Tag Archives: justice

May 14 2013
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Telly Tuesdays

Telly Tuesdays : The Ice Cream Girls

Last week I looked forward to the conclusion of ITV’s 3-part drama, ‘The Ice Cream Girls’. In previous episodes, we were introduced to Poppy, a quiet woman just released from prison after serving a long sentence for the murder of a teacher when she was a teenager. She had been tried alongside her friend, Selena, whose lawyer mother ensured that she was found not guilty. The episodes use flashbacks to explore the question of who was really to blame for the murder of a man revealed to be a manipulative abuser of young girls, as well as the impact of the event on the girls’ lives as they have grown up. Selena has since achieved a good education, married and had a child, while Poppy’s fractious relationship with her stepfather and feckless mother leaves her isolated upon her release.

Throughout the series it is impossible not to feel sorry for Poppy, both of the excellent actors portraying her at different ages left in doubt that she was innocent from the beginning. Her desire for affection clear from the first scene involving her mother, who betrays the cardinal rule of parenting by choosing her husband over her child. I found her the most irritating character in all this, she displays no hint of backbone while her husband remains hostile towards Poppy and it becomes easy to see why the teenager was so open to manipulation by a man willing to give her attention. Like mother like daughter I suppose. Yet the lack of a resolution once (spoiler alert!) Poppy’s innocence has been proven is incredibly frustrating. The much loved younger siblings whom Poppy has repeatedly asked for return, and yet there is no comeuppance for the man who has always believed in her guilt, or for the woman who excluded her eldest child from a family meal.

For Selena, her sense of guilt worsens as the story progresses, though it is unclear until the conclusion whether this is due to lies in the courtroom or the lies told to her new family, who know nothing of her past. Again the young actress portraying her teenage self shines in the scenes involving her abuse by a teacher.

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May 04 2013
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Fame On A Friday

Fame On A Friday : Amanda Bynes and Lindsay Lohan Should Hang Out and Share Their Crazy

The world of celebrity isn’t exactly a nurturing or supportive atmosphere for young, rising stars, so it should seem hardly surprising when people who have grown up under scrutiny turn out to be that crazy person who you avoid on the tube. This week Lindsay Lohan began her court ordered rehab program, complete with temper tantrums because she wasn’t allowed to bring cigarettes/she didn’t like the look of the place/she generally didn’t get her own way and was actually having to face the consequences of her actions for once. Not that it will make a lot of difference to her character. This girl has broken law a number of times and at every court appearance the judge is apparently determined to take a harsh approach, only to reduce any punishment to a minimum – and even then Lohan seems to think it is too much. Yesterday it appeared that she was shopping at an electronics store while her (now fired) lawyer assured the courts that she was safely ensconced in a treatment facility. She then finally checked herself into the Betty Ford clinic (where “she knew people”, which is always a sign of a life well lived) just before a deadline that may have resulted in jail time. We can but hope that some time away from the world and her batshit crazy parents will help her to realise the extent to which that she is destroying her life.

Another starlet in dire need of psychiatric attention is Amanda Bynes, who has shed her sweet Disney persona for that of a genuinely unstable and worrying human being. She is frequently photographed around New York in a variety of strange outfits and situations, stories about her behaviour abound. Today a video was released of her in the gym on a cross trainer looking….interesting. In contrast to Lindsay, Bynes seems to be evoking genuine concern from her family, the public and fellow celebrities alike. Lohan has had her chances, Bynes seems to be oblivious to her vulnerable situation in a way that is reminiscent of Britney Spears’ infamous meltdown. The only question is when there will be a significant event that will lead to Bynes getting the treatment that she so obviously needs, before something infinitely more tragic can occur.

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Mar 08 2012
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Wednesday's Got Issues

Wednesday’s Got Issues: Kony or Con?

Today, I am one of the almost 10 million people who have watched the Kony2012 video (see below), in which an American based organisation detail their attempts to halt the atrocities committed in Uganda by Joseph Kony and his army, the LRA. It has been widely documented, but not reported by Western media, that they have abducted, raped, murdered or enslaved thousands of people, particularly children, and the Kony2012 people want it to stop. Which is perfectly understandable, the unimaginable horrors committed by Kony and his gang have scarred a generation of Ugandans but received little media attention. I freely admit that until today I had never heard of him or the LRA, and that is my fault for not educating myself better about the world today.

After watching the video, like many others I immediately went to the Kony2012 website and registered my support, then I had a quick look at their merchandise shop – designed to help spread the word through posters, t-shirts and bracelets, among other things – and on an impulse I bought a snazzy looking shirt and one of their bracelets. Don’t ask me why, I plead brainwashing. I don’t generally think of myself as easily led or gullible (but then, no gullible person does), but 5 minutes after hitting the ‘Pay’ button, I was shocked by how quickly I had just spent money, based on a 30 minute video. So I did a little more research on the TRI people (who are behind the movement) and was surprised at how easily I found articles talking about the questionable nature of the organisation, who seem to have created a movement through snappy video editing and an adorable 5 year old who doesn’t understand that there are bad people outside of Star Wars.

Some articles that I found interesting can be found here (there are plenty more to be found via Google):

http://ilto.wordpress.com/2006/11/02/the-visible-problem-with-invisible-children

http://thedailywh.at/2012/03/07/on-kony-2012-2

I want to make it clear that I support the efforts of governments and international organisations who are trying to capture Kony and bring him to justice. But I am wary of a campaign that is light on information and heavy on emotion, I got so caught up in it all that I actually gave them money, and that scares me.

Something else that I find worrying is that, 10 minutes after I placed my order I tried to cancel it by clicking on the links provided on the store website. Every single one led to an error page. Luckily I was able to find a relevant email on another of their websites, and hopefully I will get a refund for my stupidity soon, but I am becoming less and less supportive of a movement whose only goal seems to be to create a world of hipster clones with a cause about which they know very little. I’m glad that I came to my senses, I don’t know why my cynicism alarm didn’t trip sooner. We live and learn.

That’s not to say that I’ll never do anything for charity again, it’s just that I am going to be a little bit more careful in the future and use one of the websites below to verify where my cash ends up.

http://www.charitynavigator.org/

http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/

If you want to make up your own mind, watch the video or click on the link below:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/kony2012/kony_5.html

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