“You are turning me into a sceptic” my wife said waving a mock accusation finger at me. As a mobile nail technician my wife comes back with a whole of host stories from her various colour clients and I just knew this was the start of just such an anecdote. Without elaborating I understood what sort of episode had occurred. A naïve person had just been told the truth about something they had invested a large degree of belief in and my wife now wondered whether or not it had been worth commenting in the first place. In the sceptical world this is called debunking. It is more popularly known as “pissing on someone’s strawberries”.
The woman looked at my wife with a beaming smile on her face. Being a mother, my wife knew that look all too well. It’s that smile that says pride like no other. A pride reserved for one’s child. “My daughter is having her short story published!” the woman announced. “Congratulations” my wife commented, as you would, and waited to hear how this came about. Apparently the young girl, aged 11, had entered a competition through her school to have her short story published in a book of collected stories. It would appear this woman’s daughter was a young girl of rare talent. But before we assign her to the ranks of child author stardom alongside Dorothy Straight, Anne Frank, David Klein and Susan Eloise Hinton, there is more to the story. My wife does not mince her words. “Are they are asking you and other parents to buy this book?” she said. Wishing to demonstrate the proof of her offspring’s literary success the woman pulled out the letter that revealed this exciting news. It was a letter she hadn’t read very well.
It all seemed good. Too good! My wife is the long suffering spouse to a writer, so she has had to read the type of letters writers receive from people who agree to publish. Rarely are prospective publishers who have agreed to take a gamble on paying for the printing and production of your unproven work reveal their joy in the acceptance letter. The letter is usually business-like and straight to the point. This wasn’t one of those letters. This was a letter that began with the great news that her daughter had been “chosen” to appear in the book and then ended with an order form. This was a letter that now wanted this woman to pay almost £15 per copy of a book that contained all the “chosen” children’s stories. My wife put the obvious rhetorical question, “I don’t mean to rain on your parade but don’t you think that this has gone out to all the parents of all the children who entered this ‘competition’”.
The initial reaction to this new development was anger. It is a typical response to anyone who has invested belief in something they so desperately want to believe and then been shown a convincing argument that throws serious doubt over said belief. Involve a person’s child and that belief can be strong. Denial is an also a common defence mechanism especially if the argument reveals that the believer has been duped in some way. My wife didn’t push the issue, being a mother herself she could empathize with the raw maternal feelings present at the time.
Vanity publishing comes in many forms. It can prey on the desperate new writer and in this time where fame has become a type of currency, the temptation to pay in order to get your name on the front of a dust jacket is more alluring than ever. There is a very legitimate way to pay for your work to get into print and some very reputable publish on demand (POD) services provide this. I know a good number of great authors, such as Geoff Thompson and Heather Vallance, who have found self-publishing to be a much more profitable avenue for their books than the traditional method. It is also worth noting that even the great epic poet, John Milton, self-published. It is debated that the lines between vanity publishing and other self-publishing services have blurred since digital media and the emergence of the internet. However, the distinction remains that vanity press derive all their profits from having writers pay for their work to be printed and have no real vested or direct interest in the authors being able to sell.
What is particularly disreputable about the type of vanity publishing described in this article is that not only is it targeted at parents via their children, but that it is not really very honest. It doesn’t seem to present much of a competition in the first place and worse still the “prize” is for the parent to pay for a book that includes their child’s work alongside countless others. Actually it probably would have cost far less to have the short story self-published by a reputable POD like Lulu.com. Unfortunately I do not have the name of this particular group, although “Young Writers” appear to offer a similar service and charge the same amount for their poetry competition books. There is a strong rebuttal offered in a comment to a reviewer on Dooyoo.com http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/services-misc/young-writers/1320735/
The next time my wife saw her client a rational cooling off period had done the woman some good. Rather than going deep into denial she saw reason. She went to her daughter’s school to investigate a little further. She spoke to her daughter’s teacher about this “competition”. The teacher was delighted to announce that all of her students had got their work into the book. Hey, what are the chances! Now who do you think might have been on a commission there?
Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com
I have recently been in contact with Sylvia Kent, a brilliant and enthusiastic journalist who sometimes writes on the Rosaire circus family, hence our connection. However, I was recently fascinated to read about her new book "The Woman Writer: The History of the Society Women Writers and Journalists". At the risk of sounding patronizing, I find the history of women's writing an interesting and inspirational focus of study. I was drawn to the life and works of Mary Wollstonecraft through her daughter, Mary Shelley, and honoured her in my 2009 anniversaries article. Wollstonecraft is often considered to be the prototypical feminist, although I think she was far more than that. She was a philosopher, writer and intellectual working in a field that was more than dominated by males, it was a domain made virtually impossible for women to access in Wollstonecraft's time and for almost a century after her death. We tend to forget that her daughter, the Brontes, Jane Austen, Beatrix Potter and so on were the exceptions to the rule of their time. They came from more or less privileged backgrounds and had to have exceptional talent and driving force, not to mention useful contacts, to get their heads above the parapet and their work out there. Widespread literacy is a relatively new thing anyway and it was even rarer with women up until the 20th century. Women authors in the 19th century nearly always adopted male pseudonyms. Whenever I bemoan how hard it is to get a work published or, harder still, to get paid, I am often reminded that my sex has had it relatively easy when it comes to selling the craft!
The Woman Writer
The History of The Society of Women
Writers & Journalists
Author Sylvia Kent
Published 1 December 2009 at £12.99, paperback original ISBN-10 9780752451596
An account of Britain’s oldest writing society dedicated to women’s writing through its 116-year existence
· The first in-depth history of the Society of Women Writers & Journalists.
· Published to commemorate the centenary in 2010 of former president Joyce Grenfell’s birth.
· Sylvia Kent explores the lives of some of the Society’s most famous members. Illustrated with over 100 photographs.
Over a century old and still thriving. The Society of Women Writers & Journalists has just published its history which reads like a “Who’s Who” of notable women from the twentieth Century. Although the SWWJ was created for women, the concept was the brainchild of a man – a clever, enterprising newspaperman – Mr Joseph Snell Wood. Given the small number of women in journalism at the time, almost every practising woman journalist must have applied for membership.
Since its creation on 1 May 1894, the Society has attracted the company of many of the world’s most famous women writers, journalists, poets, playwrights and associated creative people involved in the wider world of literature, film, music, theatre and entertainment. Author, Sylvia Kent, delved deeply into the Society’s archives and has produced fascinating cameos of its famous members: great names of Victorian media and later are included, such as Lady Sarah Wilson who reported from Mafeking on the Boer War, Alice Meynell, who almost became the first female Poet Laureate; American playwright, Pearl Craigie our first president; Agnes Elsie Thorpe, big game hunter; Marie Stopes who campaigned for birth control; Radclyffe Hall whose book on lesbianism was banned in the UK in the 1920s though it was exceedingly popular in the USA; Constance Smedley, founder of International Lyceum Clubs, Clemence Dane actor and playwright. Latterly, the Society welcomed Elizabeth Longford, well known biographer; Nina Bawden, famous for “Carrie’s War”; Jacqueline Wilson recent Children’s Laureate, and our current Life President, Baroness Williams of Crosby.
