Books: taboo or not taBOO Stage: sEX: tHEATRE’S lAST TABOO TV: Alice in Arabia
Music: Interview: Howie B Film: Hidden Taboos in Cinema Tech: Sooam: A game of clones
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In this issue
Scene
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A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS
MUSIC
Welcome to the first issue of third term! Exams are upon us all now, and dissertation stress is at an all time high amongst final year students. But fear not! This issue of Scene is guaranteed to take your mind off coursework and deadlines, at least for a while. This issue’s theme is ‘Taboo’, so we are discussing all manner of taboo subjects, from banned books to the controversial issue of cloning. The feature on page eight talks about whether social taboos can ever be considered a good thing, or if we perhaps need to be more open-minded. As both of us Scene editors are third years, we sadly won’t be able to run for our position again, so this will be our last issue. We hope you’ve enjoyed what we’ve done with Scene for the past few issues, and hope the next editors will carry on making it bigger and better! Rachel & Milo
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Retrospective: Charles Manson (p4) Interview: Howie B (p5)
FILM
Hidden Taboos in U-Rated Cinema (p6) Review: The Muppets: Most Wanted (p7)
WHAT’S ON:
FEATURES
FILM
The Last Taboo? (p8-9)
TV
Alice in Arabia (p10) Most Controversial TV Episodes (p11)
BOOKS
Taboo Or Not Taboo (p12) Favourite 4: Unruly Reads (p13)
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TECH
Sooam: A Game of Clones (p14) Is Virtual Reality The Future? (p14)
MUSIC John Butt, Organ - 30 April / 7:30pm / Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall Albert Herring, An Opera By Benjamin Britten - 7 May / 7:00pm / Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall
STAGE
Sex: Theatre’s Last Taboo? (p15) “All The World’s A Stage” (p15)
SPOTLIGHT Girl On The Net (p16)
Silver Linings Playbook at York Student Cinema - 1 May / 7:30pm / P/X/001 American Hustle at York Student Cinema - 2 May / 7:30pm / P/X/001 The Lion King at York Student Cinema - 5 May / 7:30pm / P/X/001 Tangled at York Student Cinema - 8 May / 7:30pm / P/X/001 Frozen at York Student Cinema - 9 May / 7:30pm / P/X/001 The Book Thief at York Student Cinema - 12 May / 7:30pm / P/X/001 The Lego Movie at York Student Cinema - 15/16 May / 7:30pm / P/X/001
OTHER
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Roses Weekend - 2/3/4 May / Lancaster University Trip to Flamingo Land - 6 May / 8:45am / Market Square Professional Connect - 8 May / 6:15pm / Physics
SCENE TEAM Scene Editors Rachel Seymour Milo Boyd
Music Editors
Film Editors
TV Editors
Books Editors
Tech Editors
Stage Editors
Will McCurdy Mairead Kearins
Alex Radford Tim Douglas
Zena Jarjis Katie Thomas
Rebekah Boyle Lilith King Taylor
Will Addy Costas Mourselas
Charlie Benson Nadine Garbett
Deputy Music
Deputy Film
Deputy TV
Deputy Books
Deputy Tech
Deputy Stage
James Scott Katie Molloy
Joosoo Yi Samuel Bowell
Martin Waugh Phillip Watson
Steven Rowan Jeram George Norman
Louisa Hann Meri Aho
Zoe Bennell Matt Durrant
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Scene
MUSIC FILM FEATURE TV BOOKS TECH STAGE SPOTLIGHT
Music
The Holy Bible: 20 years on BY KATRINA NORTHERN
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014 marks the twentieth anniversary of The Manic Street Preachers’ 1994 album The Holy Bible, a seething compilation which didn’t just flirt with taboo but went at it with a sledge-hammer. At a recent gig in Brixton they alluded to the fact that their song ‘Everything Must Go’ had featured in a chart of best Britpop anthems, prompting bassist and lyricist Nicky Wire to joke that “during shitpop I was wearing skirts and eyeliner”. Fashion-wise, that 90s era saw Wire cross-dressing for gigs and singer James Dean Bradfield sparking controversy by wearing a military-type balaclava on the 1994 performance of ‘Faster’ on Top of the Pops, garnering thousands of complaints. Earlier, in 1991, guitarist Richey Edwards had publicly carved ‘4REAL’ into his arm with a razor in answer to queries over the band’s authenticity. He was open in interviews about his depression and self-harm, inflicted through cuts, cigarette burns on his skin and alcohol. As a relatively intro-
Retrospective: Charles Manson BY TOM DAVIES
C
harles Manson, discounting a select club of dictators, is perhaps the top example usually given of a person who is ‘pure evil’. Not just a sociopathic killer, but a leader amongst killers. A man who revelled in and openly encouraged excessive violence, who attempted to turn serial murder into both a political movement and a quasi religion. A man who took the ideals of the 60s Cultural Revolution and warped them into a message of hatred and violence, abusing his position of respect and influence over others to corrupt the minds of the impressionable and use them to do his bidding. What’s strange about Manson is that we have a particularly unusual form of insight into the man’s mind through his music,
verted person, Edwards, like many, took his pain out on himself. The album was his last before his disappearance. The album itself is shot through with themes of genocide, anorexia, the glorification of serial killers, capital punishment, a rampant sense of bankruptcy in many ideologies, suicide and self-harm. And it’s not for the attention. Both Nicky Wire and Richey Edwards graduated with degrees in political history, had vociferous appetites for reading and channelled a huge amount of their intellect through their creativity in a way which music fans don’t see much of anymore. It could be said that the years of the Manic Street Preachers’ guitarist and lyricist Richey Edwards and Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain really raised the profile of issues such as mental health and self-harm and brought it into the public consciousness. The anniversaries this year honour the debt society owes them and their brilliant, honest, however flawed, minds. Wire has spoken about how the band had spent their time on the The Holy Bible European tour visiting Holocaust death camps. Songs like ‘The Intense Humming of Evil’ and ‘Mausoleum’ allude to the Nazi atrocities. ‘4st 7lb’ (the weight at which you’re supposedly on the brink of death) documents a descent further into anorexia with haunting lyrics like “days since I last pissed”, “such beautiful dignity in self-abuse” and
“I want to walk in the snow and not leave a footprint”. The scything guitars create a crazed atmosphere of a descent into selfdestruction and there is a raspy desperation to the vocals. ‘Revol’ (‘lover’ backwards) is a song of complete disillusionment in all leaders of men, in love and in the possibility of change, while ‘Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart’ lambasts the total domination of a culture the band perceive to be the emptiest of all. The album cover is artwork by Jenny Saville, showing three angles of an obese woman, while songs are introduced with or contain samples of dialogue, either from news reports, films or trial tapes. There is an excerpt from the film of Orwell’s ‘1984’ (the album feels a bit dystopian itself), but one of the most telling is a quote from J.G. Ballard at the beginning of ‘Mausoleum’: “I wanted to rub the human face in its own vomit, and force it to look in the mirror.” It paraphrases the ethos of The Holy Bible. The album title itself has implications of absolute truth. It may have been twenty years since its release but the fervour and passion that the tracks have generated at gigs is testament to its unique and enduring relevance. Even though there have been elements of nostalgia back in a couple of their recent albums, The Manics have always been more about taking the things that mat-
ter with you into the future. They bring the memory and impact of Richey James Edwards with them as they evolve. The upcoming release of ‘Futurology’ heralds a new chapter, but this is a band that will always have something to say that others may not dare, and it will always be important to listen.
which I’ve agreed to listen to for reasons best left for my therapist to unravel in later life. Now, technically the man has released a number of albums, mostly from prison. The first and most famous of those (chiefly because it was released at about the same time as his trial) can be listened to freely on the internet, and to be honest why would I want to pay for the privilege of hearing the guy sing? So, that’s the one I chose to listen to. Perhaps the first thought you get when listening to Manson’s music is how eerie it is with the benefit of hindsight. To listen to him is to re-humanize a person who you had previously psychologically stopped considering a member of the same species as yourself. Music, of course, is one of the most intimate means by which people who you don’t know can connect with you on a raw, human level, and to award such a man with the opportunity to attempt to do so gives you a feeling bordering on violation. To listen to Manson sing is to hear evil sing, and yet it’s just a normal voice. More than that in
fact, it’s a rather pleasant singing voice, one which would be better suited to a crooner at a 50s Chicago lounge bar than a 60s amateur folk singer; let alone a mass murdering one. The album’s flagship song is a two minute acoustic ditty called ‘Look At Your Game Girl’ and is the closest thing to a half decent tune on there. This was annoying, because I was really hoping they’d all be terrible. It would be a lot easier if they were. It added to the faint anger I felt that Charles Manson could, through his music, almost pass for normal, even mildly talented in places, although the vast majority of his discography is, as expected, indisputably awful dross. Of course, some of the elements of his musical portfolio cannot help but raise a certain sort of dark titter. Particularly his track ‘Don’t Do Anything Illegal’, which, whilst falling firmly into the larger group of Manson’s songs that are unapologetically rubbish, really takes the biscuit as far as hypocrisies go. You really do have to laugh
at the concept of being told not to do anything illegal by Charles bloody Manson. It’s like turning up to Alcoholics Anonymous and finding out your sponsor is Brendan Behan’s ghost. However, other than universally acknowledging that ‘Don’t Do Anything Illegal’ wins the prize for most ironic song of all time, is there any point to all of this? Perhaps that making music doesn’t necessarily make you a nice guy? Well, we knew that. Manson isn’t the first musician who did terrible things, although he may well be the worst. I suppose an important question to ask is whether or not his music tells us who he really was, if somehow the evil shines through. And the answer is no, it’s just music, a little subpar in quality perhaps but not intrinsically reeking of malice. Maybe by listening to the music of a man like Manson we can learn something about how easy it can be to hide one’s true nature? Yeah, let’s say that, at least so I don’t feel like this has all been a monumental waste of my time.
