The 90th annual Academy Awards – and me

March 5th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

For a couple of months now, I’ve been attending a Monday evening class at the City Literary Institute in London where we have been discussing some recent successful films and comparing them to earlier movies. This evening, we’re scheduled to discuss last night’s Academy Awards.

But, the film of the night is one of the few award winners that I’ve not actually seen. I refer, of course, to “The Shape Of Water”, which received 13 nominations and won four awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. I will have to see it this week.

However, I have seen “Darkest Hour” [my review here] which attracted the Best Actor award for Gary Oldman and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” [my review here] which took Best Actress for Frances McDormand.

Other award winners which I have seen and admired are “Dunkirk” [my review here] and “Blade Runner Runner 2049” [my review here] which swept the board with the technical awards and “Get Out” [my review here] which won Best Original Screenplay.

You can check out the full list of nominations and awards here.

Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)

How would one summarise the current Chinese political system?

March 2nd, 2018 by Roger Darlington

In my recently updated short guide to the Chinese political system, I conclude:

The Chinese Communist Party is almost schizophrenic in its economic policies. On the one hand, China is still a communist society but, on the other hand, its economy is more capitalist than most European countries. This contradiction is blurred by language with the use of vague phrases like “socialism with Chinese characteristics” and “the socialist market economy”. The word ‘capitalist’ is rarely used; instead policymakers talk of “economic development” and “commercial business”.

On one of my four trips to China, I was told by one person with an eye on the recent history of Russia’s economy: “Socialism has not saved China; China has saved socialism”.

Meanwhile politics is almost invisible in China. Although the country is still controlled by the Communist Party, there is none of the overt sloganising that one sees in communist countries like Vietnam or Cuba (both of which I have also visited). Real politics takes place opaquely in the organs of the Communist Party, not publicly on the streets or in the media.

Most citizens – even educated ones – have no interest in politics generally or democracy in particular. Instead there seems to be an unwritten and unannounced compact between the Party and the people: ‘You leave us to run the country and we’ll leave you to make as much money as you can’.

After the Roman Republic ceased to exist and the Roman Empire began, the Roman satirist Juvenal wrote: “Two things only the people anxiously desire – bread and circuses.” The Chinese Communist Party leadership appears to be practicising a 21st century version of this dictum: as far as ‘bread’ is concerned, food is plentiful, living standards are rising and consumer goods flood the markets while, as far as ‘circuses’ is concerned, television and cinema provide exuberant entertainment, theme parks and scenic areas proliferate, and domestic tourism is boomimg. Meanwhile politics is for the few, behind closed doors, and totally in the confines of the Communist Party.

It remains to be seen whether this massive disconnect between economics and politics – the former liberal, the latter totalitarian – can survive and, if not, whether the changes are smooth or disruptive.

But fundamental change is unlikely under the current leadership. Early in 2014, President Xi Jinping said in a speech at the College of Europe in the Belgian city of Bruges: “Constitutional monarchy, imperial restoration, parliamentarism, a multi-party system and a presidential system, we considered them, tried them, but none worked.”

Meanwhile Xi has consolidated his personal power to an extent unrivalled since Mao and indeed, at the Party Congress in 2017, had written into the Party Charter “Xi’s Thoughts on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”. Since then, in 2018 his Thoughts have actually been written into the nation’s Constitution and the term limit of the Presidency has been abolished.

Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)

A review of “Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine” by Gail Honeyman

March 1st, 2018 by Roger Darlington

In my experience, if one genuinely enquires, very few people are “completely fine” – and Eleanor Oliphant, a finance clerk in Glasgow, is far from this state of bliss. Indeed she is a deeply troubled woman of 30, although only gradually do we discover exactly why in this accomplished first novel by Honeyman.

The story is told by Eleanor herself in very literate terms (she has a degree in classics) which by turns are amusing and moving. This is a woman of very limited social experience and inter-personal skills who is trying to lead a self-contained life that ultimately is a profoundly lonely one.

At the beginning of her tale, she declares: “I’m Eleanor Oliphant. I don’t need anyone else – there’s no big hole in my life, no missing part of my own particular puzzle. I am a self-contained entity.”

