From Bob's Archive: The glitz-based community and the axis of edginess

I'm away for a while, so as is my usual practice, I am re-posting stuff from the early days of this blog, from the days when I had far fewer readers. I am posting this piece, from May 2005, not because it is particularly timely now, or particularly interesting or important - but because I think it kind of represents me getting into my stride as a blogger and finding my blogging voice, something I realise it actually took me quite a while to do. The post kind of peters out at the end, which is also unfortunately typical of my style. Haven't checked all the links, so they may not all work!

I've been trying to get around to writing something about that rich idiot Chris Martin of the dreadful, bland, pop band Coldplay, and his stupid remarks about shareholders being evil (indeed, the greatest evil in the modern world), which kind of misses the point about what's wrong with capitalism, makes him seem like a daft hypocrite for getting letting EMI make him rich, and undermines the worthy causes (like Make Poverty History) he supports.

We can put this in the same category as Robert Redford calling Sundance a "festival of dissent". As LIBERTAS puts it:

"As Redford uttered his tired cliches about “diversity” and “dissent,” he never paused to reflect that the Sundance Film Festival, the largest and most powerful film festival in the U.S., is not a voice of “dissent” but actually the voice of a repressive and conformist liberal mainstream. If Redford were honest about celebrating “different voices in film,” he would not show movies that were only exclusively from the left."

To those who have, more shall be given, and celebrities who go to Sundance rake it in in terms of freebies. According to The Guardian (And the award for best goodie bag goes to ...):

"The recent Sundance film festival, another event supposed to promote small films, was overrun with companies eager to give their products away to the right people. Jewellery, clothing, hi-tech gadgetry, even an 18-carat gold vibrator and Krispy Kreme doughnuts were snapped up by eager celebrities."

The Sundance package adds up to $50,000.

Chris and Gwyneth also benefited from the Oscar package. From the same Guardian article:

"Four years ago the Oscar goodie bag was valued at $10,000. By last year that had grown to $120,000 and included a gift certificate for a resort in Mexico. Gwyneth Paltrow, who presented an award that year, used hers for her honeymoon with Coldplay singer Chris Martin. The bag included a 43-inch high definition TV. As unwieldy as that may seem, this year the Oscar goodie bag threatens to go further than ever to keep ahead of other ceremonies."

The smug liberalism of the glitterati is nicely disected by Neomi Emory in The Weekly Standard. [reached via Betsy's Page - in turn reached via Random Jottings - reached via Least-Loved Bedtime Stories who calls these fools the "Hollywood Phalanx of Frivolity" - reached via Photon Courier]