Information on the early days of many magazines and societies makes fascinating reading. Included are: The Gentlewoman, The Lady, The Stage, Good Housekeeping amongst the periodicals and the BBC, International Lyceum Clubs, the London Press Club, the New Cavendish Club, PEN, the RNA, the Society of Authors, Swanwick Summer School, the Women’s Press Club and the Stationers’ Livery Company all had connections.
Sylvia Kent is a columnist working for Newsquest and a freelance writer. She is Archivist/Press Officer for the SWWJ, vice-president of Brentwood Writers’ Circle and a Patron of the Essex Book Festival 2009/10. This is Sylvia’s seventh book, published whilst supporting other writers, particularly in the field of local history. She is a Trustee at the CaterMuseum, Billericay.
Available from all good bookshops, Amazon and The History Press.
Direct sales – telephone 01235 465577 or www.thehistorypress.co.uk
For information about talks or interviews, please contact
Kerry Green at The History Press on 01453 732 512 or via www.sylviakent.blogspot.com
“Here’s to our wives and girlfriends – may they never meet!”
Julius Henry Marx, most famously known as Groucho Marx, is perhaps the wittiest comedy actor I have ever had the pleasure of hearing or watching. His fast-wit skill, along with his other talents, was perfected with his four brothers, Chico, Harpo, Gummo and Zeppo, through the hard graft of the Vaudeville stage and then brought to big screen with the advent of "talkies" and finally ending with a hugely successful game show.
“I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception”
I first got into the humour, caricature and icon of Groucho Marx when I was 17 years old. That was some four decades after Groucho’s golden age in films. In fact, I was only 13 months old when this wondrous comedy icon passed away. It was winter of1993 and my father had won a couple of industry awards for his work with animals in films and one of the prizes was a coffee table book on the history of films. I was drawn to this light reading and enjoyed looking up the various icons I had become interested in over the years. When it came to comedy, Groucho Marx was the only one of famous siblings mentioned. The photo showed him wooing his regular straight foil in the movies, the great Margaret Dumont. I read the short bio with interest, particularly noticing the witty quotes that were all attributed to this comic legend. I mentioned him to my business studies tutor just off hand and she immediately confessed to being a fan of the Marx Brothers, telling me more about the rest of the gang. I was about to see them all for myself before the year was out.
“I read in the newspapers they are going to have 30 minutes of intellectual stuff on television every Monday from 7:30 to 8. to educate America. They couldn't educate America if they started at 6:30”
As luck would have it that Christmas Channel 4 television were showing most of the Marx Brothers’s great films. I taped as many as I could and was mesmerized by the creativity and surreal comedy exhibited throughout these pictures. Each of the three comic brothers had a charm. Chico was perhaps the worst Italian impersonator ever to grace the silverscreen, but was actually given some of the best lines and gave some entertaining piano pieces. Harpo represented the main slapstick in the film, which despite growing up in a circus, has never been my favourite type of comedy. Nevertheless, he was a very loveable character and his harp playing was part of the inspiration behind some of my wedding day plans some 14 years later. However, Groucho remained my standout favourite. His rapier wit and crazy asides appealed to my own idiosyncratic takes on life.
“Africa is God's country--and He can have it.”
Before 1993 I just saw Groucho here and there in snippets of films or homages in my favourite cartoons or comedies. I didn’t realize just how much of a huge cultural impact he had on the world of entertainment or how deeply linked he was in my own culture. The Warner Brothers cartoons frequently referenced the Marx Brothers, often quite literally with cameo pastiches along with other celebrities of Hollywood’s golden era and also in their anarchic comedy. Bugs Bunny, for example, is a development of the Groucho Marx caricature. His distinctive Jewish New York accent, his mastery of the non sequitur and the line, “Of course you realize this means war” are all hallmarks of Groucho. Bugs Bunny has even done his own literal pastiches of Groucho, most notably in 1946’s “Hair-Raising Hare” and 1947’s “Slick Hare”.
“I could dance with you until the cows come home. On second thought I'd rather dance with the cows until you come home”
Marx, a little like Shakespeare, is has soaked so much into popular culture that he is quoted and even mimicked by those who don’t even know he existed. A physical example of this can be found in the stock joke shop costume piece of glasses with thick eyebrows and moustache. During his time working in the movies, Groucho used greasepaint to create this look along with his glasses. Like most of his gimmicks and style this was developed during his time working on stage with his brothers. According to Groucho he got fed up with having to apply and reapply a glue-on fake moustache, so painted one on instead and then did the same with his eyebrows to match the look. It became his trademark look. During the 1950s, when he worked on TV as a game show host on “You Bet Your Life”, he opted to grow a real moustache rather than paint the old one on. Groucho’s bent over walk with one hand behind his back was a parody of an affected type of walk popular in the late 19th century.
“A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere”
The brothers grew up as Jewish immigrants and were driven by a matriarchal mother who saw a glittering career for them in Vaudeville. Training an act for this time required a vast array of skills. Each of the brothers could dance, sing, perform their own stunts and gags, and play musical instruments. Chico was a pianist, Harpo became synonymous with his harp (occasionally assisted by his infamous rubber horn) and Groucho, being the most vocal, was the singer. Groucho’s songs, although not penned by him, were made immortal by his renditions. “Hello I Must be Going” from “Animal Crackers”, “Whatever it is, I’m Against It” from Horse Feathers and the unforgettable “Lydia the Tatooed Lady” from “At the Circus”.
“A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running”
The films produced by the Marx Brothers can divided up into two eras. The Paramount era saw their live stage
shows first adapted to the screen, most notably with “Coconuts”, “Animal Crackers” and “Monkey Business”. They then developed into proper films, but were still toured as a live show to refine the complex routines. Some directors to this day use a version method with preview screenings, such as Stephen Spielberg who timed the two major jumps in “Jaws” by using test audiences. Nevertheless, as John Cleese explained when he presented Groucho as one of his comedy heroes, the complex physical humour contained in the Marx Brothers will never be created today, as the live show approach before filming is no longer used. “Horse Feathers” showed a larger scale for the Marx Brothers and “Duck Soup” is arguably their finest moment. It is the definition of anarchic comedy with the Brothers completely running the show from start to end. Groucho’s character this time was a dictator of the fictitious Freedonia. Unfortunately “Duck Soup” was not a big commercial success and divided critics at the time of its release. However, it appears to have been ahead of its time as most comedians, comedy actors and film critics now agree that is a masterpiece.
“I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it”
After “Duck Soup” the Brothers left Paramount and began their second era of filmmaking with MGM. Paramount’s early features have the weakness of most early “talkies” in that they are pretty much filmed stage shows, but their strength comes from the amount of time and control given to the Marx Brothers whose antics were always going to be the draw over romantic sub-plots and, heaven forbid, a cohesive storyline. “Animal Crackers”, their third film with Paramount, contains some of Groucho’s most quoted lines. Looking back at the transition from Paramount to MGM it seems that the Brothers films were at their artistic peak. Their climb had been rapid and their descent would be very gradual. “A Night at the Opera” was their first film for MGM and I consider it to be one of their best, just falling short of the genius of “Duck Soup”. From the beginning the MGM years would see
“I'll see you at the opera tonight. I'll hold your seat till you get there. After that, you're on your own”
After films Groucho went onto a successful career in the “You Bet Your Life” radio and television show. Up until his death Groucho was regularly visited and entertained many future iconic people in the comedy world. He was paid a huge amount of respect by Woody Allen, Morecombe and Wise and Bill Cosby. Frank Sinatra loved him and rock legend Alice Copper was a fan and made friends with him in his twilight years. In 1972 Elton John sang a duet with him for “Jesus Christ Superstar”, where he famously quipped “Does it have a happy ending?”
