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Poppies by Jane Weir
“Three days before Armistice Sunday”, saying farewell to her son as he leaves to go off to war, becomes the defining moment of this mother’s life. All she was feeling at that moment, all the pride and the sadness, live with her forever after, so powerfully important did that moment become due to the son’s…
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Grease
“…this is just an average musical, pleasant and upbeat and plastic.” Roger Ebert Though panned by critics, upon its 1978 release, Grease was recognised as fun and a likely hit. The year before, John Travolta had starred in the smash that was Saturday Night Fever, an edgy, gritty look at the life of a 19…
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The X-Files: A Return
According to IMDb, The X-Files first aired in the U.K. on 19th September, 1994 – which is pretty much half a lifetime ago. No other TV show has stuck in the mind to anywhere near the extent The X-Files has. Why should this be so? What is it about this particular TV show that has…
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Oedipus at the Crossroads
Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus Rex, is familiar, if only as the inspiration for Freud’s infamous ‘Oedipus Complex’. The play is generally regarded as one of the greatest works of literature ever produced, with no less a figure than Aristotle claiming that Oedipus is the ideal tragic hero. Of course, it was also Aristotle who defined what exactly…
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Game of Thrones
‘Game of Thrones’ scores 9.2 on IMDb and has an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one highly regarded show. The IMDb score is exactly the same as the (in my humble opinion) the far superior ‘The Sopranos’. I understand that while telling the overarching story of Tony Soprano, ‘The Sopranos’ tells season-length stories,…
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Iago
One of the more puzzling aspects of Shakespeare’s Othello is precisely why does Iago do all that he does; deliberately manipulating others to bring about the murder of the innocent Desdemona and the suicide of the mercenary Moor? That there appears to be no satisfactory answer to this puzzle is what makes it so entertaining.…
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The Feminist Literary Experience
Many moons ago, when I was at university, having just come out of Catholic seminary, where I spent just over five years studying for the priesthood, I made the decision that I would, instead, be a teacher of English. Instead of focussing my attention on one Good Book, I would now be free to explore…
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It isn’t fair
She sought himHe sought herThey sought meIt wasn’t fairShe loved himHe loved herThey loved meIt wasn’t fairWe sought themThey found usWe loved themIt wasn’t fairI am weWe are theyThey love usIt isn’t fair
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Agreeing with Professor Dawkins
I have long disagreed with Prof. Richard Dawkins’ view on religion. I have no problem whatsoever with Prof. Dawkins’ expressing his personal views on any given topic. I am not even offended by such a public figure using celebrity to influence others – the Catholic Church, for one, has done no less for centuries. I…
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Drawing the Line(ker)
Apparently, according to someone who claims to have known him for thirty years, Gary Lineker (BBC football pundit) is no “rabble-rouser”. Apart from using a term which should set sensitivity meters a-flicker, it is nice to have confirmed something that is probably blatantly obvious to anyone who has any kind of inkling of who Gary…
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