Scene
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MUSIC FILM FEATURE TV BOOKS TECH STAGE SPOTLIGHT
Reviews PAOLO NUTINI CAUSTIC LOVE
BY CONNOR SHERWIN
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fter a five year gap the dishevelled looking Scot is back, offering a handful of whisky-soaked tracks that help soothe the soul. After the previous success of Nutini’s poppy goes happy Sunny Side Up, his new album Caustic Love provides us with thirteen songs that prove that five years can turn a “boy” into a “man”. The album gives us an insight into Paolo’s experiences and his vast array of musical influences that can be clearly heard throughout. There’s something for everyone here, soul, funk, rock, Motown and Ska, giving every track a life of its own. Paolo’s headline single in the album is clearly ‘Scream (Funk My Life Up)’. The unashamedly loud and rocky opener not only proves that all those years of booze have created a blistering voice that has waited to be unleashed, but is a kick in the face to anyone thinking they were going to hear another version of ‘New Shoes’. This
LIVE REVIEW:
WITHIN TEMPTATION BY LAURA-KATE HOWARTH
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white curtain with the new Hydra logo blazing across it is down, and just for kicks there is a dragon projected onto the ceiling. The lights dim and the intro to ‘Let Us Burn’ starts to play. Only it’s not quite the intro from the studio album, but a more dramatic and exciting version that builds the crowd’s anticipation to fever pitch. The band’s sixth studio album, Hydra, was released on the 31st January this year in Europe and entered the UK charts at a phenomenal number six to critical acclaim. So it’s no wonder that the Dutch rockers sold out many of their shows on the UK leg of their world tour, including the gig I attended at the Manchester 02 Apollo.
song takes the listener back to an early Rod Stewart, with backing vocals to match. The album gives us such a melting pot of sounds it becomes hard to categorise at all. Songs such as ‘Let Me Down Easy’ give off vibes of Motown, from the likes of Marvin Gaye and The Supremes. Other tracks such as ‘One Day’ and ‘Better Man’ provide snippets of sounds that almost resemble the soul man, James Brown, himself. There are simply not enough words to list all of the possible influences that have helped mould and shape this album. Paolo clearly has a massive musical range; with ‘Sunny Side Up’ the Ska influence has not diminished, and songs such as ‘Numpty’ prove to any die-hard Nutini fan that he hasn’t gone totally off the rails. As well as including epic, movie-soundtrack-like, six minute orchestral corkers, Caustic Love includes two mini, instrumental sound bites with ‘Bus Talk’ and ‘Superfly’ that give you time to take a break and try and figure out what the hell is going on. The most revealing track in the album comes in the form of the philosophical smack in the head, ‘Iron Sky’. Talk of cold society and a surprising speech stating “You are not machines, you are men” is a tad confusing after listening to a mellow and romantic tune beforehand. Despite all the philosophical talk, ‘Iron Sky’ proves that Paolo has matured over the past five years, writing songs that have real meaning and depth. It’s safe to say Paolo has moved on from singing about pencils full of lead. The album is a truly remarkable feat of work; Paolo has proved here that he is a truly well-developed musician, with an astounding mix of musical genres and sounds being used to provide an experience that is almost cinematic. Caustic Love is surely one of the best albums of the year, and possibly the crowning glory of Paolo’s career. Do yourself a favour, relax, and give Paolo a try. You won’t regret it.
This concert was by far the biggest I’ve ever attended, with 3,500 fans screaming, cheering, and singing along at the top of their lungs to the anthemic, bombastic, symphonic, female-fronted metal with a newly added twist of pop influence scattered amongst the tracks. Upon front woman Sharon den Adel’s first appearance on stage, a 3,500 strong roar came from the pumped up crowd, as many of them will have been long-term fans, primed to expect a metal show like no other. Within Temptation are professionals to the true extent of the word. Sharon’s passionate, humble and energetic performance with her powerful yet beautiful vocals compliments the laid-back, seductive exteriors of the guys: Ruud Jolie and Stefan Helleblad on guitars, Jeroen van Veen on bass, Martijn Spierenburg on keyboards and Mike Coolen on drums. Of course there are some cheeky on-stage antics between Ruud and Stefan, but what do you expect from two crazy, awesome guitar players? The touring stage setup is truly amaz-
rom their humble beginnings as a band formed on YouTube, The Vamps have had huge success over the last 12 months. Signing their record deal by the end of 2012, they have had their first three singles in the top three and have supported fellow British bands McFly, The Wanted and Lawson on tour. Although it’s not necessarily the most original style, there are enough positive signs and glimmering hopes that the piece isn’t a complete mess. Though it has its flaws, it isn’t the disaster it might have been. Their musical influences seem to vary, as opening single ‘Wild Heart’ has a Mumford & Sons feel and has lyrics that would send teenage girls crazy; “Tonight we’ll dance, I’ll be yours and you’ll be mine”. These lyrics juxtapose hugely with the happy acoustic guitar backdrop, yet it works. Debut single ‘Can We Dance’ has a McFly feel to it, which makes sense as it was released after
they supported the band on their Memory Lane tour. They have mentioned in interviews that McFly are one of their biggest influences and are currently having similar success to McFly in their early days. As one of the few songs not written by the band, it shows that The Vamps have actual credibility, unlike a lot of boybands today. The album caters to the teenage market with their latest single ‘Last Night’ having an upbeat youthful feel and referring to having a good time at a party, something most teenagers can relate to. ‘Girls On TV’ also reminds us that we live in a media-saturated society and could have a sense of irony if you consider their introduction to the music industry. With mentions of how a girl doesn’t need to appear on a game show or Hollywood movie to be seen as beautiful, and the thought of baby-faced vocalist Brad Simpson singing it, would make many a teenage girl happy. They seem to have their sound and target market sussed, with the majority of songs geared almost soley to making pre-teen/teen girls swoon. Whilst such direction will see them labelled as cynics by some, it’s an inoffensive tactic beyond the parameters of musical snobbery. Somewhat surprisingly for such a youthful band, their recordings perform well live on stage. They are packed full of energy, understand the feverishly pent up desires of their audience and are, most importantly, bloody gorgeous! The major flaw of the album is its overreliance on the fact that the majority of the band’s fan base are teenage girls and could almost be considered as jumping on the One Direction bandwagon, despite having a dedicated fan base before their success, unlike the lovable X-Factor puppies. Despite this, The Vamps are a credible band with great song writing skills, a good pop sound and huge likability. It is a decent debut album by a young talented band, who have had a great 2013 and are set to have an even better 2014.
ing: a video screen adorned by two huge black and white dragon heads on either side, a set of silver gleaming stairs running down the middle of the keyboard riser to stage right, and a drum riser to stage left. And to top it all off, there sat glowing balls of light that are somewhat reminiscent of something out of a sci-fi film. On stage the band looks totally at ease and comfortable within their surroundings, owning the space with winks, smiles and acknowledgements to members of the crowd, engaging with the fans. Whenever possible the video screen is utilised to its full potential, as Within Temptation are a band that have worked extremely hard to bring out several music videos for tracks from the two previous albums Hydra and The Unforgiving, released in 2011. This provides the band with the opportunity to play songs featuring guest singers that would have never before been possible, and also provides a unique visual display. The set list was a smorgasbord of greatest hits from all six studio albums including the classics ‘Angels’ and ‘Stand My Ground’,
folk-metal hits ‘Mother Earth’ and ‘Ice Queen’, three tracks from their 2007 album The Heart of Everything, three tracks from the previously mentioned The Unforgiving and a whopping 80% of tracks from Hydra, which is to be expected since it is the Hydra 2014 world tour! Two wonderful surprises in the set list included ‘And We Run’ (feat. Xzibit) and an acoustic reworking of the final track from the latest album The Whole World Is Watching. Personally, I was hoping these two would be featured in the set list but thought it a pipe dream when I researched the previous dates set lists and found that these were not featured. Only The Whole World Is Watching had been performed live for Polish fans earlier in the tour. I give my experience at this gig 10/10. The set list was eclectic, the musicianship was top notch and the atmosphere electric. I highly recommend, for fans of almost any music genre, that you go to see Within Temptation live the next time they pay another visit to the UK. They are not to be missed.
THE VAMPS MEET THE VAMPS
BY MAIREAD KEARINS
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MUSIC FILM FEATURE TV BOOKS TECH STAGE SPOTLIGHT
INTERVIEW BY WILL MCCURDY
H
owie B is a producer of remarkable pedigree, having worked with the likes of Bjork, Soul II Soul and U2, before going on to release a string of idiosyncratic and critically acclaimed solo albums such as Turn The Dark Off. His productions spawned some of the most interesting tracks to come out of the 90s: tracks such as Bjork’s ‘Army Of Two’ and Tricky’s seminal Trip Hop track ‘Hell Is Around The Corner’, in which he made bold and unique statements with his productions. Not confined to giving into the demands of family life and the day-to-day grind of running a studio, he is still a popular and in demand DJ playing for audiences almost half his age and still produces his own brand of electronic music. His latest album, Turn Down The Dawn, came out on April 14th. Howie seems filled to the brim with enthusiasm about it, having lost nothing of the vigour of his early career. It seems to be as inspired as anything that he has ever done; “I lost two of my closest friends, and this album was about trying to express that.” Does it bear any connection with his acclaimed début Turn the Dark Off I wonder, with the similar titles hinting at some thematic link: “It’s about light. It’s about dealing with tragedy, and about the tragic things in life. It’s about coping with the bad.” As always, he is focused on developing his sound forward and progressing musically from what
Howie B he did on previous LPs: “A poet can’t write the same poem over and over. What would be the point in that? I have to develop as an artist, so every record is going to be different and distinct. But it’s still me, it has my signature and the themes I’ve been dealing with for so long.” His Scottish roots are something that continue to influence Howie to this very day. He holds that they had a significant effect in shaping him as a young man making music, “It would have been totally different. I’m not sure how, but it would be. Everything I do is an accent. An expression of where I’m at and what I’ve been though. Everything I do is Glasgow [sic].” Despite these gritty 60s routes, the former tea-boy is unremittingly optimistic about the benefits that technology can bring modern musicians, particularly the internet: “It’s a very positive thing. It’s great. It’s like a library. When I was young I had no money, so I went down to the local library and listened to music. It’s a great platform for young people to discover music and for artists to promote things. I don’t think it’s negatively affecting things in any way.” There are however, both positives and negatives that come with these new developments. Howie seems confidently convinced of why the popularity of vinyl is still so very high years after the introduction of digital technology: “It’s just better. That’s it. It just sounds better. We still haven’t invented
anything better” Though he is quick to acknowledge their shortcomings, his faith in the methods behind the classics remains completely unshakeable. “It’s all simple stuff. Drum machine, bass guitar, vocals. Nothing beats three piece. A great live band. You see a great band live and it blows you away. You don’t think how do they do that? You just enjoy it. No technology has been able to improve upon that. It’s about the music not about the gear you name it with.” With producers and studio technicians obsessing over what variety of microphone to use, his back-to-basics attitude is a breath of fresh air. Far from being out of touch, the current music scene is something that Howie remains in touch with and positive about: “The current scene is great, as good as it has ever been. I love all of it. It’s changing all the time. New things coming about.” But even though the scene is always changing, for Howie, music will always be a profoundly personal thing: “Even your life affects the way you hear music; you can hear a song a year later and it will be completely different to when you heard it for the first time. The song didn’t change but you do. Music is never static.” Beneath this love of the old school lies an unremitting optimism that he has something to offer the modern music scene: “I have a responsibility to be good. If it wasn’t
good I wouldn’t realise it. I’ve got a responsibility to do good work as a DJ and producer, no matter how old I am.” Continually pushing forward, Howie is equally confident in the potential of new blood entering the recording industry: “China is a massive growth area. In Britain we’ve been recording music for 100 years, in China it’s only really been apparent for the last 15. There’s immense potential. We’re going to see some absolutely wonderful music coming out of there in the next 15 years, I guarantee it. No question.” Howie has the utmost respect for DJing and production as an art form. I asked him how he dealt with criticism that he is “just” a producer: “I’d give him [a] hug. He’s being pretty rude. But I’d still give him a hug. There’s a lot of skill involved in DJing, production, in mixing, in engineering. It’s an art form. It’s a skill. Even if you don’t play an instrument. It doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of talent in it.” But looking back over the scope of his career, it’s not been the music that has challenged him the most: “Raising my children. That’s by far the most difficult thing that I’ve done. More than music. But they are inseparable, because they inspire the music.” Howie seems like a remarkably happy man. Although he’s been in the music game for a long time he still has his feet firmly planted on the ground. Music remains an extremely personal, passionate thing for him. He’s definitely someone that today’s generation of producers can learn from.