Culturally Groucho was much closer to home than I first imagined. The Marx Brothers, like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Bob Hope and countless other comic actors of the early 20th century, forged their unique style, appealing gimmicks, refined skills and various routines in Vaudeville. Vaudeville was America’s equivalent to Music Hall, variety performance born out of the 19th century due to a law that prohibited the sale of alcohol in theatres. Many taverns took advantage by booking various acts, which became full shows including music, performing animals, acrobatics, jugglers, plays and comedy routines. It evolved around the time travelling circuses were also developing and the two cross-pollinated with styles and bookings to such an extent that they became distinguishable only back the fact that one was travelling and the other stationary. Even then buildings and amphitheatres were raised in the UK, Europe and America as “circus buildings”. My roots on my mother’s side run deep into circus and travelling entertainment for at least 300 years, although we are currently seeking evidence to connect my early 19th century ancestors with the one listed at the 1684 Frost Fair said to have been a Huguenot who fled from the Pyrenees to avoid religious persecution. The world of circus and variety entertainment created their own traditions separate from the rest of the showbusiness world, but encompassing circus, fair (or carnival in America), side show, travelling menagerie, burlesque, cabaret and the aforementioned Music Hall (Vaudeville).
“Before I speak, I have something important to say”
In the UK some links are still present in associations like the Water Rats, which see invited members of these various different institutions socializing in a formal club, and in newspapers like the World’s Fair. As for history, you have only to look through the reams of archive footage to be found on the Pathe News website to see royalty and celebrities up until the 1970s hobnobbing on British circus charity events and special shows. Sadly such events although extensively documented and recorded on film, in newspapers and so on are only really remembered by circus people and their fans. The rest of mainstream showbusiness and their high art cousins choose to forget just how big variety and circus really were before the advent of television, followed by a snobbery disguised as political correctness.
“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book”
“Groucho and Me” – Book review
“From the moment I picked up your book until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it”
There are some great books out there by those who knew Groucho. “Hello, I Must be Going” by Charlotte Chandler is perhaps one of the most objective discussions on Groucho in his twilight years as the semi-retired comedy legend constantly paid host to streams of celebrities of yesteryear and the current time. “Love, Groucho” are the collected letters he wrote to his daughter. This is a wonderful heart-warming series of correspondence revealing a man who, like his brother, Harpo, loved his children very dearly. However, you cannot help but see his constant demand for attention coming through, especially in the humorous start of one letter “Dear Orphan”, where he is obviously a little annoyed by Miriam’s letter writing rate.
“I married your mother because I wanted children. Imagine my disappointment when you came along”
With so many books and documentaries discussing the great man, it is great to read his story how he would have wanted it told. “Groucho and Me” is his only autobiography although he did write a few reflective books on his times in showbusiness, which are worth hunting down. The story starts with the immigrant Jewish family growing up in near poverty. Their father was a Yorkville tailor, but their mother had big plans. She envisaged a successful Vaudeville act and that is what she got. Groucho spares little details in his depiction of the antics of his brothers, even bringing Zeppo, the straight man in the act and the movies, into a new sneakier light. It's also one of my favourite motivational books. There is a great story about one of Groucho's old school friends who visited him at different stages of his theatrical career to tell him he was wasting his life. This particular individual chose a more mundane regular job and couldn't see the future in Groucho's chosen career path. On each visit he told Groucho how much money he was making little realizing that Groucho's salary was dramatically increasing after each visit. It's a great example of how others perceive you and the world outside their own, and also representative of a time when showbusiness, particularly variety and comedy, was still very much looked down on by people in "real jobs".
“Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms”
Having said that, Groucho cares little for life's do-gooders and he often offers disparaging remarks about the anti-smoking, anti-alcohol committees of his time. He cites people he knows who have lived long reckless lives in his counter arguments, which although are hardly convincing are very representative of the celebrities of his era.
"I was outside the cabin smoking some meat. There wasn't a cigar store in the neighborhood!"
As a lover of history "Groucho and Me" is also an interesting insight into the times of Groucho's life. The era of Vaudeville, now only celebrated in retrospect, is brought to life through the little details of practicing and setting up a show, and the problems often incurred. The discipline of working these shows and having them practiced regularly in front of live audiences helped the Brothers develop detailed visual routines that have never been equalled. Events of the time provide interesting backdrops outside of Groucho's career. The Marx Brothers' start in Hollywood coincided with the Wall Street Crash. Groucho explains how he and other celebrities saw it coming and got caught in the financial disaster. It's a memorable and vivid description.
“I made a killing on Wall Street a few years ago. I shot my broker”
Despite being co-written by James Thurber, Groucho's unique voice comes through in every line. There are plenty of his anarchic and irreverent asides as well as the moments when his most famous quotes were used in real life such as his actual letter of resignation to a club, "Please accept my resignation. I don't care to belong to any club that will have me as a member". I read it from start to finish on a trip to and from Japan over a decade ago, but it still remains my favourite autobiography and one of my all-time favourite books. I try to make my reviews balanced and as critical as possible, but this book has a very special place in my heart. It's a funny and insightful book of a great character both on and off the screen and stage.
"There's one thing I've always wanted to do before I quit: Retire."
Afterward
Groucho Marx endures as an icon because no matter what you do with comedy, complete anarchy never goes out of fashion. It can’t because even the most erudite humour has to have an element of the absurd in it in order for it to be funny. Furthermore Groucho defined wit. He was a master of improvisation and couldn’t resist dishing out a one-liner if there was an opening for it. He was famously kept hours at customs when he replied the question “What’s in your luggage” with “Wouldn’t you like to know”.
But what of his flaws? Groucho fell out with plenty of people both in front and behind the camera, and he was divorced three times. As I mentioned earlier, he was clearly a very demanding person in private. However, it is difficult to point out Groucho’s flaws except for an ego that one would expect from a person so idolized, popular and consistently successful. His career had been one of rages to riches, but once he and his brothers hit Broadway they were never out of work.
Groucho’s famous wit is sexist and prejudiced against other countries. He is not overtly racist, other than the common Jewish comedy technique of poking fun at his own culture. However, in these post-politically correct times his less fashionable quips are celebrated with a sense of irony or at least an understanding of historical context. This seems to be the essence of Groucho; he could always be forgiven, despite being a person whose whole angle rested on insulting everyone. In the 1960s, the 1940s were thrown under the retrospective rose-tinted light, and the Marx Brothers were rediscovered by college and university students who loved the chaos and perhaps appreciated the surreal absurdist style of “Duck Soup” more than the critics of its day. In Groucho’s declining years he gradually deteriorated into senility. This is something mournfully reflected in “Love, Groucho”.