But later she admits: “These days, loneliness is the new cancer – a shameful, embarrassing thing, brought upon yourself in some obscure way. A fearful, incurable thing, so horrifying that you dare not mention it; other people don’t want to hear the word spoken aloud for fear that they might too be afflicted, or that it might tempt fate.”

Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)

A review of “La Belle Sauvage” by Philip Pullman

February 28th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

Published in 2017, we have had to wait 17 years for the first part of the trilogy “The Book Of Dust” since the publication of “The Amber Spyglass”, the final part of the trilogy “His Dark Materials”. This novel is a prequel to the other three and “La Belle Sauvage” – the name of a canoe that is central to the plot – is set 10 years before “Northern Lights” in the same universe which, in the words of “Northern Lights” is like our own universe “but different in many ways”.

The heroine of “His Dark Materials”, Lyra, is here only six months old, but we have a new young hero, 11 year old Malcolm Polstead, and a new young heroine, 15 year old Alice Parslow, who are brought together in a desperate attempt to save baby Lyra from the clutches of the Consistorial Court of Disciple, while simultaneously being pursued by the secret service known as Oakley Street, in the other-worldly nature of a southern England overcome by a flood of Noah-like proportions.

We meet people (notably Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter), characters (such as daemons, gyptians and witches) and objects (the enigmatic alethiometer) that we know from the earlier trilogy but, at this stage in the new trilogy, we discover little more about the mysterious Dust, though we are told: “Since the discovery of the Rusakov field and the shocking but incontestable revelation that consciousness can no longer be regarded exclusively as a function of the human brain, the search for a particle associated with the field has been energetically pursued by a number of researchers and institutions without, so far, any indication of success.”

Although not as brilliantly inventive as the other three novels, this is an enjoyable 540-page addition to the original canon of 1,300 pages.

Philip Pullman has decribed his second triology “The Book Of Dust” as not a sequel or a prequel but an “equal”. Whereas “La Belle Sauvage” starts 10 years before “His Dark Materials”, the next two books will move forward 10 years from “HDM” to when Lyra is an adult. Fortuantely we won’t have to wait another 17 years for them …

Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)

A media lesson on the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

February 27th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

I’ve watched every episode of the American television series “Madam Secretary” which is now half way through its fourth series, but I’ve only just caught up with the latest episode, partly because it was broadcast later in the UK than in the US and partly because I’ve been away in China.

This episode explores the circumstances in which the American President can be removed from office by invocation of the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution by a majority of the Cabinet. In fact, this provision has never been activated in real life and the programme necessarily simplifies the situation, but the episode manages to examine the provision in a way which is both informative and entertaining.

You can read more about this episode here.

Interestingly, the issue of the 25th Amendment featured in an episode of “The West Wing” – my all-time favourite television series. In this fictional case, the President himself invokes the Amendment because of a perceived conflict of interest and, since there is no Vice-President at the time, command goes to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

You can read more about this episode here.

Posted in American current affairs, Cultural issues | Comments (0)

The Internet in China

February 27th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

I have just returned from a two-week visit to China – my fourth trip the country.

In China, most web sites – including my own and usually the BBC – are usually accessible but over 3,000 sites are blocked including the American tech giants Google, Twitter and Facebook – what is often called the Great Firewall of China. In fact, while I was in the country, I was able to use Google and post to Facebook by using a VPN (virtual private network).

The Chinese state blockage of Google, Twitter and Facebook has the effect – as well as limiting free access to information – of forcing the Chinese to use their own versions of these services (Baidu, Weibo and WeChat respectively) which makes monitoring of Net content and activity so much easier and more comprehensive.

The ubiquitous WeChat is used for a very wide range of services including messaging, sharing photos, ordering cabs, and payment of goods and services. It has been called “the app for everything” and has around one billion active monthly users. On the assumption that the state has access to the app’s data, this is a powerful surveillance tool.

In China, smartphones seem to be as popular with older people as with younger ones and most people are consulting them all the time even over meals.

Posted in Internet, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)

Television in China

February 26th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

I’m just back from a two week trip to China – my fourth visit to this fascinating country.. I stayed in six hotels and visited five family homes, so I saw a fair bit of local television. I think you can learn a lot about a country by watching its television All the hotels and all the flats I visited had large screen, high quality television sets and in homes they seemed to be on permanently (even during meals). Except for two up-market hotels, all the channels I could find were Chinese.

