It may not be obvious but my preferred number of personal memberships in fan clubs etc. is none. However I just viewed Season 3 Episode 6 of Kingdom and was rather irritated to find that ITV had canceled with a cliff-hanger Ending. “Who _is_ Peter Kingdom” and that sort of thing. I had to find out more about the untimely demise of a beloved character.
Then I saw this blog http://www.stephenfry.com/2010/11/04/silliness/#more-3843 and it occurred to me that Western Media is so focused on the Tempest in the Tea that the storm on the horizon is about to sink us.
We watch film because we feel an affinity for the characters and are drawn to stare at the actors (yes even at Stephen). If Stephen were as misogynistic as Peter Laurie’s House and as stupid tree stump, would it really make any meaningful difference when he appears in a fun and endearing show?
I’m sure he’s a decent fellow, but we’re viewers not guests for tea. His personal views or those of any artist are only important in how they affect the work and in the memoirs and critical essays that follow post mortem. Tabloids are not our window into the lives and relations of our favored artists, they are a parasite that leaches the life from our public figures and the intellect from our citizenry.
Rant complete.