There clearly was nothing quite like the Marx Brothers when they first exploded onto the scene. They marked a definite shift away from what had gone before. The changing of the comedy guard was very evident on the set of “At the Circus” when the great physical clown of silent cinema Buster Keaton was brought in as a “gag man”. He conceded there was nothing he could do with the Marx Brothers and his style was completely at odds with theirs. But what of the time when the torch was handed over to others? Charlotte Chandler does not spare us the many instances in Groucho’s last years where he recognized he could no longer sing well and his wit was much slower. He worked almost up until his death and there are some moments when one of his biggest fans, Bill Cosby shares the screen with him. Cosby, then the new comedy star, graciously gave his hero the stage and played the straight man throughout as Groucho kept insulting him. They are moving scenes in their own way, as Cosby is clearly then the man of energy and switched onto the audience of the time, and Groucho is very evidently moving his old creaking comic muscles well over a decade they had passed their prime.
Groucho, like many BritishMusic Hall comics, was another connection to an untouchable golden era of my culture. An era that my generation of circus children could only watch in the form of films like “The Greatest Show on Earth”, “Trapeze” or “The Greatest Showman”. The time might as well have been centuries ago as far we were concerned. They brought us comfort as kids and they bring me comfort now as a 30 something, but when I was a teenager these pictures just didn’t gel with the era I was living in. Benny Hill seemed like the last vestige of the days of variety and his huge productions and bawdy humour was no match for the onslaught of “alternative” comedy. 1988, when his show was cancelled, signalled the end of an ear. Like a traitor, I left our sinking ship in my early teens and got into the comedy of Rik Mayal, French and Saunders and even Ben Elton. Then I found Groucho and the Marx Brothers movies. They brought back a type of comfort I recalled from watching the old circus films, despite their crazy antics and shameless sacrificing everything for humour approach. At 17 years old I saw Groucho Marx, a figure of that time, celebrated all through his life and in legacy as an enduring icon.
Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com
Elizabeth Bathory, “The Blood Countess”, is often accepted in the mainstream, without question, as one of the world’s most prolific and sadistic serial killers. A 16th and 17th century Hungarian noblewoman, Bathory is often compared to Vlad “Dracula” Tepes, Gille de Rais and Tamerlane the Great. Women are rarely linked to recreational or sexually motivated crimes. There have been very few accepted female serial killers or, more specifically, recreational murderers, and those who have been recorded as such are often hotly debated as not fulfilling the criteria. Bathory, however, seems to tick all the boxes and her position as an almost all-powerful aristocrat who had the legal powers of life and death over many helps forward many of today’s theories on modern serial killers.
The Blood Countess, as she has become known, first came to my attention when I read a pulp non-fiction book, “The World’s Wickedest Women”, from “The World’s Greatest” series. It was a shocking story of a woman who apparently bathed in the blood of her female servants and peasant virgins in the belief that it what it was the elixir of life. She then came to my attention again when I bought an edition of Valentine Penrose’s lurid account of Elizabeth Bathory, “The Bloody Countess”. This book details a life of debauched sadism, that includes cannibalism, vampirism, elaborate torture and witchcraft, which resulted in the supposed deaths of 650 young girls. Penrose’s book puts Bathory’s unique case down to genetics, citing all the interbreeding that went on for generations in the Hungarian and Transylvanian aristocracy. She also writes in a disturbingly poetic and even erotic style that raises a possible red flag for pseudohistory. Nevertheless, Penrose wrote very much in the majority. There are many accounts long before that she could reference that detail Bathory’s sadism. She was convicted of the murders of at least 600 women - they are in the trial minutes and the product of hundreds of witnesses. So case closed…or is it?
Up until I read the book “Countess Dracula” by Tony Thorne I found that only bands like “Cradle of Filth” found Elizabeth Bathory an appealing icon. Their imaginative black metal album, “Cruelty and the Beast”, is a dubious tribute to the life and crimes of this apparent real-life vampire. Before them, of course, there was the Swedish heavy metal band Bathory. Before that there was the Hammer Horror film, “Countess Dracula” starring Ingrid Pitt in a supernatural depiction of the Blood Countess. I was therefore surprised at first when I started reading Tony Thorne’s scholarly study on the convicted Hungarian Countess, the archetype for murderous aristocratic depravity and excess, to find out how much of the image of the Elizabeth Bathory was untrue.
Tony Thorne is my kind of historian. From the introduction he makes a point of saying that he is going to both reconstruct and deconstruct history in his investigation of one of Hungary’s most sensational characters. As time has gone on I have become at least as interested in methods of studying history as I am in the actual subject matter, which means my eventual finishing of this book couldn’t have come at a better time. Thorne’s approach is brilliantly thorough and as objective as you can get. Best of all, he is not shackled by one method. He is brave enough to tackle every piece of evidence from different angles and disciplined enough not to be drawn down speculative paths. Others may be disappointed that he doesn’t take the plunge and go for an absolute conclusion as more sensationalist writers might do. Instead he strips away what we know is to be myth and leaves a more rounded view of what happened.
Revisionism gets a bad press these days. As a rational sceptic I always put the burden of proof on the claimant and more often than not the claimants come up wonting. Some rather less than thorough individuals operating on transparent confirmation biases have used the moniker of “revisionism” to back up their own worrying ideas about the world. Conspiracy theorists and Holocaust deniers are too glaring examples that spring to mind. However, the purpose of good history is to uncover new facts that either challenge or support our ideas about the past. Often an application of common sense, critical rational thinking and a sober attempt to reconstruct the time you are studying reveals startlingly different images of figures in history. This is a point Tony Thorne brings up when he discusses the flippant way crime historians have compared Elizabeth Bathory to other supposed murderous aristocrats. Gilles de Rais may have been a depraved murderer of young boys, but was he really that different from his contemporaries. And what of all the allegations of witchcraft and politics that obscured his trial? De Rais, it is not disputed by any historians, was known for his support of Joan of Arc, herself burned as a heretic. The man who gave his name to sadism, the Marquis de Sade, often argued that the difference between him and his contemporary aristrocrats was that he was honest about his practices.
I have often wondered whether the supposed real-life Dracula, Vlad “The Impaler” Tepes, really should be given the bad press he gets. In his own country he is revered as a great hero and his torturous practices were inspired by his no less brutal enemies, the feared Ottoman Turks. As a freedom fighter for his countrymen how does he differ from the far more recent heroic figure of Che Guevara who tortured and executed almost 200 prisoners? Both were loved by their countrymen, both fought powerful and savage regimes, but today one is a villain of almost supernatural proportions and the other a virtual saint.
Recently Ian Mortimer looked at a beloved historical figure, someone he had initially “liked”, in his brilliantly thorough “1415: Henry V’s Year of Glory”. Mortimer presented a book that used primary source data to present a day-by-day study of Henry’s campaigns in 1415. What he uncovered was a person who was more religiously fanatical than the religious fanatics of his time, a ruthless, merciless and oppressive warrior king who deliberately allowed masses of women and children to starve to death in front of his troops. Before Mortimer, of course, most historians agree that Richard I “The Lionheart” did not do England many favours of a monarch as he squandered the country’s treasury on his fanatical crusades. In fact, he didn’t even speak our language or spend a year over here, so there goes the patriotism.
Back to Elizabeth and “Countess Dracula” breaks 20th century conventions of historical writing by not strictly obeying a chronological order. This is not done to deliberately make the style quirky, but to serve valid functions. After an interesting preface that discusses the various myths and popular culture influenced by Elizabeth Bathory the book launches into its very scholarly chapters. The first sets the background for the times and the players in this book. On the subject of players, Thorne actually lists the main people involved before the preface under a “Dramatis Personae”. Next we get into the very savage process of justice of the time. Thorne is keen to show how different the whole judicial system worked at the time. For example, Elizabeth Bathory didn’t attend a trial, which was common at the time, given her aristocratic rank. Torture was also the accepted way that much witness testimony was taken at the time. This was coupled with the fact that a peasant or even an aristocrat of low rank was pretty much at the mercy of their superiors.
