I was also thinking that although Freak Shows were horrific and the people were treated like animals etc etc, it's not as if we've changed our voyueristic ways. We're just more socially aware and have the advantage of technological advancement to watch 'freaks' in our living rooms, in private, on TV. 'The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off', 'The Mermaid Baby', 'The Tree Man', 'The Wolf Man'. All of these people with names and families have featured on tacky programmes on channels like Five and Sky1 and their viewings must be high because there's always one of them on. So people who sneer at the Victorians (who, I believe, should be kept in their historical context, for the most part anyway) are probably the ones shouting 'eeeewwww' and covering their eyes when a girl who looks like an 'octopus' is filmed living her everyday life. They are probably the people who go into work the next day saying something like 'Ooh, did you watch the Octopus girl last night... poor thing' etc etc. We're just as bad. Actually, we're worse. Because these programmes are pitched to us from a faux sensitive view point, as if everyone in the country is mature enough to watch some of these people without squirming, laughing or feeling shocked. Yes we don't lock people in cages anymore (which is a good thing, obviously) but the desire to stare at things different from us is still there. At least the Victorians were open and honest about it.
Kim Cattrall - Earl Grey Tea
I understand that life after playing one of the most famous TV characters in recent times can be tough. Type-cast and bored, you needs that role that will change it all. Something gritty, challenging, controversial perhaps? Or maybe something that shows your sensitive side or ability to put on a good Scottish accent? Lets get your name back out there, Kim. I can see it in lights: 'Kim Cattrall as you've never seen her before... First came the Sex, then the City, now the drugs? Oh, you didn't get the part? The murder? Oh, they gave it to Jessica Alba?. The treachory? You didn't even bother to go to the audition? Hhmmm... I've got it! The tea! Samantha who?
I like Tatler because it is so removed from most British people's reality, it makes a brilliant form of escapism and insight into how the other third live. It is quite witty when it wants to be and, like Horse and Hound and Country Life, I respect its lineage and the way it's stuck around despite the fact most people can't afford to buy an issue of it let alone a £4.5 million town house in London or 20 horses in Shropshire. And, let's face it, people hate Toffs so it has a lot of stereotyping to overcome.
On Saturday me and my man went to see Up! 3D in Covent Garden. The words that spring to mind are 'go' and 'see' and 'it'. It was absolutely brilliant! The attention to detail was unreal, like the typically sophisticated fur and fabric that Pixar do so well. I liked it because it didn't feel too much like a hightech animation, though. There are moments when it seemed like a cartoon, the house bieng a good example of that. This meant the film had charm and innocence, reminiscent of Toy Story, and it also meant that the audience could focus on the story as opposed to the advancement of animation since the last film.
