In which the boy compares fiction with fact and finds himself lost somewhere inbetween.
I finally – quite sadly – got around to watching the last episode of the superb FOX show House the other day. Brilliant, eminently watchable, and addictive to the last though it was, one feels that it was the only appropriate way to end such a programme, befitting its main character, its structure, and its overarching theme: everybody lies.
This theme is currently prevalent in a variety of immensely successful network television shows. It may be said that “all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death“; encouraging stuff, Revelation 21:8. But to some writers, lying is an art, a way of life; something to do to pass the time. How I Met Your Mother‘s philanderer to end all philandering, Barney Stinson, claims that “a lie is just a great story that someone ruined with the truth“. Another fantastical FOX network series, Lie To Me, is built around the basis of one man, Dr. Cal Lightman, and his ability to expertly read body language – namely microexpressions – in order to ‘find the truth behind the lies’. Bloody Homeland showcased an entire season of successful artifice, pretence and fraud from Congressman (formerly Gunnery Sergeant) Nick Brody, followed by the CIA’s convenient replacing of deception with even more latent (or blatent, depending on your view) underhandedness. And as for Walter White..? ‘Breaking Bad’ was and is most definitely a by-phrase for turning to any number of dark sides.
It would seem, according to fiction, that deceit is an anti-hero’s elixir…and though this adage may well work successfully as a premise for a fictional medical drama, a show comprising one man’s attempt to sleep with every woman in New York City, or anything relating to the American government, I didn’t particularly think it would subsequently become apparent that this is the case in reality too.
Just as Lewis’ redheaded ex-soldier appeared to have a life falling down around his ears before Carrie and her crew conveniently covered the congressman’s ass with what essentially boils down to a folder marked “Piss off, he’s doing something secret“, it would seem appropriate to say that a whirlwind of lies, damn lies and – well, not so much as statistics, but certainly more lies – have stood a considerable test of time (longer than the fictional eight years of Homeland‘s, anyway). And those lies have been wrapping and winding their way around not only the throats of senior members of the British Broadcasting Corporation, but around the establishment itself.
Over the past – well, who really knows how long? We’ll go with ‘while’. It covers all manner of sins – over the past while, the powers that be at the BBC have woven a tangled web of deceit that even Charlotte (of ‘s Web’ fame) and Aragog (Harry Potter, anyone?) wouldn’t have enough silk to create. The previous six weeks’ worth of news emanating from the corporation has caused widespread concern in dual dimensions: one, due to the fact that it was hidden from the public for so long, and two (now coupled with the “shoddy journalism” that has dragged an innocent party or two into the fray) because of the frankly lethargic way in which reporters and researchers are resorting to reveal their finds. Yes, I’m talking about you, Iain Overton. Twit.
In the previous week, 99% of the information passing through BBC News has been about itself, so much so that a member of the Twittersphere made a remark suggesting the institution should start a “BBC BBC News channel“. After Savilegate there came Newsnightgate, swiftly followed by McAlpine- and Entwhistle-gate; two more resignations later and it has gotten to a point where there have been more gates in the papers than in an ironworks factory during the Victorian period. With £1.3 million given to Entwhistle – as Harriet Harman put it – as a “reward for failure” after doing a ‘Russell Brand’ and martyring himself for the cause, there have been calls for more resignations as well as a “radical structural overhaul” from Lord Patten. Even the PM chimed in, stating that Lord Patten “has started to make the right noises“. Odd as that turn of phrase is, it’s probably more encouraging than the BBC Trust chairman handing in his notice too.
As for the PM…it may even be less of a chime and more of a knell; partly due to the fact that he and precious few others have piped up to say anything, as if they’re not marginally responsible. The links between the government and the BBC – however impartial the institution makes itself out to be – are widely known, and deeply rooted.
Lies, wrapped in deception, shrouded in mystery…and a partner in crime has been found for the biggest conspiracy of silence in modern times: that guilty party of journalistic lethargy and absent-mindedness. It is most unbecoming to see that the past forty years has seen this society of seclusion, obscuring the “worst kept secret in showbusiness” from the world; a secret that really should have been made public at the earliest opportunity. At the time, and given the circumstances, it would have ‘not been a big deal’; hence the cover-up. Someone made that decision, and so the screens were raised around the truth until the present day. In a parallel universe, we might just have looked back, shaking our heads at the stupidity of a cigar-toting Leodensian who was subsequently dismissed in the early 70’s instead. Who knows who would have been the lead presenter on Top of the Pops? Who cares? At least the reputation of the BBC would have been upheld; or maybe, the institution’s seeming monopoly over broadcasting would have been quelled in its youth, rather than our chastising of the elderly standard it has now become.
Deceit is a many splendored thing: it would appear that yes, everybody does lie. (Quite apart from that, there’s never been a worse time to broadcast Children in Need. At least it shows they’re not backing down.) However, things are hardly ‘business as usual’; reality should see a damning remark made against this deceit. Just because Gregory House strives for truth from his patients while lying to his staff does not mean that it is acceptable in real life. Just because Barney Stinson will willingly tell any woman whatever they want to hear to bed them does not make this right down your local. Hell, just because Nicholas Brody is a mole in a fictional US government does not mean we can bend our views, allegiances and opinions in order to hide the truth.
If the BBC want to survive, surely honesty is the best policy.
Oh, and finally: Thanks to Dorothy Allison for the title to this blog. Perfect.
“Stand your ground! If someone questions you, distract them from the original lie with more lies…“
– Barney Stinson, circa 2009
– TB
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