Thorne shows us the very real fact that the Palatine at the time, a one Count George Thurzỏ, possessed less land than the widowed Elizabeth. He gained land upon her conviction. He also reveals that persecution of artistocratic widows at the time was not uncommon and there are other contemporary cases of supposed sadistic women who practiced witchcraft that although recorded have not made their way into folklore. At the time of her conviction, the Bathory household was set to crumble with the countess’s nephew having been recently deposed in Transylvania. There was certainly a strong motive to falsely accuse the Countess and rather than fabricating a case for treason, which would have caused more political trouble and huge embarrassment for all those connected to the Bathory bloodline, one theory argues that a conviction for multiple murder would have been a better choice for all concerned!
Further chapters reveal that despite the religious advantages for the Catholic Habsburgs, of which Thurzỏ led, to sensationalize the apparent witchcraft committed by the Protestant Elizabeth Bathory, nothing happened of the sort. In fact, after Bathory’s trial and conviction, for which she received a life sentence of house arrest, nothing was written on her crimes for over 112 years! This is when the myths started to grow. The case notes, which Thorne quotes from, regularly reveal some sadistic practices and killings, but nothing about the Countess’s most famous crime of bathing in the blood of virgins. Apart from the logistics associated with such an elaborately twisted practice, there isn’t even any witness testimony to support it. I think, for the time being, that can be safely be judged as a myth and yet across the internet, in various sensationalist and not-so-sensationalist books you will find this story repeated again and again.
And yet Thorne doesn’t dismiss the Countess’s convictions. Looking at a lot of the primary source material, even that preceding the witness testimonies, you find a very harsh woman who was probably more severe on her servants than what was accepted in those far more savage times. Thorne is just as critical of Bathory’s supporters as he is of her accusers. For example, he explains the regular use of folk remedies at the time and that it is generally accepted that the Countess used them a lot and also had them applied to others under her instruction. However, he finds an argument that some of the witness testimony used to incriminate her were actually descriptions of her remedies gone wrong. In a time when a servant’s death from a beating was regarding as an unfortunate accident and that the practice of these remedies was commonplace, it is hardly likely that a malpractice would be mistaken for a sadistic killing.
I appreciate my write-up on Elizabeth is far from balanced. This is largely due to the evidence against her convictions is relatively unknown in popular history circles and I feel deserves some limelight. My view before reading “Countess Dracula” was the accepted belief she was an early example of what we call a serial killer today. Having read it I am not compelled as some readers have been to suddenly go to her side and to shout set-up! Although there definitely was a strong amount of politicking at the time, as was normal with most convictions against aristocrats. This is not based on the fact that, despite there being strong evidence she at least loved her children, she was probably quite a nasty piece of work even for her time. Rather I remain agnostic on the case, as Thorne’s compelling study has shown that there are two very interesting and strong cases here, neither of which matches the view found in most studies of the Blood Countess.
Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com
I would be very interested to read a decent argument against the concept of podcasts. Free entertainment and free education readily accessible to anyone who has a computer and internet access has got to be a good thing. I grew up on a travelling circus, so we were often on the move and my wonderful mother could not always read to me, so audio books became a substitute. As a writer, I take on reading like a type of training. Unfortunately my hectic, time-consuming and demanding schedule can make getting the volume I need to get in very difficult at times. However, taking Stephen King's advice I use the audio book, which I can listen to on my lengthy car journeys and when my eyes are too tired at night to make up the extra hours. The podcast can be a recording of a radio programme or an audio book or can be uniquely created for the purposes of being downloaded. Some are even visual as well as audio, but this doesn't suit me. If I can watch it I might as well read it. You simply get a free account with iTunes or another "proprietary digital media player application" and search and download your chosen podcasts from there.
I have varied interests and I subscribe to numerous podcasts, too many to justify listing in this review. Below is a list of my absolute favourites, but there are many other very good ones. I admit to having a bias for a lot of BBC work, but this is only because Radio 4 provides such well produced programmes.
History Podcasts
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
You don't get nor do you need a better produced programme than this. Dan Carlin and his team take a lot of time and care with these podcasts that focus on a wide range of historical subjects, sometimes forming a series. The research is great and it is good solid history not sensationalism, in fact, Carlin even addressed pseudohistory in an early episode. However, the real appeal is Carlin's own reflections and idiosyncrasy, something I liked in the great crime historian, Martin Fido. Carlin speaks with a theatrical intensity, which marks him out as a storyteller and there are understated sound effects in the background that adds to the experience. At present there are three different formats. The main ones are lengthy pieces on particular subjects in history such as the Punic Wars or the Battle of the Eastern Front. Then there are the Blitz editions, shorter more general pieces, which Carlin created in response to listeners moaning about there being too long a wait between podcasts. And then from time to time Carlin interviews his favourite historians. This is a great podcast that is always worth the wait and is understandably one of the most popular of its kind in the world.
In Our Time
This is Melvyn Bragg's academic weekly series on history. The series accepts at least a peripheral understanding of the subject matter, as Bragg interviews a board of very erudite academics. It's still a great listen and brings up fascinating details, as well as debates on certain areas of history. Bragg is a highly experienced chair on such discussions and does a great job of keeping everything together as passionate academics are often wont to tangent off on their favourite area of study. Like all Radio 4 podcasts the programme has superb sound quality and does not contain any musical accompaniment.
BBC History Magazine
This is BBC History Magazine's twice weekly podcast and a great promotional tool for the UK's most popular history magazine. However, it is far more than a marketing gimmick or at least it has evolved from that status. Now it clearly has a life of its own and the style takes its lead from TV programmes. Reporters visit various locations and interview all writers to each issue. I can't tell you how many great books I have bought because of this great podcast. This podcast uses Mozart as its signature tune.
The History of Rome
Mike Duncan is sometimes considered to be up there with Dan Carlin as far as quality history broadcasting is concerned. His podcast is also a very professional and fascinating programme. From the earliest records of the Roman Empire, Duncan takes us throughout its fascinating history. He does bring up various theories on certain eras and, like Carlin, he follows empirical evidence in his account of historical events, however, I would like to see a bit more scepticism from him. For example, there is some compelling and not to mention commonsensical arguments in the mainstream concerning whether the emperor Caligula really was a complete raving lunatic. Tony Robinson brought this interesting idea up in his series on the Romans. Having said this, Duncan is much fairer with Domitian an emperor loathed by the senate who tried to paint him in the same light as Caligula and Nero, but actually probably did a reasonable job. This podcast is generally weekly and has its own short gentle signature tune.
Historyzine
Since its start this podcast seems to be preoccupied with the War of the Spanish Succession, which it has serialized now for over a year. However, there are other areas also covered in every episode that seem to promise other subjects being possibly on the agenda. Every episode has a bit of trivia on the history and origin of a word used in the English language. Also, every episode contains a very balanced review of another history podcast, which has been very helpful. Each episode contains a different introduction tune, which is always a piece of classical music.