“A great live band . No technology has been able to improve on that.”
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MUSIC FILM FEATURE TV BOOKS TECH STAGE SPOTLIGHT
FIL Melancholia The Element Of Crime
The Idiots
The Boss of It All
Lars von Trier career-o-graph
Nymphomaniac
Antichrist
Europa
2002
2004
2006
Hidden Taboos in U-rated Cinema
2010
2012
Timothy Douglas explores the range of taboo subjects secretly inserted in children’s film:
T
aboo subjects never go unseen in the ever-growing film industry. This is perhaps just as well, seeing as most of us have an unusual interest in gritty plot lines about teenagers taking Class A drugs and dirt-under-your-fingernails crimethrillers centred on child abuse and rape, not mentioning the obvious ‘sexplosion’ of pornographic feature-lengths. Of course, film gravitates towards these taboo areas because there’s a market for it, but does the idea fully stop there? What if some of the most shocking taboos were secretly laced into a wider range of film content, maybe even in those films we least expect? Yes, exposed are the Hookah-Smoking Caterpillar and LSD-addicted Cheshire Cat in Disney’s famous Alice in Wonderland, a movie that does a bang-up job when it comes to inputting subliminal stimuli. After all, most kids’ films are riddled with cryptic messages that remain unseen to the eightyear-old’s eye but clear enough to the parent supervising them. But what is it about children’s films, spe-
cifically the earlier ones, which render them products of a powerful taboo-obsessed conspiracy? Well, starting with Walt Disney Productions could shed some light on this. Certainly, it’s foolish to single out the one tapering castle spire in The Little Mermaid as an unmistakable phallic symbol, just as much as it is fruitless to assume the dust cloud in The Lion King spells out the word ‘sex’ (as was pointed out to us in a blood-red font by some Microsoft paint pundit). Even if these were intended, they aren’t obvious taboos. However, hidden controversies in these beloved children’s tales seem to exist, what with the violent poisoning of Snow White and the unrelenting cigar-smoking Lampwick in Pinnochio – “Come on, take a big drag! Like this!” The controversy doesn’t stop here; sexual innuendos run rampant in films like The Little Mermaid and
Aladdin – I mean, did they really expect to get away with a host of half-naked, cleavage-bearing Disney princesses without toning it down a bit? It is a G-rated movie at the end of the day… Moving away from the subtle smuttiness of Disney, the much-loved Studio Ghibli too revels in taboo-induced cinema. Colourful artworks like Spirited Away raise questions of child labour and even, some believe, child prostitution (most apparent when Chihiro’s profession – a yuna – is translated into a woman who ‘assists bathers’ – in other words a ‘bathhouse prostitute’). The same topic crops up again in the company’s most recent movie, The Wind Rises, in which prostitution in the shape of ‘comfort women’ is touched upon – a bit much for a PG-13 kids epic, wouldn’t you say? Finally, Disney: not really big
on hidden meanings but equally never far from controversy in this matter. Suggestions that the central characters in the award-winning films Frozen and Brave are homosexuals (surely, that isn’t still a taboo, right?) continue to spiral the net, albeit with little substantiation. Other taboos like murder also make additions to films like Finding Nemo; of course I’m referring to the merciless death of Marlin’s wife, Coral (though it appears off screen, it still leaves a shaky audience). Sure, we aren’t talking about the extended legacy of Reefer Madness here, but certainly a concept set to rival the subtle edge commonly found in 12A movies. Summing up, though it doesn’t appear as though creators of U-rated cinema are hell-bent on secretly advertising these objectionable taboos across the industry, it is certainly worth discussing. My theory: long hours cooped-up in a bijou office sketching characters all day gets a bit boring – so they sneakily add saucy secrets into their animation.
Alex Radford dives into those films that don’t think twice about dealing with taboo subject matter:
Oldboy
Oldboy begins with the protagonist being imprisoned, in what appears to be a cheap hotel room, for 15 years. He is then released and attempts to uncover why he was incarcerated. At this point you may be wondering what taboo themes this film has to offer; all that I am willing to say is wait until the end.
Cannibal Holocaust
You know a film is at least going to be interesting when a court case was brought against the director accusing him of murdering the cast as part of the making of the film. One of the first found footage films, it tells the story of a documentary crew who had gone into the Amazon forest to film cannibal tribes. Famed not just for its graphic depictions of cannibalism, it also contains real footage of live animals being butchered.
Tetsuo The Ironman
Donning a post-modern hat, this film can be described as having a non-linear plot structure that contains themes of rape, repression, violence and vengeance. It is stated by some critics to be a critique of the social and sexual repression in Japanese society. It can also be described as a film where the main protagonist’s penis turns into a gigantic drill while he is having sex, causing him to skewer his unfortunate wife. It’s quite a weird film.
Audition AASerbian Film Serbian Film
This is a film which is about a Japanese businessman who sets up a fake film audition to find a new girlfriend. At first this seems to be nothing more than a saccharine rom-com with a somewhat creepy premise, until the 30 minute mark is reached and the film begins a horrifying U-turn. Containing themes ranging from domination and the lust for power to child rape, it’s a film that does not think much of showing taboo material. A Serbian Film has nearly every theme and image on this list, save for animal cruelty and drill penises. It charts a down-on-his luck porn star who agrees to take part in an ‘art film’ directed by an rich ‘admirer’ of his. Understood by director Srdjan Spasojevic as a portrayal of Serbian society, it is unrelentingly grim and visceral from start to finish; at around the midpoint it contains what is probably one of the most disturbing scenes in cinema. Whether you consider it tastelessly and needlessly offensive, or groundbreaking in its relentless quest to overstep the mark, it’s safe to say boundaries are ignored.
Scene Spot
Films were viewed in the comfort of Reel Cinema in York, one of the few grand old Odeon theatres in the country.
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MUSIC FILM FEATURE TV BOOKS TECH STAGE SPOTLIGHT
REVIEWS The Muppets: Most Wanted
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verybody knows a sequel is never quite as good,” the Muppets merrily sing in their catchy opening number. While they’re correct in a number of ways, Muppets: Most Wanted still provides enough joy, laughter and anarchy to more than merit another visit to our old felt friends. The plot, such as it is, follows the heroes on a tour around Europe with dodgy new manager Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) and his dastardly amphibian accomplice Constantine, who has slyly replaced himself in a Siberian prison with none other than Kermit the Frog. The evil pair embark on a series of heists, aiming to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London and leave the Muppets’ reputation in tatters. In a film focussing on all-singing, all dancing felt puppets, any humans in the vicinity need to really put in the hours to make an impression. Mercifully then, the producers here had the good sense to cast strong comedy talent for the human counterparts. The always wonderful Tina Fey and Ty Burrell respectively play a Siberian prison
guard and Cleauseau-esque Interpol agent, joyfully injecting their performances with over-the-top accents and a broad slapstick energy characteristic of the film in general. Ricky Gervais is also good comedy value as the dodgy double crossing villain. However, as is usually the case with Gervais, he is effectively just playing a version of himself, so whether or not you enjoy his shtick will greatly affect whether you enjoy it here. Director James Bobin does a grand job of wrangling the anarchy together into something fairly cohesive, and he clearly has an intrinsic understanding for comedy and timing. Some aspects of the film, however, just don’t quite work. Generally speaking, the plot of a Muppet movie is always secondary to the free-
wheeling anarchy comedy provided by the Muppets themselves. But without a solid framework to hang it on, some of the plotting and jokes tend to fall flat and even seem repetitive. It’s not a severe problem, but it does place this outing below its predecessor. The musical numbers here are the main star of the show. Penned by Flight of the Conchord’s Bret McKenzie (who has a hilarious cameo as a Gulag prisoner) clearly has a lot of love for the Muppets and provides the film with its strongest attribute. As is to be expected, there is a deluge of celebrity cameos, varying in quality from the inspired (Christoph Waltz doing a waltz) to the completely pointless (Diddy,
sitting quietly). For the most part these are a pleasant distraction, but the overall effect is to divert attention from the Muppets troupe, which is a borderline criminal act in a Muppet movie. The most screen time is obviously given to Kermit, Piggy and Constantine, with the limited outings afforded to the others serving to demonstrate just how little they feature in the film. Fan favourites such as Animal and the Great Gonzo shine with great jokes in very limited screen time, but one can’t help think that the film would have been better with more focus on the Muppets themselves, rather than cameos from other stars. Nonetheless, broadly speaking the film succeeds with a never-ending stream of bonkers humour and joyful musical numbers. Although, as the Muppets themselves happily admit, this is a slight slip in quality from their last outing, it’s still a great big bundle of fun. Sit back, enjoy the ride and you’ll be sure to leave the cinema with a big childish grin on your face.