Even allowing for the special programming at the time of the Chinese New Year, overwhelmingly the content of China’s television is entertainment: lots of singing (usually ballads) and dancing (especially coordinated) and performing (especially acrobatics and magic) with good-looking comperes and singers in neat, bright clothing with huge and elaborate sets. As in the UK and the USA, talent shows are popular. So are comedies and the humour is loud, simple and slapstick. Unlike other countries, uniformed military figures appear on stage and in audiences.

The other main genre is drama which tends to come in two forms. First, there is historic drama set in various dynasties of ancient China with wonderful costumes and characters who often deploy magic and/or martial skills. Second, there is Second World War conflict in which the Chinese always defeat the occupying Japanese and frequently the Chinese guerrilla forces have good looking young women who are ultra brave and brilliant shots. Cutting is frequent and rapid.

There seems to be a paucity of news, discussion and documentaries. Obviously, like any country, the news is selective and slanted. During my visit, much was made of the US President Donald Trump substantially reducing the budget of the Department of State, boosting expenditure of the military, and modernising the nuclear arsenal. What sort of message is this sending to China about the aggressiveness of America’s foreign policy intentions? But then US media represents China’s foreign policy as equally assertive.

Posted in My life & thoughts, World current affairs | Comments (0)

China in the New Year (15): more Guangzhou

February 24th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

It has been the last day of my amazing two-week visit to China with my Chinese ‘family’ Hua and son Joshua to celebrate the Chinese New Year and it was our second day in the southern city of Guangzhou. Typically we had a very varied programme.

In the morning, we visited a place called Baiyun Mountain Scenic Area – a mixture of the kitsch and the colourful. Whereas yesterday, we were in a park full of little children, today we were in a park full of old people – the Chinese cater for everyone. Again someone took a photograph with me, the only foreigner in the place.

In the afternoon, we drove over to the new (2010) Guangzhou Museum, close by the very tall Guangzhou Tower (which was not worth going up because the weather was so gloomy). At the museum, I looked at Ming & Qing dynasty porcelain, Chaozhou woodwork, and Duan ink stones as well as – to my surprise – a special temporary exhibition of the work of the Czech Alphonse Mucha.

In the evening, we went on a boat ride on the Pearl River. We were treated to a show which combined traditional costume and singing with very high tech sets and lasers. Then we enjoyed looking out at the illuminated buildings along the river, most notably the Guangzhou Tower.

Tomorrow morning, we leave our hotel at 6 am for the 13 hour flight back to Britain. I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading these postings about our trip as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing these experiences with you. And, if you’re a friend of mine on Facebook, you’ll have seen lots of photographs too. But actually living these events has been something else.

Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (1)

China in the New Year (14): Guangzhou

February 23rd, 2018 by Roger Darlington

We have now flown from Xiamen to Guangzhou for the final leg of our two-week trip to China. Guangzhou – which used to be called Canton – is a city the size of London, with a population of 7.4 million, located opposite Hong Kong. I spent a little time in Guangzhou on my first visit to China in 2000.

On this holiday, so far we’ve had lots of family, lots of food, some politics, some culture. So, what’s been missing? Right – animals. So today we went to the Chimelong Safari Park which, as well as a large selection of wild animals in natural outdoor settings, contains loads of amusements (including a fun 4D show), shops, and eateries. Since it was still the week of the Chinese New Year, it was heaving with families with young children. Once again, I was the only foreigner in the place.

The park contains the only twin koalas in the world, but its main claim to fame is that it hosts the only panda triplets in the world. How cool is that? I know that you want to be be advised of their names. They are called Mengmeng, Shuaishuai, and Kuku – and they were born on 2 July 2014 in case you want to send them birthday greetings.

As well as spending all day at the park (after all, we’re travelling with a young boy of almost 11), in the evening we attended the Chimelong International Circus which is a permanent feature of the park. The venue is the largest circus arena I have ever seen and the show was the most spectacular that I have ever experienced – an incredible variety of talented acts with great sound and lighting. Controversially to non-Chinese, the performances involved a wide array of animals from white tigers to pink flamingoes.

Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)