Literature
Librivox
Librivox gives you the opportunity to download a huge and fast-growing library of classic titles. Anything that has fallen into the public domain is fair game to this impressive group. This means you have free access to a vast range of titles in the English language. You can either download the full unabridged book in its entirety in one go or get an episode every time you go onto iTunes like any other podcast. I have downloaded works by Mark Twain, Ayn Rand, Rudyard Kipling, Mary Shelley, George Orwell, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edward Gibbon, Hans Christian Anderson, Oscar Wilde, Aesop, Bram Stoker and many others. There is, of course, a drawback. Librivox is supported solely by volunteers, amateurs who read and record chapters of the books. This means that every single chapter begins with a short introduction advertising Librivox and the person reading the piece. The sound quality is generally quite good, but the reader's abilities to read out loud vary tremendously. Some do a fine a job, but there are others who are not so clear or have difficulty putting much energy or personality into the task. Also, some books seem to have been read by a voice synthesizer for some very strange reason and are best avoided. As you can expect production values are pretty basic, but this hasn't stopped me from enjoying listening to some of the greatest books and stories ever written.
Pseudopod
This is a superbly produced weekly horror podcast. After an informative introduction, detailing background information on this week's author, the reader for the week reads a professional short story from the horror genre. The stories are always adult in content and it is a real treat to get access to so many different works not in the public domain. Each episode is then finished with an entertaining sign-off, discussing the subject of the story or other related works. Occasionally, but rarely there is a review Pseudopod has its own creepy industrial sounding signature tune, which is pretty cool.
World Book Club
I am not quite sure how regular this podcast is as it seems to download as and when. However, it is a very professional programme focusing on one author each episode. The author is invited to read excerpts from his or her most famous or latest book and then to answer questions from the studio audience or from emails and telephone calls from around the world. It is a great premise and a huge variety of authors have been on the show, covering a very broad range of genres from Michael Bond (creator of Paddington) to Umberto Eco (The Name of the Rose) to Lionel Shriver. If you love literature then this programme is a must for you.
Scepticism
Skeptoid
Brian Dunning's no frills but extremely informative programme on single sceptical issues. This is a very consistent weekly science podcast, focusing on debunking myths, urban legends, conspiracy theories, pseudoscience and other weird phenomena. Dunning sees himself as the Al Gore of sceptics, but I think he does himself a disservice. He has a very frank and direct approach to public speaking, not without warmth and certainly not without humour. He is also clearly very interested in education and dedicates special episodes to answering questions posted specifically by students. He also has his own live educational show, designed to promote science and his website is extremely interactive with a forum and places to post up comments on individual shows. No stranger to controversy Dunning dedicates regular shows to addressing his critics too. Another divergent type of episode is also one where he addresses any mistakes he may have made, promoting the importance of critical thinking. However, the main shows are all about single extraordinary topics where scepticism can be applied. I subscribe to all the main sceptic programmes, but Skeptoid is nearly always the one I listen to first. This is mainly due to its short and sharp approach, giving the facts in an entertaining way and generally focusing on a single issue.
Little Atoms
Little Atoms is a British sceptical podcast. It takes its lead from the Enlightenment, focusing on science and rationalism. The format is solely interviews and is comparable to the American "broadsheet" type podcast, Point of Inquiry, which is also worth listening to. What I like mainly about Little Atoms is the focus on ideas. It is not scared to move away from the negative side of scepticism and look at the exciting ideas that are coming out of the ever progressing world of science. Furthermore, it expands its field in history, my main area of interest, and social studies. Conspiracy theories also get a regular debunking too. Interviewees have included Alan Moore (graphic novel author of "From Hell", "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", "Watchmen" and so on) and Michael Shermer ("Why People Believe Weird Things").
The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe (SGU)
This is the New England Skeptic Society's rather lengthy yet regular podcast containing a panel of scientific sceptics. The show includes guest interviewees and focuses mainly on current topics in the media. On a scale of seriousness in the sceptical world I would put Point of Inquiry at the top (it's a bit like "The Times" of sceptical podcasts) and The Good Atheist at the bottom (this is a much more fun orientated sceptical podcast), and the SGU comes somewhere in the middle. It has the right balance of humour and serious science. It also takes account of the length of its programmes and has addressed this by producing a great companion podcast called the SGU 5 x 5. This is a five minute podcast with a panel of five sceptics addressing a single subject such as homeopathy or logical fallacies.
Martial Arts
I couldn't write a review on my favourite podcasts without mentioning podcasts on my very dear friends Geoff Thompson and Iain Abernethy.
Geoff Thompson
Richard Barnes interview Geoff Thompson every week on his weekly article. Geoff made his name through promoting realistic self defence concepts and was quite a controversial and inspirational figure in the martial arts. He certainly inspired me to change my training methods. However, after writing many books on this topic Geoff moved more into motivational work, screenplay and stage play writing. His movie "Clubbed" came out in 2009 and his short film "Brown Paper Bag" won a BAFTA. His articles nowadays are generally self-reflective philosophical works, what he calls "journey notes", and provide the general focus of his discussions with Richard Barnes. However, since the podcasts inception a lot more has been added to the show. Emails and letters are answered and discussed all with a lot of anarchic humour. Richard Barnes, a former radio DJ, adds in a lot of regular running gags, making the whole show a peculiar yet entertaining hybrid.
Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy is at the forefront of the UK's pragmatic traditional martial arts revolution. A keen and thorough knowledge of history along with a determined practical attitude have helped Iain become one of Europe's most sought after martial arts coaches. Iain's podcasts also focus on articles he has written for his blog and as time has gone on have become more controversial. His podcast is always well plotted out with a strong and thorough argument made.
Comedy
Ricky Gervais
This is a bit of a shameless promotion of Ricky Gervais's audio books. I say audio books, when really they are "discussion" Ricky and his fellow writer, Stephen Merchant, have with Karl Pilkinton. I say discussions they are more like bullying sessions. I have been a fan of Ricky Gervais's work since The Office and I nearly always find him entertaining. So, yes, these are generally just promotional excerpts and Ricky telling us, with intended post-irony, how free the podcast is wears a little thin after a while, but they are still very funny.
BBC Friday Night Comedy
This is the Friday series of comedy programmes on Radio 4. Sometimes it is the "News Quiz" with Sandi Toksvig and sometimes it is the "Now Show" with Punt and Dennis. Both are satirical and both contain some great comedians. So, if you like "Mock the Week" and "Have I Got News for You" then you will probably enjoy this weekly podcast.
Miscellaneous
Thinking Allowed
Sociology professor Laurie Taylor presents this weekly Radio programme. There are often two topics per show although special shows have completely focused on a single topic over multiple episodes. Taylor has a wonderful gentle style, often introducing a topic with reflections from his own life. Subjects almost always centre on a new academic book or a new social science paper, where Taylor interviews the book or paper's writer. Letters and emails are also read out to regarding an issue covered in the previous episode, usually providing additional information or corrections. Subjects go across the whole spectrum of sociology, stretching into criminology (a personal interest of mine) and sometimes even neurology.
Start of the Week
Andrew Marr's Monday morning programme for Radio 4, where he leads an overlapping series of interviews-cum-discussions on a newly released book, film or TV series. Marr attempts a tenuous theme, interviewing each author/creator in turn, but allowing questions and comments from the other interviewees. It makes for an interesting listening experience, as interesting links are found between otherwise quite different pieces of work or media.