Thomas Shutt
Divergent
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ollowing the box office success of fellow teen novel franchises Twilight and The Hunger Games, Divergent, was under pressure to achieve similar success. Based on the first of Victoria Roth’s Divergent trilogy, the film introduces us to Beatrice (Shailene Woodley) who lives in a factional society, each faction tasked with providing something different for the community’s greater good. Upon the character’s coming of age, a mandatory test is undergone to determine in which section you belong. Fail to meet any of the criteria and you are, as Beatrice finds herself, divergent. As a film, it has a similar feel to director Neil Burger’s previous hit Limitless with its undercurrents of hallucination, slippery grips on reality and dystopia. To avoid capture, Beatrice leaves her faction to join Dauntless, changing her name to Triss. Dauntless now has to become her world. As a protection-based society the threat of violence is always present and with it comes a host of lacklustre action scenes. It seems to be too teenage friendly, sliding neatly under the 12A rating; the only bit of gore flopping onto the screen when Triss gets the tip of her ear nipped by a blade. To conform to the young adult film cliché there is a love interest, Four, (Theo James) who instigates a predictable romantic tussle. To add to the
The Quiet Ones tension there is the Dauntless instructor, who warns if they fail to pass the entry tests they are out of the faction. James plays the character well and the chemistry between him and Woodley is believable. It doesn’t hurt that he is gorgeous and mysterious, perfect as teen heartthrob material. It’s almost hard to believe he is the jerk from The Inbetweeners Movie who gets shit on his nose. The big name in the film is Kate Winslet, who plays the villain of the piece Jeanine Matthews, leader of the Erudite faction. With a powerful head on her shoulders, she is convincing in the role and is a ray of light in this film among an otherwise somewhat bland cast. It seems refreshing to see her in such an evil role. As a whole, the film is good at fitting into the young adult film genre. Although some parts of the film are shot well, like the fear sequences which have some great CGI, the plot simply does not have that strong of an impact, especially when compared to The Hunger Games. But to its credit the acting by James, Winslet and particularly Woodley is solid and believable. However, ultimately the potential of this film seemed to be lost by the wayside of the flashy action shots and copycat love story. It’s quite ironic considering it’s a film about originality. Mairead Kearins
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he Quiet Ones is a film which spends its time in a kind of purgatory where it is neither terribly good nor terribly bad, but simply ends up making you feel faintly unsatisfied and distinctly underwhelmed by the piece. It centres around a camera man called Brian McNeil (Sam Claflin) who joins a research team at Oxford, attempting to prove a theory by conducting dubious but conveniently dramatic experiments on a mentally disturbed girl called Jane. As with the tropes of this genre, things go awry quickly with the situation becoming increasingly hostile, not to mention loud and conducive to things going bang suddenly. In what is a somewhat interesting premise, the theory in question already invokes the paranormal to an extent. Professor Coupland (Jared Harris) explains that the spooky goings on are a product of a) Jane possessing psychic powers and b) Jane having a psychological trauma that causes her to invent a spirit called Evey, who makes all the scary stuff happen. This, however, is the only really original thing about The Quiet Ones. The film squanders the opportunity to play around with the au-
dience by not building any mystery surrounding the origin of the paranormal activity. For the first two thirds of the film it’s the professor that’s right, then it’s suddenly revealed that it’s an evil demon after all, because Brian stumbles over the right McGuffins. The lacklustre narrative is not helped by the entire cast’s distinctive lack of personality; none are given any significant back story or identifiable traits which makes them difficult to relate to or care about. Around a third of the way into the film, sexual tension between some of the characters is brought into play, but this does little to develop them or raise interest in the plot. The acting is generally solid along with the special effects. The soundtrack is a collection of appropriate thumping drums and screechy static while the cinematography is well done, which makes the film at least interesting to look at. Throughout the film there are some well-placed jump scares and a few sections do build genuine amounts of tension but these don’t make up for its flaws. Fundamentally it is a mostly competent film whose only remarkable feature is how formulaic and uninteresting it becomes. Alex Radford
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n 21st May 2010 the world was introduced to Pimp, the latest in a long line of British drama that casts a discerning eye towards the gritty reality of our little isle’s mucky underworld. At the beginning was Tony Richardson’s The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, a quietly anti-establishment homage to freedom set in the dirty climbs of Alan Sillitoe’s northern penitentiary system; a depiction worlds away from the denigrating “scum of the earth” light criminals were so often forced to bathe in. A few years later and 1969 brought us Oh! What a Lovely War, an outstanding satire that pried the tightly held nostalgia from the hands of the gore glorifying establishment whilst perfectly capturing the Zeitgeist of a bygone era; all through the mediums of song and dance. Then came the timeless, untouchable Withnail and I, a film that handles depression, the depths of Thatcherism and homosexuality in the gentlest of ways. The single thing these films have in common, brilliance aside, is their willingness to confront taboos, to take another glance at a corner of society the masses had long since written off. Pimp, “A dark and gritty journey through Soho’s savage underground” and a film that took in £205 at the box-office, is exempt from such company. The single biggest problem with Pimp and that which has seen it regularly plugged as candidate for worst British film ever made is not its appropriation of the now tired mockumentary formula. Nor the weird, nausea inducing hand held camera thing it tries and fails to pull off. It’s not even the fact that Danny Dyer actually says the words “cunt bubble”. (I can only assume this is something a little bit spherical, a little bit vadgy, but beyond this the concept escapes me.) Whilst these things do little to salvage what was always going to be a total fucking shipwreck of a film, if it weren’t for its belligerently see through attempts to sledgehammer through every thinkable cultural taboo and continually, infuriatingly laugh in the face of common decency, it might have avoided going completely Titanic. What Pimp shows us, apart from how goddamn sexy miserable eastern European women are, is that tackling naughty topics is not by itself an action worthy of praise. This is a truth made incredibly apparent by the infamously vile A Serbian Film, an erotic thriller that disgusts and alienates in equal measure. Without an angle, filth remains filth and depravity becomes unpalatable. In the course of Pimp’s 91 minutes of bombastic misogyny, not once is a valid point visible amidst the muck. Not once is the shameless degradation of women used to draw attention to the violent sexism rife in this hugely hyperbolic depiction of a unsavoury subsection of society. The challenging of taboos in this instance is less risqué delve into the uncomfortable than it is ogling dick swinging contest. The quality that keeps Pimp and films that successfully challenge taboos apart is its heavy handed, almost feverish attempt to make its point known. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner doesn’t need to tell us its stepping into the left field. It shows us, tentatively, through its humanising characterisation of an otherwise shunned peoples that the cultural norm may be in some part faulty. Withnail and I doesn’t shove its
sex and drug agenda down the throats of its audience, reducing the complex world of debauchery in the process. It hints, implies and slowly, within the subtext, looks to overcome. The subject of taboo is in this instance revered, used to heighten the reaction but never used to cause the reaction in and of itself. It is for this reason that taboo is fundamental to great film and must be respected, not overcome at once, if the maximal effect is to be achieved. The same adage holds true in music. Whilst Freddie Mercury’s bisexuality is now well known, for the majority of his time with Queen he was assumed straight. If we are allowed to view his musical career as an artwork in and of itself, the drawn out emergence of his true sexual orientation, through the implied, coke-snorting, rent boy renting ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ and the drag donning ‘I Want to Break Free’, is in retrospect, a far more powerful statement than an out and out declaration. Although gay musicians shouldn’t be required to speak out, in a society still struggling with homophobia the gradual outing of an already substantiated, much loved cultural icon did wonders. A taboo, however outdated and degrading, was understood, slowly unravelled and shown to be wanting. And in the process great art was created. There is certain sincerity apparent in artwork that emerges in rebellion of a social standard that is otherwise hard to capture. Serge and Charlotte Gainsbourg’s ‘Lemon Incest’ is one of the best known incest/peadophillia/80s synth pop crossovers that, in its breathy vocals, scantily clad video and innuendo provoked wild outrage. The point of the song is not to glamorise familial, cross generational love, but to highlight and play off of a taboo. “The love we’ll never make together Is the most beautiful, the rarest, the most disconcerting .The purest, the headiest”, sings the 12 year old Charlotte, acknowledging that it is within the chase, however perpetual, not the catch, that the giddiest of heights are reached. There is admittedly a dark undertone to the song and pair’s relationship that does render this point suspect, but it is not in the song’s smashing of taboos but reverence for them, the love that will never be made together, that it finds its power. The taboo remains intact but played upon. In his fantastic book Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear, Dan Gardner draws upon the power of taboo in the shaping of culture. Cold War America, terrified by the threat of nuclear war with a country vilified, however justly, by the McCarthy driven media, reacted in the extreme. Capitalism became God, teeth whiter and the swinging sixties a decade of cultural liberation. Almost anything became permissible in the desperate scramble to disassociate with the acting counter-culture. As much as the Red Scare was an incredibly damaging, inhumane overreaction to a largely unknown entity, the monolithic counterpoint helped form the pop extremities of Warhol and Rauschenberg. By the law of equal action and reaction, the bigger the taboo, the more shunned a culture, the greater the artistic retribution. This is not to validate or applaud the bigotries and stigmas our societies need to overcome, but to understand the violently emotional responses and creative rebuttal they insopirre, however forcefully, in the are of the disenchanted. Milo Boyd
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Jared Leto and Matthew Mc conaughe in Dallas Buyers Club
