Plastic Protest
Originally posted on Goblins Under the Apple Tree substack.
Ooh, this guy is REALLY angry! And you’d better listen!
So, when did the cult of the rebel begin? I am referring to that glamorous presentation of the brave iconoclast who makes a stand by expressing his radical separateness from everyone else. Note that we are talking rebellion here and not revolution which is a far riskier proposition. Revolution implies solidarity, group action. More to the point, revolution implies a decisive change in everything.
These are dangerous concepts to the rulers of any system who obviously depend on the continuation of that system in order to continue their rule. And this is why any high-profile presentation of “revolution” must be couched in terms that imply a harmless flaunting. For example, a new fashion which can be picked up by any number of people and which will make zero difference to any system. Indeed, such a colourful cavalcade is only bound to get the cash registers jingling.
My guess is that it began in earnest with that “youth culture” (ahem!) “revolution” of the 50s/60s. “Ah!”, thought the snappy marketing guys, “so the kids are into this rebellion stuff. Sure, we can give them that. We can even give them ‘revolution’ with the aforementioned redefinition clause.”
And so, we arrive at the grand oxymoron. The system which happily advertises its own downfall thereby roping in the gullible punters who are just so “against it all”.
Granted that there is a certain exceptional case to be made here i.e. a point where the roaring media machine really does intend an actual revolution or, to be more precise, a draconian alteration that will end up shafting the punters even more … or a revolution that’s happening somewhere else, somewhere not favoured by the home crowd. This home crowd wish to extend their grasp over another realm by causing an upheaval over there. More on this shortly.
But let’s consider the original home scenario. For this plastic rebel/revolutionary scam to work it must be based on the paradigm of the evil orthodoxy present before us all right now. Those evil overlords are sucking us dry. So far, there is no problem with this scenario. It is only the truth. And it derives its seductive power precisely from the fact that it is the truth.
The clever bit comes next. The solution they flog you i.e. the action you take to “stick it to the man” is precisely what “the man” wants you to do.
Jaws Gets Microscopic
That’s how it went with covid. It was all prefigured in that 70s blockbuster Jaws. The bit where the evil money-grubbing mayor wants to keep the beaches open but the cop and the boffin and the old sea dog along with the protesting population know better. “We’re being eaten by a shark!”
So – switch the big toothed terror for lots of miniature little tentacled piranhas and “Lights! Camera! Action!” for the new production … with the same plot.
Hence the Evil Businesses want to keep everything open in the face of this Unprecedentedly Deadly Virus but the spunky protestors insist on closing it all down and distancing and forcing vaccine production. And the funky rockers, helpless before the lure of the mighty rebel posture, were right on and right in. Furthermore, anyone questioning any of this was a Tory bastard, Thatcherite throwback, reactionary, money grubbing shark denying mayor type.
To pick out one particularly vomitable example, the oleaginous Jimmy Carr telling the unvaxxed in his audience to slap themselves in the face.
Now that was a weird moment. The entire edifice of Right On Rebel Comedy trembled as, for what seemed the first time in my own experience, part of an audience was actually being accused to its face. Or perhaps not, going by the seemingly unanimous cheer that greeted him. Did Carr insist on a vaxxed only audience? From what I can glean, no. Naturally, Carr considers himself cutting edge. Recommending – through the vehicle of ridicule – an untested, unnecessary and, for many, lethal injection is a sign of rebel credentials.
“Bravely” Mocking the Celebs
Here’s another one. Recall that goosebump moment when Ricky Gervais got the boot into those pampered overfed Hollywood icons? Shit, I fell for that myself! “Good on yer, Ricky!” I thought.
Let’s go out with a bang. Let’s have a laugh at your expense, shall we? Remember, they’re just jokes. We’re all going to die soon and there’s no sequel. Yeah, remember that…
Lots of big celebrities here tonight. I mean, legends, icons, yeah? This table alone, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Baby Yoda. Oh, that’s Joe Pesci, sorry. I love you, man, don’t have me whacked…
Look, talking of all you perverts, it was a big year for paedophile movies, Surviving R. Kelly, Leaving Neverland, Two Popes. Shut up, shut up. I don’t care, I don’t care…
Ooh! Daring! Brazen! Rousing stuff! Enough to fire you onto a cloud of ecstatic and practically Luciferian glee!
Oh but … hang on … And I can’t hope to improve on the words of the inimitable Miri AF here:
What we have to be crystal clear on with this speech is that it was fully scripted, rehearsed, and signed off at the highest levels before Gervais delivered it. The shadowy executives behind Hollywood, and by virtue its award ceremonies, were fully aware of what Gervais would say, and what’s more, would have instructed him to say it, because, they always have to tell us.
Gervais was telling us – and the gathered gliteratti of Tinseltown – that it’s over. The gravy train, the riches, the awards, the celebration – get ready to say goodbye.