Stephen Fry's Podgrams
I don't whether Stephen Fry is choosing to continue with his podcasts, but it is a shame if he has finished. Still available for subscription or downloads, Stephen decided on an interesting format. One episode would be a carefully considered and plotted out topic of his choice and the next one would be a more off-cuff style ramble. It worked for a while with the hugely intelligent and interesting celebrity providing a lot of fascinating information before launching into a truly hilarious tirade against some pet hate or another. Definitely worth a listen.
Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com
It is a little difficult to title this list. I thought about calling it "Ten Most Challenging Movies", but this is not really true. The Woodsman and Casualties of War are perhaps the only really challenging films listed here as far as I am concerned. I have settled for "Misunderstood" because of the way I have witnessed either the general public or the general consensus of critics go in their reception of a particular film. I am also quite prepared to take an objective and self-depreciating step back, and consider that I might have missed the pain point of the film gone the wrong way too. What I am saying is that I might be mistaken as well, which still goes to show how great these particular films are in that they make the viewer think.
A film set in the brutal borstal system still in operation in the 1970s. Often considered to be the breakout movie for director Alan Clarke, this signalled the beginning of unresolved rift between him and regular writer, Roy Minton. The problems occurred over changes made by Clarke without Minton's consultation when the BBC TV play was turned into a TV movie for Channel 4. Clarke would go on to prove himself in his later work, but Minton should be considered the unsung hero of the piece and his comments regarding the responses the film got are very interesting.
Minton was horrified when he heard a cheer go up as Carlin (the main protagonist) dispatched his opposite number, "Baldy", in another wing of borstal cementing his position as the "daddy". This is the notorious "Where's ya tool?" scene. All of Carlin's fights are won using complete street savvy, with him armed and his opponents unarmed. When Carlin takes out this particular inmate he does so by using the element of surprise and finishes him with a torrent of racial abuse cooling him a "coon" and a telling him to "rub some coal dust over those bruises you black b*stard". Now, I am not saying that Carlin in a hate-filled bigot. Few people make that mistake. His language is just realistic for a 1970s inmate of a high security offenders' institution and is used like a weapon - nothing personal, just survival. However, it is far from something that is to be celebrated.
2. Doubt
Doubt is perhaps one of the most intentionally thought-provoking films I have ever seen. Set in a Roman Catholicschool for boys it starts as a battle between tradition and change. Then it shifts our sympathies back and forth between one character that might represent coldness and discipline, but might also have the actual moral truth, and another that although represents liberalism and kindness, might be responsible for sexually abusing boy in the school. Sister Aloysius is the severe principle of the school and sees all agents of change from ballpoint pens to secular Christmas songs as signs of the decline of morals. As far as she is concerned the newly arrived Father Flynn is embodiment of change, wishing to move the school and the Catholic Church with the times. Between the two we have Sister James, a young novice nun and teacher, who seems to represent the audience.
Doubt is perfectly titled, using a very uncomfortable subject to throw us into a position directly between the state of belief and disbelief. The nature of scepticism is at its heart and, interestingly enough, this scepticism has nothing to do with the film's religious setting. Sister James works well as a conduit for all feelings related to this middle ground. She questions Sister Aloysius's obvious prejudices that might influence a confirmation bias regarding Flynn's guilt. Having said this, it is Sister James who is first suspicious of Flynn's relationship with the new boy and when she happily accepts his explanations, Aloysius is quick to point out that she is exhibiting wilful belief without sufficient evidence.
Doubt is one of those films that won't let you rest. Like Sister James, when you feel comfortable you are suddenly hit from a different angle. This is best illustrated in the scene where Aloysius confronts the mother of the child she suspects is being abused. I won't spoil the film for you, but the mother's argument adds a completely new dimension to the whole story.
John Patrick Shanley, who wrote the play the film was based on, said that his intention was to produce a story where audiences would be left creating the final act for themselves. This is what makes Doubt so effective.
3. Once Were Warriors
Jake "The Muss" is an even less likely heroic figure than Carlin. And yet, like Carlin, he is regularly quoted around beer tables by men who fanaticize about being tough as if Jake were another Dirty Harry or Rocky. Sure he is the alpha male through and through, a position many males instinctively aspire to, as he easily physically beats any man who challenges him, and he might be the life and soul of most parties, playing his guitar and cracking jokes. However, he is no success story. Jake can see no further than the self-imposed stigma of his racial caste. He is the descendent of slaves, married to a descendent of slave-owners. He is an alcoholic and one of the worst types of alcoholic. He has no time for any of his children. Because of his deficiency as a farther, one will end up in a juvenile detention centre, another joins an infamous street gang and his daughter will be raped by one of his drinking cronies, leading her to commit suicide. Meanwhile Jake beats and rapes his own wife. The one opportunity Jake gets to be a family man is short-lived as soon as he spots a bar and goes in for a drink. In the end his only use is as blunt instrument of violence primed and pointed by his long suffering wife to inflict retribution on his daughter's rapist.
4. The Woodsman
The most ignorant criticism this film received was that it, in some way, mitigated or created sympathy for paedophilia. What it does do is bring some realism, some maturity and some undeniable humanity to this darkest of issues. As a father and a self defence coach the film challenged me to face some very uncomfortable facts. Paedophiles are not faceless monsters that strike from the shadows. When they are discovered they may be loathed and feared by the masses, but they are also friends and relations to good people and good people befriend them after discovering their terrible crime.
The Woodsman offers no potential solutions and refuses to allow either soft-soaping liberal types or narrow-minded conservatives to have their way. There is the glimmer of redemption in the character of Walter, but equally the argument that paedophiles can never be truly be "cured" is also implied. Walter is a sympathetic character, but his past crimes are never played down in any way.
5. Swimming with Sharks
On the surface it's a black comedy about a young P.A., Guy, who suddenly snaps and starts torturing his sadistic boss, Buddy Ackerman (played by Kevin Spacey). Below the surface many have seen the film as a sharp critique of Capitalism at work in Hollywood. Given Kevin Spacey's political leanings this is a fair observation. However - and perhaps I am being perverse - I see it more as a hard lesson in life, particularly the showbusiness life. As the film progresses Buddy reveals the truth about success as opposed to the naïve idea presented in the movies that Guy has been inspired by. Buddy may be a tough, self-centred and cruel boss, but given the environment and the dream that Guy really wants he is the best teacher he could have.
6. Casualties of War
Set during the Vietnam War and based on true events, this is a hard-hitting story about peer pressure and courage. When an over-worked and vengeful squad of soldiers led by an out-of-control sergeant decide to kidnap and gang rape a Vietnamese girl, only one man is brave enough to oppose the decision. It is clear that the film is about a lone individual who defends what he believes is right no matter how much he fears for his own life. However, what grips me is the character of Diaz. Diaz is essentially a good person who does cave into the peer pressure and goes along with the whole terrible crime. He asks very uncomfortable questions of the everyman.
7. Made in Britain
Alan Clarke's other classic film. It frustrates many by being another example of a picture that doesn't present "a proper ending". There is no resolution, no conclusion and no twist. A brilliant early role for the great Tim Roth, it tells the story of a nihilistic skinhead and his life of antagonism and violence against authority figures. This is a classic case of "telling it how it is" without trying to push across a straight message or preach a moral. It is uncompromising, brutal and relentless.