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aboos are typically defined by society, and thus change as society grows and develops. However, it is typically considered taboo to be different from the ‘norms’ of society. In Western culture, this ‘norm’ is usually defined as a cisgender, straight white male, and anything other than that is considered unnatural or strange. However, people are slowly adapting to the idea that this definition of ‘normal’ actually only applies to a very small and privileged section of society, and that either the definition must be broadened, or society must become more accepting of those different to the ‘norm’. What was previously considered taboo is now being accepted in many cases, although it is still an uphill struggle for those searching for equal rights and representation in both society and the media. One of the most prominent examples of something that used to be seen as taboo, but is now accepted by society, is homosexuality. Not so long ago, being homosexual was considered a crime, and not long before that, it was punishable by death (and in some countries it still is). Only recently did many countries, including the UK, legalise same-sex marriage, giving LGBTQIAP+ citizens the same right to marriage as heterosexual couples. Whilst this is clearly a step in the right direction, there is still a long way to go until society changes its narrow-minded view on what is considered to be ‘normal’. However, the way to equal rights and equal treatment for all does not lie in giving the same blanket approach to all situations. Many LGBTQIAP+ rights activists have an issue with applying what they consider to be outdated, heteronormative traditions to sections of society that have no desire to function in this way. Marriage is a good example of this. Whilst married couples do get certain tax breaks and benefits that mean that they are ultimately better off than non-married couples (in monetary terms, at least), many people in the LGBTQIAP+ community dispute that the best way to give non-heterosexual people the same rights as heterosexuals is to simply give them the same things. After all, many people in the LGBTQIAP+ community may not want to get married, as they view it as part of a religion that has ostracised and oppressed them for centuries. However, despite all that, it is undeniable that these sort of leaps forward for LGBTQIAP+ rights are proving that things that used to be seen as ‘taboo’ are now being considered normal, and perfectly acceptable in society. However, whilst small steps are being taken towards equal rights for LGBTQIAP+ citizens in society, it is arguable that there is still a huge way to go before equal representation is given to them in the media. The director of Oscar-winning film Dallas Buyers Club, JeanMarc Vallée, has recently come under fire for casting cisgender actor Jared Leto (who won an Oscar for his portrayal of transgender Rayon) when many people believe that he should have instead cast a trans actor for the role. Vallée’s reasoning behind this decision was that he was unaware that there were any transgender actors, and claiming that he wasn’t “aiming for the real thing. [He was] aiming for an experienced actor who wants to portray the thing.” Yet despite this, many people have applauded Dallas Buyers Club for including a trans person’s story in such a prominent way in a film seen by millions of people. In contrast to Vallée’s decision to cast a cis man in the role of a transgender woman in his
film, hit TV show Orange is the New Black has been praised for casting transgender actress Laverne Cox in the role of Sophia Burset, a trans woman sent to prison for credit card fraud. Cox describes her character as “a multidimensional character who the audience can really empathize with—all of a sudden they’re empathizing with a real Trans person. And for trans folks out there, who need to see representations of people who are like them and of their experiences, that’s when it becomes really important.” And truly, this is what is important for people on the fringes of society – those who don’t fit into the small definition of ‘normal’ by society’s standards – being able to see people like yourself, represented in the media as more than a cheap joke or a flat, onedimensional character (if they are featured at all). This is partially the reason why so many people have an issue with Disney constantly featuring only white, straight, beautiful, skinny princesses in their films. Whilst there have been Disney princesses who are not white (Mulan, Tiana, Pocahontas, Jasmine), they are massively outnumbered by the likes of Ariel, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Belle, etc. etc. On top of this, every single princess has been straight, with the vast majority of her storyline being about falling in love with her ‘prince charming’, or being rescued by a man. One exception to this (the other being Brave) is the most recent Disney offering, Frozen, which features two princesses, sisters Anna and Elsa. Some viewers of the film have interpreted Elsa’s power (she can control snow and ice) as a metaphor for her being queer. She is born with her powers, but is forced to hide them by her parents. Only once she accepts her powers (as shown in the fantastic song, ‘Let It Go’) can she learn to be true to herself. Yet many people take issue with this interpretation. Not only do many (homophobic) people argue against any interpretation of a Disney film that deviates from the ‘comfortable’ norm of cis, straight, and white, many people in the LGBTQIAP+ community are angry that they are forced to try and find representations of people like themselves in subtext, rather than being part of the canon story. However, it does not look as though Disney are going to be featuring a more diverse range of characters in their films anytime soon, meaning people in the LGBTQIAP+ community will have to continue searching for possible readings of Disney films as queer, rather than actually being given some representation within the films. Overall then, it is clear that society is slowly adapting to the idea that not everyone is a straight white male, and that people who do not define this way should not be punished or ostracised from society for it. Whilst it is taking a long time to change people’s opinions on the matter, LGBTQIAP+ rights have come a long way since the Stonewall riots of the 1960s, and hopefully they will continue to move forward until there is equal representation for all people within the media, and equal treatment for all within society. This can surely only come through the systematic destruction of what many people consider to be taboo or deviant behaviour. Hopefully one day soon, people will look back at how those on the edge of society were treated with disgust, realising that judging people based on who they are attracted to, or what they define themselves as, is seriously prejudiced and ultimately benefits no-one. Rachel Seymour
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ALICE IN ARABIA ZENA JARJIS looks at the controversy surrounding Alice in Arabia
ast month, ABC Family withdrew the pilot episode of TV drama Alice in Arabia. The show was green-lit a week before its cancellation, and was going to centre around a badly behaved teenage girl who is kidnapped by her Saudi Arabian family. The rest of the series would see the protagonist, Alice, try to escape her rich, evil grandfather, and return to America. Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of controversy surrounding the pilot. The Council on American-Islamic Relations expressed concerns that “the pilot and any resulting series may engage in stereotyping”. The media picked up on this, with one BuzzFeed article saying “We Got A Copy Of The Script For Alice In Arabia And It’s Exactly What Critics Feared”. The Guardian called the premise of the show “deeply problematic”, and even The Daily Mail condemned it as racist. With all this outrage, it isn’t difficult to see why ABC pulled the pilot. Based on the information released about Alice in Arabia, it seems like it could have been detrimental to the already damaged image of Arabs in the media. There was a danger that it would have perpetuated
the stereotype that the Middle East is a barbaric, backwards land where women are oppressed and any heroic westerner who tries to bring civilisation to these countries is punished. It still could have been an interesting story to tell. Before pulling the plug on the show, ABC released a statement saying that the protagonist of the show would be “intrigued by [Saudi Arabia’s] offerings and people whom she finds surprisingly d ive r s e in their views on the world”. If dealt with sensitively enough, Alice in Arabia could h av e
been an open-minded show which may have educated viewers about the Middle East. However, given the Arab stereotypes so prevalent in western media, a show which posits a Saudi Arabian as a stock villain would probably have done more harm than good. There hasn’t been a decent, prominent Arab in film or television since Aladdin, and there are so many fascinating stories which could be told about the Middle East but remain absent from the small screen. Alice in Arabia is not the problem, but the media climate in which ABC tried to release the show is. Maybe one day, when the depiction of Arabic people on television is less onedimensional, a show like Alice in Arabia could be made. When we have Middle Eastern characters who are not terrorists, oil sheikhs or sexist Islamic extremists, viewers may be ready to watch a show which tries to deal with such a sensitive, taboo subject matter. But until we start seeing Arabic characters who do not conform to any stereotypes, any show which depicts generically evil Middle Easterns will only damage the image presented of those people.
LITTLE SCREEN DREAM In light of the news that The Truman Show is coming to the small screen,
HOT/NOT Vision looks at the best and worst shows on our screens right now...
1. Hinterland The Welsh detective drama will air on BBC4 and has also been grabbed by Netflix. It’s been likened to ‘The Fall’ and ‘The Killing’.
2. Restaurant Wars
If you’re a fan of foody programmes, tune into this documentary series. It offers a behind the scenes perspective of the opening of a fine dining restaurant.
ZENA JARJIS looks at some other shows which have made the transition
NBC have brought About A Boy to TV screens as a sitcom which works as a condensed version of the original. It has received mixed reviews -will NBC be able to recreate the magic of the film?
10 Things I Hate About You was released as an American television sitcom in 2009 following the success of the film. The show failed to match its popularity and was cancelled soon after airing due to low ratings.
3. How To Get A Council House Do we really need another Channel 4 documentary looking into the welfare state? We’d had enough with Benefits Street.
4. Tom Daley Goes Global
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off inspired a 1990 sitcom. The series was unable to do the film justice and was cancelled after its first season.
The Teen Wolf TV series is thought to be better than the original film and a fourth season has recently been confirmed to air in June on MTV.
Why would anyone be interested in watching Tom Daley go backpacking with his ‘BFF’? Stick to your diving Tom.
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TWEET US: @YORKVISIONTV
KATIE THOMAS looks at some of the most controversial episodes in the history of television...
Family Guy: ‘Partial Terms of Endearment’ This episode hasn’t been allowed to air in the US on Fox due to its portrayal of abortion which has been deemed both inappropriate and controversial. The episode features pro life activists voicing their views on the topic, followed by Lois going ahead with an abortion. All perhaps a little too dark for Family Guy.
The Twilight Zone: ‘The Encounter’ This episode of The Twilight Zone raised eyebrows when George Takei’s character squares off against a World War II veteran, and the two come to blows over a samurai sword. This caused controversy and was removed due to its racial content as well as the taboo of JapaneseAmerican disloyalty during World War II.
The X Files: ‘Home’
South Park: ‘Proper Use of a Condom’
‘Home’ pushes the boundaries by featuring an incestuous mother figure who is caught breeding with her sons. The X Files is renowned for its at times, shocking material, but this was a step too far for Fox who banned the episode from repetition. Surprisingly, ‘Home’ has been listed as one of the best in the X Files series.
South Park has been slammed by parents for its ‘over the top vulgar content’ and ‘tastelessness’. ‘Proper Condom Use’ was badly received by many for its depiction of teaching sex education to young children. In Australia, the episode even received an MA rating due to the featured sexual content and graphic violence.
A LAUGH OR A LET-DOWN?
Should real-life tragedies be depicted on fictional television shows? TOM and KATIE discuss...
