TV Mind Warp

Television is an incredibly powerful medium.

 

We believe what it tells us unquestioningly because we see it with our own eyes in our own front room.

 

It talks to us when we are leaning back and relaxed. When reading a paper- we know it’s biased and the bullshit detector is ticking away. We trust telly. Telly entertains us at the end of a hard day. Anyway, I saw it with my own eyes.

 

TV documentaries are often put together to make a point. Take “The Poles are Coming”. This was on the BBC as part of the ‘White’ season. A generally well made piece- it looked at the impact of Polish immigration in the town of Peterborough. This being the ultra- liberal BBC, the underlying message was that Polish immigration has had a positive impact on the UK (something I agree with, but that’s irrelevant). The most memorable scene in the film was at the end. A camera was shoved into the face of local lads outside the Jobcentre. When challenged, all agreed with the statement- “There are no jobs because of the Poles nicking them all”. The programme maker then offered the lads minimum wage agricultural jobs. All turned them down and took big gulps from their cans of premium lager.

 

This was a very powerful image. I know this, because I have heard a number of people say:

“People in this country don’t want to work. I saw this thing on telly. All these kids were on about the Poles nicking their jobs- but when he said he could get them a start picking- none of ‘em wanted to know.”

 

Job done. It’s now in the national psyche that we need the Poles. OK- the woolly liberal on the decks may not have meant to fuel the cut benefits and put ‘em in the Army brigade- but they were only white working class kids so he won’t shed too many tears over them

 

If you think about this exercise- you soon realise it has nothing to do with the truth. I could go down to the Jobcentre with a video camera today and offer fifty people minimum wage jobs in the crappiest conditions. If I got three to accept them- I could edit it and make a short piece about how English people are desperate for work, but the immigrants are nicking all the jobs. If I got three Pakistani kids to accept- I could take the piece down a whole other sensationalist alley. Or- I could do what “The Poles are Coming” did. I could just ask the kids with the home made tattoos, fake Burberry caps and open cans of Stella. I mean- that’s what all working class kids are like isn’t it?

 

Two other celeb’s are famous for this kind of thing. The first example is Derren Brown. In his film- The System he exposed the way we can be manipulated as we trust what we see with our own eyes- even when it is a distorted version of reality. Although it was presented as a piece of gimmicky entertainment- The System was one of the most informative pieces of television you’ll ever see. It should be compulsory viewing in all secondary schools.

Watch the clip below- Derren Brown tosses a coin so it comes up heads ten times in a row. He uses the same technique to convince a member of the public that something which is totally impossible is actually happening.

Derren Brown Tossing

 

Watch the whole show if you have time- it’s worth it.
The techniques used by Derren Brown are employed (with less style, honesty and intelligence) by Jamie Oliver.

 

The chubby Duncan out of Blue impersonator will base his Ministry of Food show on a number of Jamie Facts. Jamie Facts are like real facts- except they have no basis in reality and do not stand up to the slightest scrutiny.

 

The Jamie Facts are:

60% of people are incapable of cooking.
The inability to cook is the main reason for the obesity problem in the UK.
Rotherham people are particularly bad examples of the above.
There is nowhere for people to learn to cook if they want to.

 

To set up his show- it is imperative for Jamie Oliver to prove the Jamie Facts. Not only that- he must entertain his audience. The first episode of Ministry of Food is reportedly already in the can.

 

He pulled off the same trick with Jamie’s School Dinners. In that case- he had a far easier sell and a receptive audience. People remember this show as a classic piece of TV- exposing a national scandal.

 

I would suggest you watch the first three minutes of this clip.
Jamie Mugs For the Camera and Makes Working Class Kids Look Bad

 

Not the classic you remember (I’ll give my review of it next time). Just think how easy it would be to present the opposite case with exactly the same kids in exactly the same school.

 

Then think how the people of Rotherham are going to be represented when he sets out to prove his Jamie Facts.

 

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