8. Robocop
Merchandising didn't help matters, but the original Robocop was never intended to be a superhero movie. Director Paul Verhoevan did his very best to make sure it did not end up in this territory. Robocop is a product of fascist consumerism, where a person's life becomes a corporation's property. It is a dark tale of corruption and surviving within that corruption. Throughout it we get the reoccurring line "I'd buy that for a dollar", putting across the idea of a time where everything and everyone can be bought or traded. Sadly from Robocop 3 onwards the idea became pretty much all that the original opposed, finally ending up as a child-targeted cartoon.
9. American Psycho
Based on the cult novel, American Psycho is not a horror film. It just superficially resembles one. Patrick Bateman represents all that wrong about the 1980s. Everything is about image and "fitting in", with Bateman explaining all this along the way as if it were a precise science. He has everything down pat, saying what he feels is the right thing to say about charity, clothes, music and food. Sadly its sequel clearly ignored the main crux of the film and decided it was all about a snobby serial killer.
10. Starship Troopers
Paul Verhoeven again and yet again many people infuriatingly missed the point of this film. This time the director seems to have been even more subtle than he was with Robocop. By not making this a dark film but equally as violent and gory as Robocop, many movie viewers just assumed it was an over the top science fiction movie and even felt it was patriotic. It seems odd to say this, given the genre Verhoeven chose, but this is perhaps too subtle. The whole film is a blatant satire on American militarism. The humans in the film end up just as thoughtless and animalistic as the giant bug aliens they fight.
A Final Thought
I grew up watching videos as the exciting new medium. The appeal to my generation and subsequent young generations with DVD and Blu-Ray is that we can watch films again and again. As we grow up many of us find films we still enjoy re-watching. Often these are favourites from our youth or films that we associate with a certain time of year and have become part our traditions. However, we often like to re-watch a film with a new audience to show them something that moved us in some way or other. I can't think of a better reason to re-watch a film than when it really made me think. Great films, like the Usual Suspects, Pulp Fiction or The Omen, are worth re-watching because of their twists or different interpretations we may have missed on a first viewing. The films I have listed here are pictures that really prompted me, challenged me or dared not to follow a comfortable formula.
Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com
2009 marked the anniversary of several important historical events. The one that got the most attention was the 200th anniversary of the birth of pioneering English naturalist Charles Darwin, the date also coinciding with the 150th anniversary of his revolutionary book on the theory of evolution, “On the Origin of the Species”. This has seen several films and documentaries, plus some great programmes and lectures – Melvin Bragg’s four part edition of “In Our Time” being a stand out example - I have enjoyed commemorating the man’s life and work. My parents’ company also worked on the biopic “Creation” and, best of all, got a contract at the OldVicTheatre to supply a trained monkey for the critically acclaimed stage play “Inherit the Wind” starring one of my favourite actors, Kevin Spacey. The run has been packed at every performance and one my regrets has been that I haven’t found the time to watch it. The play is a 1955 fictional piece that was inspired by on 1926 Scopes Trial that saw a Tennessee high school teacher tried and convicted for teaching evolution.
Darwin is quite rightly considered by many to be one of the greatest Britons that ever lived. However, other historical events also deserve some consideration. 1 September saw the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. September saw several programmes and books released used to commemorate the biggest crisis of the 20th century. It made me consider the generation still alive that lived through those terrible times. It feels especially poignant today as many of us know of soldiers who fight in far away lands and we are all too aware of the dangers of bigoted fanaticism. This has happened in the form of extremist fundamental religiosity that has haunted the 2000s and in the rise of far-right groups in the developed world. Most of the people I knew that lived through that era were circus people who had a hard enough time before the war. During the war some of them would fight – my great-uncle was a fighter pilot and my grandfather and great-grandfather were in the home guard – and others would struggle to keep their business running, entertaining those who lived in the shadow of the blitz and the fear of invasion.
My third anniversary is a far less commemorated one. The “BBC History Magazine” – a great publication and podcast by the way – was the only time I saw this anniversary covered in the mainstream. Mary Wolstonecraft was a brilliant British intellectual, born on 27 April 1759, who wrote on a wide range of subjects. She wrote a treatise, history, philosophy, a book on conduct and even a children’s book. Wolstonecraft was a revolutionary thinker remembered almost completely for her feminism. Her reputation was seriously damaged when her well-meaning, honest and loving husband the great philosopher, William Godwin, wrote his memoir on her life after she died. By revealing her illegitimate children and her suicide attempts he only helped fuel the fire of his wife’s anti-feminist critics. A century later and Wolstonecraft’s argument for female equality was being voiced by angry numbers. Wolstonecraft put forward the argument that women were every bit man’s intellectual equal and should be treated as such, the only thing holding them back was education. The Suffrage Movement may have started in France, but much of its inspiration clearly comes from this remarkable human being. A relative of mine on the circus side actually marched and was egged on a Suffrage march during the early part of 20th century. Traditional circus people tend to be more right leaning than left due to their association with tradition and the fact that they are very much products of free enterprise. However, as I have argued before, much of what they have done is as much a shining example of liberal or even socialist ideals as it is of Capitalism. Feminism can be seen through the way women were taking on roles associated with male courage, such as wild animal presenters, and my book “The Legend of Salt and Sauce” reveals Madame Clara Paulo becoming the head of a British circus family a year before women were granted the right to vote at the same age as men.
However, my interest in Mary Wolstonecraft did come through an interest in feminism. It came through the daughter, Mary Wolstonecraft Godwin Shelley, the author of one of favourite novels, “Frankenstein”. But that is a topic for another day.
Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com
This blog is dedicated to my various articles, reports, reviews and opinions. Some may be contentious, others confrontational, but most are here because they simply don't fit comfortably on my other blog or my website. If there is a theme then it is a strong respect for the past, a progressive approach to the future and an emphatic importance on the now. For want of a better description, this is my sandbox of ideas and influences.
I am a writer, a presenter, a self-defence/martial arts teacher and rarely bored. This blog was primarily set up to promote my written work. For a more in depth profile and information on my involvement in martial arts please check out my Clubb Chimera Martial Arts bio on http://www.clubbchimera.com
Available now from aardvark.circuspubs@btinternet.com The Legend of Salt and Sauce (The Book) Jamie Clubb's first book, "The Legend of Salt and Sauce: The Amazing Story of Britain's Most Famous Elephants" ISBN 978-1-872904-36-8 is now on sale through Aardvark Publishing. The book tells the true story of Salt and Sauce, two Indian elephants, who arrived in Britain in 1902 and became involved in the live entertainment industry from the Music Hall scene to circus and finally Butlin's Holiday camp. This is the story of how the elephants became both feared and loved by some of the most famous people of their era, and how their story became mythical among the circus community. For the first time ever Jamie Clubb, aided by his father, famous wild animal trainer and circus/zoo historian, Jim Clubb, tell the complete and true account of their lives.For purchasing details please email the book's publishers: aardvark.circuspubs@btinternet.comTo read an interview The Pen and Spindle conducted with Jamie Clubb, please click on the following link http://penandspindle.blogspot.com/2007/12/interview-with-jamie-clubb-author-of.html
Jamie Clubb - author of "The Legend of Salt and Sauce"
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