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outh Park, Family Guy and American Dad are adult animated sitcoms we’re all familiar with. These shows utilise controversial issues in a way that’s comical and it’s this shocking yet humorous format that largely accounts for the sitcoms’ popularity. However, the light-hearted humour has a tendency to veer into darker territory and whether this involves making references to racial stereotypes, gender biases or poking fun at issues of domestic violence, viewing can become quickly uncomfortable. Occasionally, a joke can go too far and cross the line of what’s considered acceptable to the majority, mainly through depictions of tragedies and real historical events. Family Guy on numerous occasions has ridiculed aspects of Nazi Germany; constant references have been made to Jewish stereotypes in a derisive manner, one scene featuring mocking comments towards the holocaust and another portraying a Jewish family hiding in an attic – their position given away to the Nazis by Peter Griffin munching loudly on crisps. Many say Seth Macfarlane’s shows should be taken with a pinch of salt, but it needs to be recognised that television undermining and discrediting events integral to our history for the sake of entertainment will disconcert a large proportion of the population. These shows appeal to a young audience, potentially an age group still forming opinions about historic issues. Airing this form of content has the potential to advocate the ridicule of racial groups, religion and tragic historic events through irony and sarcasm and it’s time tolerance towards depictions of this nature was discouraged. Katie Thomas
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or my mind, to ask our television to dodge potentially difficult topics is to ask it to ignore the realities of the world we live in. Television, after all is a reflection of us, of our society. To simply gloss over these issues, to prudishly shy away from tough subjects, would be a disservice not just to audiences but to those affected by the issues portrayed. TV is the closest the majority of us can get to experience these things, and how those involved must have felt. If done well, television can give insight into these events that we never would have received, and provoke emotions we never would have felt about them. Yes, you might argue that South Park, Family Guy and other controversial (and for some reason mostly animated) comedies are occasionally guilty of poor taste. But if you want an unrestricted arts which is free to push boundaries, then you have to accept that some things just aren’t going to chime with you, or indeed, cause you to fume with anger. For every occasion where a TV show has caused offence, there have been a dozen others which have made us think, made us feel or which have helped to heal the wounds of the past. If the TV industry had never looked to tackle controversial subject matter, we probably wouldn’t have had the first TV same sex kiss on L.A Law, or TV shows which tackled abortion such as Felicity or Sex and the City. Hell, the exceedingly powerful US “think of the children” lobby would have probably found a way to prevent a show like Breaking Bad from being made under ground of glorifying drug culture. Now tell me, is that really a world you want to live in? Tom Davies
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WILL McCURDY @WillMcCurdy INFINITE JEST
(David Foster Wallace)
David Foster Wallace’s satirical take on a near future America is undoubtedly one of best novels of the past twenty-five years. It’s incredibly hard to summarise, on the basis that it covers just about everything in its length, from Canadian nationalism to tennis. With over 388 footnotes, some of which are pages long, it can make for punishing reading. But for those who choose to take up the challenge, it is an incredibly rewarding insight into how we live today. The author’s recent death only makes it more important to appreciate what he left behind, and his darkly comic magnum opus may be the perfect thing.
THE TWELVE CAESARS (Suetonius)
Sometimes the best comfort reading consists of things that actually happened. The ancient historian Suetonius’ famously colourful guide to the lives of the twelve Caesars entertains as well as informs, and its heady doses of political intrigue and drama should go down well with a post A Song of Ice and Fire audience. The world gets conquered, a city burns as a crazed emperor plays the harp, a donkey is made a senator. Like a thousand year old Vision, Suetonius never fails to deliver.
LEAVES OF GRASS (Walt Whitman) There is very little to say about this that hasn’t already been said. It’s one of the reference points for modern poetry as a whole, breaking from the conventions of time and formal structures. Though massive in America, Walt Whitman never really caught on here in any real way, which is very sad. Whitman’s impressionistic image of 18th century New York and heartfelt summoning of human feeling are unparalleled to this day. If this doesn’t particularly appeal to you, you’ll also be able to make lots of Breaking Bad references when you’re done. Why do you think he was called Walter White in the first place?
TABOO OR NOT TABOO Charlie Benson delves into the world of banned books
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t is no coincidence that some of the most read and celebrated titles of our time were once – or currently are in some areas – banned books. The Library of Congress presented an exhibition in 2012 entitled: ‘Books that shaped America’, intending to spark a dialogue on the titles of most influence in society. Among those titles are many books that have at one time or another, in one place or another, been considered taboo and unfit for public consumption. The Scarlet Letter sparked outrage following its 1850 publication for sexual and pornographic obscenity, just as treasured and now widely taught British classics Ulysses and The Canterbury Tales have faced condemnation and censorship along similar lines. Boundary pushing, controversial titles have been attracting mass readership for hundreds of years. What is becoming apparent in the (supposedly) more forward-thinking, liberal society of today, however, is the prevalence of the overexertion of governments and education boards in their censorship of literature. It doesn’t seem to take much to qualify as boundary pushing and controversial. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Green Eggs and
Ham have all been banned in recent years for what appear to be tenuous reasons. Alice was said by the Chinese Government to be dangerous to the minds of children in its likening of animals to humans, Rowling’s bestseller has been struck down in areas of America for promoting dark arts and witchcraft, and Dr Seuss’ nonsense favourite has b e e n
restricted publication due to its apparent portrayal of early Marxism. There was a time in which society was far more morally sensitive to oversexed novels, as with The Scarlet Letter, or contexts in which potential for damaging influence of publications such as Mein Kampf, call for and even justify censorship. The banning
of works like Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland, by contrast, is increasingly petty. Author Salman Rushdie has condemned the labelling of books as ‘taboo’ in an article for The New Yorker: “At its most effective the censor’s lie actually succeeds in replacing the artist’s truth… The assumption of guilt replaces the assumption of innocence.” It is fair to say that Rowling is not looking to insight an uprising of young witches, and no primary school child is opening Green Eggs and Ham and walking away with an opinion on Marxism. Sometimes literature need not be weighed down by the baggage of its context and the subjective perceptions of a few should not restrict the many. Each of these children’s books are written to inspire imagination, they champion innocence and explore the fantastical. To tell a child immersed in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that they are doing something wrong, to attach the ‘taboo’ label onto something being enjoyed from an uncorrupted perspective – at that point censorship has overreached. Is Rowling encouraging the children of America to practice black magic, or has she just written an innocent piece of fiction our generation grew up with and loved? Can a story not simply be a story?
100 years of dylan thomas On the centenary of his birth, Maddi Howell re-visits some of his most famous poetry
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he year 2014 marks the centenary of the birth of Dylan Thomas in 1914 in Swansea, a Welsh poet and one of the few names from my English A-Level which not only rings a bell but reminds me of the modest power that language can sometimes wield.
“Time held me green and dying/Though I sang in my chains like the sea” Wrapped up in all the drama you might expect of a seventeen year old, and slightly jaded by my course on the delights of pastoral literature, I expected little from Fern Hill and Poem in October. But Fern Hill seemed to invoke an imagined paradise of childhood, green and carefree, which avoided all the clichés of the pastoral that I was beginning to dislike. But Dylan Thomas is not all about frolicking in the daisies. He also has a dark side which appealed to my angsty, pensive teenage self. The lines: “time held me green and
dying/Though I sang in my chains like the sea” spring to mind. I remember the moment when I decided that actually, I quite liked what this Dylan Thomas had to say. I simply liked the way he put things across, and that still resonates with me as I re-visit his poetry. Poem in October becomes even more poignant this year. Thomas’s meditation on
reading these lines now, and as the academic year also rolls to an end, it offers a particularly dramatic and beautiful representation of transience: “And the true joy of the long dead child sang burning/In the sun./ It was my thirtieth/Year to heaven stood there then in the summer noon/Though the town below lay leaved with October blood”.
“It was my thirtieth/ Year to heaven stood there then in the summer noon/ Though the town below lay leaved with October blood.”
the passing of time marks his own birthday, “it was my thirtieth year to heaven”. On
Poet in New York is a brand new oneA off drama starring Tom Hollander and is based on the life and later years of Dylan Thomas. It will be broadcast on 30th April 2014 at 9pm on BBC Two. Don’t miss it!
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BOOKS Favourite 4: Unruly Reads CALLUM SHANNON @callum_shannon
oyd Milo B Boyd1 @Milo ’s Fermata.
the USSR upon publication, with many other communist states following. The presence of a talking pig was enough to condemn it to a similar fate across the Islamic world. Even in Britain, bastion of free speech, the book did not remain unmolested: Orwell had to wait three years to publish it as it was feared that the heavily anti-communist overtones would cause ructions with the USSR. Sadly, the banning of books for being considered inconsistent with current social thinking isn’t confined to the past. The Diary of Anne Frank, considered essential reading for teenagers by many, was blacklisted by the anti-Semitic Lebanese government laws on the grounds that it “Portrayed Israel, Jews and Zionism in a favourable light”. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a revolutionary antislavery novel at the time of its publication in 1852, is a most uplifting read, reminding you that even in the most backwards parts of the
world in very oppressive times, some shred of simple human empathy existed. Sadly (or perhaps gladly, given the impact it had upon readers) it was blacklisted not only in many southern states of the US for its anti-slavery philosophy, but also in Tsarist Russia on the grounds of “undermining religious ideas”, though more likely because it promoted the basic human rights of equality and freedom from ownership, still withheld from millions of Russians still entrenched in serfdom. Being banned didn’t stop people from reading it however: Uncle Tom’s Cabin became the single bestselling book of the 19th century. Finally, I have to mention the novel version of one of the most infamous banned films of all time, A Clockwork Orange. Famous for being banned by its own creator, the dystopian story caused quite a stir upon its release, enough for author Antony Burgess to bring about its blacklisting.
New Release: the oversight TOM DAVIES
@tomdavies111
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he Oversight is the first foray by acclaimed children’s author Charlie Fletcher, of Stoneheart trilogy fame, into the adult market. The book follows the exploits of the titular Oversight of London, a once large and proud organisation whose numbers have since dwindled to dangerous levels. The Oversight are tasked with defending the mortal world from the supernatural; basically the Scooby gang meets the Victorian Men in Black. Now the first thing worth stating about the book is that it isn’t a standalone novel, having clearly been written as the first in a series, and as such it’s difficult to gauge the relative merits of its story, because it’s really only just getting started at the book’s close. In many ways the book is even less of a standalone novel than the first book of Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings, because it reaches no real conclusion whatsoever. Instead it essentially functions as a 400 page prologue teasing you with hints of what’s to come. The Oversight clouds it-
D.H Lawrence? George Orwell? Salman Rushdie? What’s your favourite taboo book?
