2011) tackled the kind of pre-set message described by Sam Vega (and its effect on viewers and - worse - the hapless interviewers trapped in a surreal loop of repetition):
“The reporter asks [Ed Miliband] five different questions about the public sector strikes, and every time, Miliband says that he thinks the strikes are wrong while negotiations are still under way, that the government has acted in a reckless and provocative manner, and that it's time for both sides to put aside the rhetoric and get round the negotiating table. He repeats identical phrases ad nauseam. It sounds like an interview with a satnav stuck on a roundabout.[…] First you think you're hearing things. Then you wonder whether time itself has developed hiccups. Finally you decide none of these people can possibly be human. Because they look absolutely, unequivocally insane.”
DJ and Sam - it's like a call-centre script, stick to the script and there will be no headline admission, mistake or embarrassing attempts to go it alone. Dumbed-down politics for stooges. Possibly inevitable an an age dominated by media professionals, but becoming more visible too, which could turn out to be a weakness.
DAD - yes he does look like a rabbit caught in the beam of a headlight, as if he's puzzling it out behind that blank stare.
Macheath - thanks for the link, very interesting because Ed has obviously been doing it for a long time. Also interesting that he's no better at it now than he was then, like a basic technique which is so basic that it can't be improved. Yet it can be improved on by articulate people such as Farage. Maybe in the end it will make a difference.
5 comments:
An insightful video. I expect part of the reason for the unresponsive gaze is that 2TK and his cabinet minions are trying so hard to think ahead and not answer the next question (which will expose them as fools) that their response to the present question is stale and uninvolved.
Just as the Two Ronnies did a number of 'Mastermind' sketches including 'Answering the Question Before Last' the current Labour government are 'Answering the next Question while I speak'. Not as funny, though.
Very true, and well presented.
Part of this phenomenon is the recent tendency for politicians to simply ignore what people say to them, and just plough on with delivering a pre-set message. I remember being a bit shocked when we had a guest lecture at university from a media consultant, and he told us this was how things were going. It was new then, but now seems to have accelerated.
Perhaps the government think they have such an important task to get completed that they have jointly agreed not to listen to dissenting voices. And the android stare goes against his deepest personal inclinations; part of the job, just like having someone open the limo door for you.
But I doubt it. I don't think he's ever been quite right since he appeared on the public stage. He's doing a wrong 'un's job, but he's well suited to it.
Sir Kneel's face always reminds me of a rabbit caught in the beam of a headlight.
Charlie Brooker (guardian, 2011) tackled the kind of pre-set message described by Sam Vega (and its effect on viewers and - worse - the hapless interviewers trapped in a surreal loop of repetition):
“The reporter asks [Ed Miliband] five different questions about the public sector strikes, and every time, Miliband says that he thinks the strikes are wrong while negotiations are still under way, that the government has acted in a reckless and provocative manner, and that it's time for both sides to put aside the rhetoric and get round the negotiating table. He repeats identical phrases ad nauseam. It sounds like an interview with a satnav stuck on a roundabout.[…]
First you think you're hearing things. Then you wonder whether time itself has developed hiccups. Finally you decide none of these people can possibly be human. Because they look absolutely, unequivocally insane.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jul/03/charlie-brooker-stop-ed-miliband
DJ and Sam - it's like a call-centre script, stick to the script and there will be no headline admission, mistake or embarrassing attempts to go it alone. Dumbed-down politics for stooges. Possibly inevitable an an age dominated by media professionals, but becoming more visible too, which could turn out to be a weakness.
DAD - yes he does look like a rabbit caught in the beam of a headlight, as if he's puzzling it out behind that blank stare.
Macheath - thanks for the link, very interesting because Ed has obviously been doing it for a long time. Also interesting that he's no better at it now than he was then, like a basic technique which is so basic that it can't be improved. Yet it can be improved on by articulate people such as Farage. Maybe in the end it will make a difference.
Post a Comment