Monday, July 21, 2014

SPOILT ROTTEN - Theodore Dalrymple



Another series of essays which attack what Mr Dalrymple calls the cult of sentimentality.  His main target is the media , he asks why does a wealthy handsome victim of a serious crime deserve the public sympathy by having their story told over and over in the media when an alcoholic homeless man suffering the same fate hardly merits a mention.  This is over simplifying what he says but I believe I have expressed the point he is trying to make.

Another very valid point he made is that if you behave like Madeleine McCann's parents and face the media stoically without screaming and spitting and rolling around on the ground you in these enlightened times get accused of not caring enough. With the result that very soon it is being suggested that you have murdered your daughter because you didn't scream and spit and roll about on the tiles.  Again a over simplification of what he is expressing but the point is the same.

Again a very good collection by a man who has worked in the fields he writes about, recommended.

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