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hat is it about the forbidden that we find so enticing? Is it simple human curiosity and thirst for knowledge that drives us to do things we know we shouldn’t, or are we all simply anarchists at heart? Perhaps we will never know. But still, our obsession with the prohibited is fascinating. Nowhere is this more pronounced than our obsession with banned literature. There’s a unique allure to it within prose. Great writers have found themselves on the wrong side of censor laws and people with the will and influence to black out publications since the dawn of time, but still, their work survives. Throughout history, banning books has done nothing to stem their popularity, regardless of motive. Here are a few of my favourite books once banned for various reasons, which you can buy in secret, lock in a box under your bed and read alone at midnight so the overseers don’t catch you. A large number of George Orwell’s works were banned by various authorities around the world, but none more so than Animal Farm. Being a political dystopian novel, metaphor for the Russian revolution and told from the point of view of anthropomorphic animals, Animal Farm certainly caught the attention of censors. Its anti-Stalinist rhetoric saw it banished from bookshelves across
#NaughtyNov-
self in mystery, like the organisation itself. One character manages to be the focus of three chapters with not so much as a whiff of her motivations or even her name being revealed. Of course, none of this is necessarily a bad thing. If we take the book as just an introduction to Fletcher’s latest mythos then we must consider it a remarkable success, whereby I was left intrigued and excited about the prospect of more from the series. The world of The Oversight is a rare thing indeed, a well thought-out and unique new player in the fantasy genre, which has so long suffered under the weight of cliché and unoriginality. The supernatural baddies in the novels are markedly different from the goblins and ghoulies you’ve seen a thousand times before, and for that alone Fletcher can be particularly commended. Having said that, Fletcher seems to have had some teething problems in the transition from children’s to adult fiction. At times the general feel of the book is very young adult, which is not aided by a lot of the characters being strangely elevated and cartoonish for a book claiming to
be both Gothic and grown up. For example, one of the members of The Oversight is an overweight, matriarchal cook called, well, Cook, who used to be a pirate, and a genuine, cutlass wielding “arr me hearties” one at that. The villains are all moustache twirling panto villains with names like Magor, Zebulon Templebane and my personal favourite; Francis Blackdyke, Viscount Mountfellon, who might as well have just been called Lord Dastardly McBastard IV. They’re all good characters, rich and interesting and the rest of it, but they certainly add a level of comic book camp to a novel which seemed to have ambitions to be a touch darker then it perhaps came off. At times then you can feel like Fletcher is a touch confused about what he wants The Oversight to be, but as the first book in the series such an issue is to be expected. Ultimately, he could well be onto a winner here, giving us a new fantasy series with clear plans for a grand narrative, with a world which sets itself apart without cheap rehashes of Potter or dare I even say it, Twilight.
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Tweet us @YorkVisionBooks
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Technology
Top tech tweet of the month:
Engadget @engadget
April 19
NASA crashed a satellite into the moon earlier, on purpose http://engt.co/1qWwZlp
Sooam: A game of clones
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here are times I’m sure we’ve all wished we could be in two places at once. Well, you can’t, so stop daydreaming and do your work. However, if you happen to have sixty thousand pounds and an unhealthy attraction to one particular pet, then you could always have two of those instead. Sooam biotech, the South Korean research foundation has now perfected the science of cloning dogs and I for one am completely lost as to why. According to their website “Sooam not only perform dog cloning research, but we also heal the broken hearts.” This seems like a perfectly reasonable excuse to push forward in cloning research. I have two dogs myself and, although they’re very annoying now, I’m sure I’ll be very upset when they die. I doubt however that, even in five or so years, I’ll have £126,000 to throw around so I’ll probably have to live with it. But wait, Sooam have once again come to the rescue. Opening up a competition to have your dog cloned for free! Is it too good to be true? The competition has already been won, and the cloning was a success, so yes it is, at least for me. The dog in question, Winnie, now has an oddly similar friend, hilariously called m i n i - Wi n n i e. This is a far cry from our earliest attempts at cloning, when Dolly the sheep was cloned at the Roslin institute in Edinburgh in 1996, as dogs are considered
one of the most difficult animals to clone. Needless to say Sooam are very proud of themselves and no doubt set up the competition to showcase their almighty scientific ability and big brains. The foundation has come under criticism, though, some claiming that the practice is unethical and that it could lead to animal rights abuses. These claims seem largely unfounded, however, and with this kind of exposure it would be difficult for Sooam to hide any wrongdoings. The other criticisms levelled at them include the obvious fact that this procedure costs an outrageous amount of money, which could be put towards numerous better causes. There is also a distinct smell of capitalism about this whole affair. If Sooam were being honest their advising should read “Can’t face up to real life? Pay us to make your emotional problems go away”. In my opinion if you can’t cope with the loss of a pet you probably shouldn’t get one. I have no problems with the idea of dog cloning, if the procedure was used to clone, say, talented guide dogs or search and rescue dogs. Pet cloning on the other hand is a dangerous road to walk down. Sooam, you may think that you can fix broken hearts by throwing money around but I beg to differ. You’re just going to create a whole generation of spoilt children who think they can buy their way out of any problem that comes along. William Addy
Is virtual reality the future?
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ith Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus VR, Sony’s reveal of project Morpheus and some excited previews by the press, it can be very easy to be swept away by the positive energy and excitement surrounding virtual reality. After all, what could be better for gaming than putting on a pair of goggles and observing carefully constructed worlds through the eyes of your player character? Except, immersion has never been too important for gamers. ‘This changes everything’ was the tagline for Sony’s PlayStation move at E3 2010. Unfortunately for Sony and Microsoft, the motion control battle of E3 2010 that would determine the ‘future of gaming’ changed very little. Despite allowing gamers to use motion controls to feel truly immersed in the title they were experiencing, both Microsoft’s Kinect and Sony’s PlayStation move failed to get off the ground with the core gaming audience. This was partially owed to the weak launch lineup of games but mostly because gamers failed to see the potential of these devices. If immersion was as great a concern for gamers as some might have you believe, surely these well reviewed and well developed pieces of technology would be more popular with their target audience. We see a similar problem with the rise and fall of 3D technology in home entertainment. Most consumers were bubbling with excitement about the technology; 3D TVs were on full display at trade shows and malls. But, after a while, consum-
ers experienced the technology and most were seriously underwhelmed. Many consumers suffered from headaches and eyestrain and most failed to see why to spend such an exorbitant amount of money on technology that felt gimmicky and underdeveloped. Since most consumers are evidently not crazy about products that increase immersion, in order to stand a fighting chance, virtual reality needs to take a cue from the failure of 3D and motion controlled entertainment and make sure it meets the following criteria. VR goggles cannot afford to be as bulky, cumbersome and downright uncool as they currently are; they can’t afford to look like failed early concept art of Robocop’s visor. The technology needs to become more compact to appeal to mainstream consumers. In addition, the technology cannot be gimmicky. Sony and Facebook cannot expect gamers to rally behind virtual reality if the technology feels under-cooked and software support is thin on the ground. Games and software needs to be VR compatible for launch. Lastly, the price cannot be too high. For most gamers, virtual reality is currently seen as a luxury, not a necessity and as such, to take off, virtual reality has to convince consumers that it’s a good value proposition. If VR can satisfy these conditions, it might earn a place in gamers’ homes and, as Mr Zuckerberg has indicated, the sky is the limit from there. Costas Mourselas
Recent developments in tech that we love Ocado’s 42” sLablet is our favourite April fools tech announcement. There is great accompanying video to go with the release, too
Logos Technologies are developing a silent hybrid motorbike for use in speial forces raids
Dutch fashion designer Borre Akkersdijk shows us his 3-D printed wearable Mp3 player
We love the Lego Game series and we love The Hobbit, so the new Lego Hobbit game definitely deserves a mention in our list
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Sex: Theatre’s last taboo?
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any taboos in theatre seem to have been overcome. Plays that are politically radical, ardently feminist; those which explore themes like racism and class are now more common – or at least not viewed in the same disdain they once were. No one walks out during a production of Pygmalion or over the brutal violence explicitly portrayed in many Shakespeare productions anymore. But some things still provoke angry audience reactions; sex, whilst no longer taboo, must still be moderated to our tastes. Sex in itself has never been estranged from theatre. But people are now more content with occasional nudity and innuendo, because sex is such a key element in so much drama. In that sense, we have definitely moved on from it being taboo. The world of moralistic Victorian theatre, where anything even vaguely sexual had to occur offstage, is now completely
alien to a modern audience. We have been liberated. But sex still seems to be something that, although discussed in theatre, can be overdone. Yes, audiences seem happy to watch plays exploring ever more challenging themes, such as rape, bondage or gay sex. But once that passes a certain level, audience discomfort mounts. A recent production of Abi Morgan’s The Mistress Contract provoked mass walkouts during passages that discussed, at length, the act of fellatio. These days, a play that mentions fellatio would not have caused angst. But the continuation and basis of a long play on that topic does seem to still be too much for prudish Britons. Perhaps prudish is too strong a word; this is most likely the last controversy on stage today. It is more down to audiences just not being that sex obsessed, rather than a desire to cover up offensive images. The Edinburgh Fringe, long a centre for progressive plays, was criticised last year in The Independent for showing too much rape and sex on stage. But concerns seemed to be less over plays that used sex as a device and more
about plays whose sole focus was sexually explicit scenes. Yael Farber’s Nirbhaya, although brave and liberating in its portrayal of sexual abuse was, at the end of the day, a ninety minute production solely about violent sexual exploitation. Is that really something modern audiences want to pay money to go and see? One of the most historically famous and outrageous sexually scandalous plays was Howard Brenton’s The Romans in Britain. Here was a play that, for one scene of simulated male rape, caused nationwide fury and a profanity lawsuit in the Old Bailey. That was in 1980. The play was restaged in 2006, with no prevalent negative reaction. But The Romans in Britain was not a play about sex. The male rape, though horrific, was part of a plot line, and was done to prove a point. It was an anti-Imperialist play, and a play about power, not a sexual play. That is the key; one act in an hour or two of theatre is not controversial or taboo anymore. People are largely content to watch sex on stage. But audiences do not seem as happy to watch modern ‘taboo’ plays - ones which are constant, full on, sexual extravaganzas. Theatre today can discuss practically anything, and explore a multitude of previously taboo subjects in a very liberating way, including sex. But perhaps we’ve just reached our limit with graphic, aggressive, superfluous sex.