Miri goes on to detail an interesting theory about those burning celeb houses in Los Angeles. See here:
These witting or unwitting entertainment shills for the propagandist paradigm are no longer needed. So, they have been issued their marching orders. Well maybe. But one thing is certain. Nobody gets up to make a speech at a high-profile award ceremony without being thoroughly vetted and approved. And this is even – nay, especially – true regarding the “controversial” speeches.
But let’s get bang up to date.
Bravely Standing Up To The Regime … Over There!
Here’s where the action is now!:
Here we have Omid Djalili i.e. the guy atop this post. And isn’t that an interesting shot? His mouth is wide open and his tongue is lolling and his eyes are so intensely fired up that he’s almost crossing them …and …well, it doesn’t quite convince, does it? It’s like one of those student comedy shots. “Hey grab me doing this! What a lark!”
Bur Omid is deadly serious! And, it goes without saying, admirably brave! So brave that his whole “message” is being covered by the Telegraph (the ultimate insider’s channel) and relayed across all the major channels (Yahoo, MSN etc.)
So, let’s look at this Telegraph spiel:
Comedian Omid Djalili isn’t afraid to joke about Iran
Not afraid! i.e. Not afraid to agree with the consensus throughout the Western Press!
Where our national broadcaster has let us down with its coverage of the Iranian protests and their aftermath (including the ongoing internet blackout and the government’s violent crackdown), Anglo-Iranian comedian Omid Djalili – one of the King’s favourite wags – has been an invaluable source of incisive commentary, online and on TV.
“Our national broadcaster” is the plastic puppet villain the BBC. It’s always hilarious when I hear folk vent their fury at the BBC since their wrath implies the ludicrously reductionist implication that you can trust the other mainstream channels. And this is where that Overton Window tactic comes in. The BBC give you a moderate Zionism which is then taken to be total capitulation to the Forces of Evil i.e. that ubiquitous Hamas operation. In this way the entire spectrum of opinion can be represented by the sentiments: “Israel is good”, “Israel isn’t bad” and “Israel may be forced to do some dodgy things but they’re still good or not bad”.
Oh, and this particular little piece of “anti-BBC” theatre has just bit the dirt since I just caught Daring Djalili on a seemingly interminable interview on that very national broadcaster.
Anyway, back to that cess pit of all spookery, The Telegraph:
He’ll ensure that the story doesn’t go away, which makes the extended tour of his warmly enjoyable comedy show a vital additional platform: each gig will inevitably bear his latest thoughts on the horrendous situation.
Let’s put that through a truth filter:
We’ll ensure that the story doesn’t go away and he will echo us, which makes the extended tour of his viciously venal comedy show a vital additional propagandist platform: each gig will necessarily bear his latest delivery of our script.
And I think it’s time for a bit of glamorous James Bondery:
Given that he suspects that Iranian agents have been sent to his tour, there’s courage as well as defiance on show here.
Yup, Omid’s yer man! And it’s time to hear a bit from him about his philosophy:
When people get together to laugh and are united, that is exactly what the regime in Iran do not want us to do – they are anti-life and anti-joy.
Hmm … Now where have I heard that kind of thing before? Anti-life? A cult of death? Why it’s the old “War on Terror” spiel! And how curious to talk about “what the regime in Iran do not want us to do”. He’s doing a gig in South West London, for Christ’s sake!
After a warm-up from Boothby Graffoe, Djalili bounced back to whip up the crowd again. “Are you up for a laugh? Yes?” Then he shifted, manically and theatrically, into an Arab accent: “And that is why the West must be destroyed!”
Ah so David Miller was right when he said of Djalili (emphasis added),
This Baha’i Zionist, whose only claim to fame is minstrelling in Muslimface for Islamophobic audiences with fellow Zionists Yigal Naor, Matt Lucas and David Baddiel, is now begging for bombs to fall on Tehran.
And, ever conscious of the limits of seriousness for its bourgeois audience, The Telegraph wraps it up with a bit of a chuckle albeit it with a chill embedded:
Still, his natural affability glues it all together, and there are some lovely wisecracks: “I was in Kuwait. I saw a beggar. He gave me 50 quid. ‘You’re from the UK? I hear there’s a cost of living crisis.’” An adherent of the Baháʼí faith, his show’s title Namaste is an Indian expression that acknowledges the divinity in the person greeted. And the evening was suffused with a need for asserted humanity. “If we don’t get rid of [the Tehran regime], God knows what will happen to the world,” he said, near the end. No mirth there, but plenty of food for thought.
And once again there is a familiar whiff in the air. The “War to End Wars” once again.
And so here is the moral: If you’re going to go on a splendid rant against some regime in another country that isn’t connected to your own then … well, what is the bloody point? Other than to act as a stooge for your own government?
That is not protest. That is the opposite.
