A Load More Daft and Cliched Things in Soap and Movies

Why is it that generally speaking, if a character has a posh accent, they are generally not to be trusted,  that they get to be a villain in a soap (or any other drama)? In American films generally, if they want to cast an actor as the 'bad guy' then they will go out and find a British actor to play the part. In 'The Lion King,' the voice of Scar, the villain of the piece, is voiced by Jeremy Irons. What is it about a Britsh actor's voice that suggests 'villainy'? In soap-land, if you cast an actor with a middle-class accent, you can bet your bottom dollar he'll be untrustworthy, and either be a landlord, businessman, accountant or have a similar job. Cockneys, in general are cast as being 'the salt of the earth,' hard working, good parents, loyal and so on (or in shows such as 'Only Fools and Horses.') that is, unless they live in Walford, and in particular in and around the streets near Albert Square.

Getting away from soaps, it's occurred to me that super heroes (and heroines) costumes are just plain silly. Well, thinking about them in general, super heroes are pretty stupid. I know it will upset a lot of people, but that's my opinion. A load of stupid characters dressed in ridiculous costumes, roaming about the world. For example,Wonder Woman's costume is really impractical. Does she never get cold? How does she manage if she goes shopping? How does she manage at work?  In fact, what does she do for money? Does she have a paid job? Does her boss mind if she shoots off and saves the world? Then, of course, where do you purchase such an outfit? They never seem to get dirty, when you've saved the world from some evil monster or villainous character. After jumping all over the place, smashing down brick walls, swinging on ropes and scrambling down the side of skyscrapers, how come their costumes never get dirty, or get torn on nails, caught on splinters of wood? Where does Wonder woman get her clothes repaired? Not just her, of course. There's the age-old thing about Superman wearing his underpants over his trousers. How does he manage to get from the Clark Kent garb into the Superman costume so fast? Then, how does Lois Lane never realise that Superman is actually Clark Kent. All he has to do is take off his glasses and he changes into his ridiculous costume and he's his alter ego. Why does it take Lois Lane so long to catch on to who he is? Is it because Clark Kent is such a geek and Superman the complete opposite. Not very convincing. It's not just Lois Lane who has never caught on who Clark Kent is really. Nobody else notices. Even if they peer at his face closely, wouldn't they see he's Superman?

Hollywood seems to be obsessed with making more and more films based on super heroes. There is obviously a certain section of the audience who love these characters and the movies which are based on them, but generally I think they would be in the teens and twenties. As a result they are ignoring those of us who prefer something with a bit more depth, not all about fighting villains and daft stunts like flying about on the end of bits of rope and climbing up the side of sky scrapers. Most are what you'd call 'Summer Blockbusters,' noisy and action-packed. Although there's nothing wrong with 'action-packed' movies, it annoys me that they take up so much space in the multiplexes up and down the country and then there are countless sequels. It's really no wonder that television seems to be the place for really good stories to be told. So many actors and directors are now turning to television because they can tell stories over seasons or series, have a longer time frame to really get to grips with characters in more depth. We have directors such as Ridley Scott investing time and energy on projects such as 'The Man In The High Castle' on Amazon and with series like 'Taboo' on BBC 1 with actors like Tom Hardy involved in not only acting but having a say on the writing and producing. 

A Sunny and Cold Day

It wasn't quite as cold as it was yesterday morning. I was expecting there to be quite a hard frost, but only actually a light icing on the car so not as bad as it might have been. As I write this the sun is making a valiant attempt to shine. When it's sunny the lounge can become quite warm, and it is then that you don't need the central heating on.

I was supposed to have gone into the City centre this morning to get my eyes re-tested at Spec Savers. I got my eyes tested by Boot's Opticians a couple of months ago, but then I saw that Spec Savers had a good offer whereby you got two pairs of specs made up for £69. You just take your prescription from one company to another and they make up the specs accordingly. When I got the glasses back around a week later I found that the distance pair were fine, but when I got home and tried the reading glasses, they weren't correct for reading at a fairly close distance, such as a book or newspaper or when working on the laptop computer, as I am at this moment. The pair I am currently using are an 'off the shelf' pair bought from Boots. I managed to book a re-test appointment on line and it was going to be today, but they rang this morning to say it couldn't go ahead as the optician was unwell. It is re-booked for this Tuesday morning. I suppose if a member of staff is ill there isn't much I can do about it. I was offered an alternative appointment but I really didn't fancy driving in to the city centre this afternoon, so I chose to have the Tuesday alternative.

I'm currently watching "The Man In The High Castle," The Amazon series which is available on Amazon Fire Television.  It's one of those series which keeps you guessing, and it certainly has that 'I must see the next episode' feel to it, which I suppose is essential when you have all the episodes available to view 'on line.' You could 'binge' view this quite well, if you were that way inclined. This sort of thing has certainly change the way people watch television. Gone are the days when you had to wait a full week before you got the next episode of a series. I'm on series 2 which began just before Christmas. It is based on a Philip K. Dick novel and takes the 'what if' concept of what would have happened if the Nazis had won the Second World War. They have divided the U.S.A. in to 'zones' and are in charge of the country in partnership, although it's an uneasy partnership, with the Japanese. It is co-produced by Ridley Scott, who is also responsible, in part, for the new BBC 1 drama 'Taboo" which stars Tom Hardy. It makes a change to have some television drama with a bit of bite to it. Not for those of a nervous disposition as this one in particular is dark and grimy. Why on earth is it that the BBC can commission this sort of stuff, yet insist on going on with pap like "Holby City" and "Casualty" which are both well past their 'sell-by' dates? Well, I suppose it gives someone work, even if it's a few actors and writers.