George Norman
“All the world’s a Stage”
…spoke Jacques to the Duke in As You Like It, as a mouthpiece for William Shakespeare circa. 1599. Though his particular drama is situated in Warwickshire, the English playwright more often utilised cities from the European continent as locations for his works than his own home soil. His works featured Italy (in total, one third were located here); other parts of England, France, Ancient Rome, ancient cities of Greece, and Sicily - spanning time from the Classical worlds through to Shakespeare’s contemporary Elizabethan era. Since their inception, these plays have not only sprawled time and the earth’s surface in their content, but have simultaneously extended the Bard’s influence from England to classrooms, university courses, libraries, and homes all over the globe. He incorporated all manner of political, cultural and racial backdrops in his works to present the world to London: all the world is on the stage. For the most part, his plays were written in English - second only to Mandarin Chinese as the world’s most widely spoken language - heightening their accessibility for everyone since the publication of the First Folio in 1623. The language of Shakespeare has come a long way in the world since then. In 2012, the GlobeToGlobe project began, which saw each of Shakespeare’s 38 plays performed by different theatre companies in their own mother tongue. What began two years ago
continues today with All’s Well That Ends Well still visiting the Globe through the Indian language of Gujarati and A Midsummer Night’s Dream in British Sign Language. Before the start of this year’s Globe season, the theatre played host to free performances of The Merchant of Venice, made possible by their affiliation with international company, Deutsche Bank. The aim of this annual collaboration is to bring Shakespeare to everyone, regardless of financial situation, especially students. Though, even during the season anyone from across the world can pay as little as £5
to stand (yes, stand, as tradition dictates) before a Shakespearean performance in Sam Wanamaker’s reconstruction of the Globe Theatre at London Bridge. The Bard’s expanded global influence inspired this American actor, director and producer from overseas to resurrect the memory of one of Britain’s greatest writers by initiating the Shakespeare Globe Trust in 1970. This Trust works to bring Shakespeare into education through an on-site exhibition; Study Days focused around specific performances; career opportunities; and various lectures and seminars hosted by academics from Globe Education. Within the study of literature on a global scale, encompassing the likes of Gabriel García Márquez and Bernhard Schlink, there is William Shakespeare too: a British writer appealing to and reaching a global audience. Everyone is a student of Shakespeare, young or old, whether you call yourself British or not, whether in education or not. The Globe Theatre facilitates the study of his work for everyone. We visit the Globe to see another culture, country, people, and set of customs on stage. While no one is certain he travelled much further than the distance between Stratford-upon-Avon and London, Shakespeare nevertheless delivered his works of English Literature from the Globe - on the south bank of the River Thames - to the entire globe on which it stands.
Megan Johnston
Online feature: Why Theatre Matters “Theatre rocks. It’s a living, breathing organism that blows through all of life... It will always survive.” Andy Bewley, DramaSoc Committee
“Underneath day-today niceties there’s a raw, emotional person being suppressed, and performance lets that out. Its good for people.” Lewis Dunn, ComedySoc Committee Chair
“Performance is not just about the productions that are put on, but the performers themselves. PantSoc is a community of friends with a common goal of having lots of fun, and putting on a show!”
Vicki Noble, PantSoc Committee Chair
“It is the fact it is live that makes it so exciting. It is a privilege knowing you are one of a few to witness this unique spectacle, this ephemeral art form.” Olly Brassell, TFTV Theatre Society Committee
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SPOT L I G H T: G I R L O N T H E N E T
Girl On The Net, a ‘filthy’ sex writer chats to Helena Horton...
“I
don’t perceive many things as taboos because I have few sacred cows of my own. I did once play out a scene that involved two people playing the parts of my religious uncle and aunt, although obviously we weren’t related in real life, beating the shit out of me because they caught me masturbating. As they beat me with a strap they told me to beg Jesus for forgiveness. Surely you can’t publish this, can you?” Girl On The Net is an anonymous sex writer, with an immensely popular blog, the purpose of which is to “be a sticky, filthy look at sex” and a book which is “part erotica, part manifesto”. She seems shocked that Vision is allowed to ask the probing questions I ask, and the frank and honest (and slightly naughty) answers she gives in return, repeating “are you allowed to publish this!?” at regular intervals. Her blog has a wider message than just writing about her sexual conquests and getting people off; she emphasized that “sex is still often seen as something that men want and women give to them, rather than something we women can revel and delight in for the sheer joy of doing it. Every day I see something new that implies men want sex and women want money, chocolate, shoes: anything but sex. The blog’s my way of challenging that.” She, of course, has to be anonymous. Most jobs, sadly, would not hire someone who openly wrote on the internet about how they enjoyed men ejaculating into their arsecrack. “I’m pretty sad that I have to be anonymous, to be honest. It’s mainly because - until I can guarantee that I will make enough money from sex writing, I have to keep the doors open to having a ‘clean’ career. Regardless of how open people might be about sex, there’s a worrying increase in the number of companies who’ll raid your social media profiles and either fire, or refuse to hire you if you say something controversial. That may or may not include talking about what you do with your fanny.” Anonymity isn’t always a bad thing though. Girl on the
Net receives stories, confessions and pictures of peoples genitals to her email, from people who open up because of her anonymity. “It is hands down, the best thing about what I do. People email me and say ‘Hey, I did something really filthy the other day and I’ve no one to talk to about it, so I’m just going to tell you the story because it sounds like you’ll appreciate it,’ And I really do.” When I asked about the most taboo thing that a fan has sent her, she couldn’t answer to protect their anonymity. However, she did share one story. “A guy once sent me a vid-
eo of himself jerking off in a nappy. Nappies don’t really do it for me, but it was so clearly something he LOVED, and he made this intensely hot grunting noise just as he came, and it made my head spin with lust. That was pretty amazing.” I try to keep my family and my love and sex life as far away from each other as possible, probably a symptom of my middle-class repression. Girl on the Net, on the other hand, has told her family, including her mum, about her sex blog! “My family know what I do, but not my blog name this was an agreement I struck with them a long time ago. They want to know what I’m doing so they can share in my successes (“Hey Mum, I just got an article in the Guardian!”) but without having to know the details that might make them a bit uncomfortable.”
Nappies don’t really do it for me, but it was so clearly something he LOVED, and he made this intensely hot grunting noise just as he came, and it made my head spin with lust. That was pretty amazing. Sex is a two (or more!) way street. GOTN’s blogs all involve other people, I asked what her sexual partners made of being written about in such a way. “Most of the guys I write about know they feature. Some of them have deliberately not read what I’ve written because it might be sad for them to remember. Others have gleefully embraced it. Others have masturbated furiously over it, then emailed me to say ‘I have genuinely never seen myself in such a hot light before.” I love it when that happens.’” One of the great things about GOTN’s writing is that sex isn’t written about as if it is a hushed sacrament- it is exalted for the messy, sticky and awkward thing it sometimes can be, which is a fantastic thing, because we are all human and are not going to all act like pornstars all the time in the sack. I asked her about her funniest sexual mishap. “Here’s a story I haven’t told: when I was with my first boyfriend, as soon as we were alone together in a room we would get naked and do sticky things to each other. One day, we were doing exactly this, and the phone in his house rang. His Mum grabbed the cordless phone from the kitchen, and wandered into his room. ‘GOTN,’ she said, ‘it’s for you.’ It was only when she got to the end of ‘you’ that she realised we were both entirely naked and entwined like we wanted to melt into one being. She stood there for about three seconds looking a bit surprised, then calmly walked over to the bedside table, put the phone down, rolled her eyes and left. That eye-rolling still kills me to this day. She was a fantastically sarcastic lady.” Although sex can be funny, GOTN still thinks that sex is something that we should take seriously. “We should take it seriously as a society and also as individuals understanding and embracing what you like (or don’t like) sexually, makes for much happier people. In my opinion. Sex is something that lots of us treat as a taboo, we speak about it in innuendoes and hushed tones, and would probably look at someone like they were mental if they started shouting about it like Samantha in Sex and the City. GOTN spoke to me about the relationships between taboos and sex. When asked whether sex should be a taboo, she gave an emphatic “Hell, no!”. However, “Breaking taboos can make for more playful sex. For instance, I am a big fan of consensual non-consent. This is deeply controversial, but actually it’s just a fun thing I do with my partner, because I like the physical sensation of struggling against him. But is it really breaking a taboo? I persuade myself at the time, although in reality, whenever I get unhappy, he’ll break off and go and make me a sandwich.” I asked whether the taboo nature of the stuff she writes, and the phrases she uses (“Fuck me in the ass because it’s filthy”) is done on purpose to draw people into the blog. She said no; “I use language like that because I love language, and I adore words, and I particularly adore those words. I sometimes spend hours reviewing certain blog posts be-
cause I feel like they’re hot but the language I’ve used hasn’t actually summed up exactly how hot it is. Plosive, angry, sweary words get across the guttural, animal lust way better than flowery metaphor and euphemism, in my opinion.” So, her blog is more frank and natural than a publication like Cosmo which talks about sex in hushed ‘cheeky’ innuendoes. However, Cosmo and the like are not seen to be breaking taboos. She answered; “because Cosmo goes just far enough to be able to describe it as ‘naughty’ but never far enough to shock people. Consider your own sex life - all the details, the mistakes, the messes, the hilarious farting incidents, the fantasies in your head that you’ve never told anyone: does it sound like a Cosmo article to you?” She gave us a sneak preview of her book: “There’s a wide, deep, stormy ocean of difference between something that’s sexy and something that’s hot. Hot hot. It’s the difference between something that makes you go ‘ooh’, and something that makes you go ‘unnngh’. “If a guy grabs me around the waist and pulls me towards him gently, there’ll be a tingling sensation in my limbs, something that says ‘hey, this is interesting. Pay attention.’ That’s an ‘ooh’ moment, and it’s sexy as hell. But if that same guy puts the same hands firmly around my waist and spins me around before pulling me towards him, pushing his swollen cock firmly up against my arse so I can feel it rubbing against me? “That’s ‘unnngh’. I feel a kick, deep in my stomach, as my whole body responds. I have no control over it – I don’t need to pay attention, it happens automatically. My muscles tense, my cunt starts to get slick, and waves of longing shoot up and down my arms. That feeling? That’s the feeling spanking gives me. Not for the whole session – I’m not overcome by gut-punching lust throughout. There’s a ‘pay attention’ atmosphere as I’m lying, or kneeling, or sitting semi-naked and waiting for the first thwack. But then, inevitably, something will happen that brings that hot feeling to the fore. “The first slap. Unnngh. A whispered ‘pull down your fucking knickers.’ Argh. “The sound of a belt being pulled through the loops of his trousers. Oh God. “It’s those things I’m chasing, not the pain. The pain is a sideshow. The pain is an accessory. The pain is not the point.” GOTN is not a fan of Cosmo; “Cosmo is mainstream because it goes so far but no further. So it benefits from this reticence by being able to be widely shared and talked about, and grab ad dollars aplenty. But the huge detriment of this is that... well... it’s just not true. “While individual sex tips might work for some people, and some Cosmo articles might ring true to individuals, the narrative they use is one of a homogenous mass of womanhood, who all desire the same things in the same ways. “And that is so far from the truth it makes me sad for the people who’ve been encouraged to believe it.” To close, I asked her to give us a non-Cosmo sex tip. “I used this for someone else the other day and they didn’t print it, but I’m going to keep using it as my top tip because it’s great: “Never ever “confess” your fantasies - enjoy them, boast about them, revel in them. Enthusiasm is one of the greatest aphrodisiacs.”