I am very pushed for time at the moment, so in lieu of a proper post here is a photograph (taken with my mobile from a television broadcast of his stand-up routine) of the odious Russell Brand.
Russell Brand is a media personality, television presenter and newspaper columnist. On a cultural level he is very influential, particularly with teenagers who are trying to delineate their difference by approving of things / ideas / people that would shock their families, teachers etc (a tough job since no-one is shocked by anything these days). In doing this he is following in the tradition of the Sex Pistols in the 1970s (first to use the f-word on television) or long-forgotten Sigue Sigue Sputnik in the 1980s or Marilyn Manson more recently.
Russell Brand never says anything interesting, but he has hundreds of opinions, all of them studiedly “outrageous”. Being “outrageous” is the main thing he does. He will carry on being “outrageous” until someone even more outrageous comes along at which point he will look tame.
In visual style he resembles a caricature by Aubrey Beardsley (one of the obscene ones). His act combines camp mannerisms with an aggressive and intimidating delivery (I think I dislike him because he comes across as shouting bully). He is most admired by the sort of characterless characters you find in the novels of Brett Easton Ellis.
Or perhaps I am just getting old and can’t judge these things anymore?
11 comments:
Oh dear, another pointless criticism of Russell Brand. I dont see why you feel that you have to attack him when he has done nothing wrong. I don't mind if you don't like him as he is not to everyone's taste but please don't call him a bully or imply that his opinions are fabricated to shock.
If you took the time to research any of this, you would find that Russell is very intelligent and conteplative and his opinions are based on his own research and beliefs.
Its very easy to criticise teenagers for their taste in the avant garde which is why the media does it so often. I think that it is important for things to be shocking as otherwise people would never question their values.
Im not trying to convince you to like Russell Brand Im just asking you not to descend into the style of the 'daily mail rant' that seems to crop up so often on the internet.
ahhhhhhh
id just like to pint out that the fact that you've taken time out of your life to take a picture of someone you dislike on your phone, upload it onto your pc and written an uniteresting insulting piece of writing about him a bit pathetic
and then there's the fact that you don't know enough about him or his fans to make these criticisms
so you should research your material first and then take up a hobbie
:D
Thanks for commenting both of you!
oh gosh arn't you sad, go read his book, then you will realise that what you have just written is total nitwitty rubbish, and hes an extremly lovely guy....
and...why have you call Russell a bully? thats the last ever ever never ever thing that would have entered my mind..
Russell Brand's appeal includes but extends well beyond teenage rebels. The Daily Telegraph - a publication now known for its iconoclasm - recently included a review of his stand up in Camden, which ended: 'Showman, shaman and sex-machine all rolled into one, no-one else so encapsulates what it feels like to be 100% alive - and quintessentially English - at this moment in time'
Brand's manic delivery is part of his act and is very rarely bullying. If you meet him in person he is softly spoken and polite.
Taste in comedy is of course subjective and perhaps you don't find him funny, which is fair enough. But he is a complicated and sophisticated comedian who is worthy of a more thoughtful critique than you offer here.
PS - sorry, I meant to write that the Daily Telegraph was not known for its iconaclasm.
I am very pushed for time at the moment, so in lieu of a proper deconstruction of your piece heres a little sort of wake up call
Russell is a big comedy star who's away in america making films, liasing with beautiful and amazingly attractive women and living a life of luxury, without a care in the world. Whereas you are here with a little blog that means nothing much really.
Your way of writing resembles Mr Brand actually, shame he's a lot more articulate and funny in his pieces. The fact he's a hell of a lot more relevant must make you feel really sick,
Don't try an put it down to a good education, because if that were the case you would've had the sense not to of posted something so needless.
Just cause you'll never make it, doesn't mean you can be bitter
society condemns you.
This isnt me trying to insult you either, i could do a lot worse, but if you write such things, expect a backlash, thats all im saying.
Well we obviously disagree here.
You are right that he is sometimes funny, but more often I don't find him funny (shouting "ball bags" repetitively is not humour).
His appearance is designed to intimidate, his shouting is designed to intimidate, his use of bad language is designed to intimidate (and would get him arrested if he repeated it in the street) - what more evidence do you need that he is a bully?
Linda your line about the Daily Telegraph illustrates what I am getting at. "Alternative" comedians are now so common and mainstream that they are no longer "alternative" - they have become part of the establishment and as staid and boring as Terry & June or Bless This House used to be (not that Terry & June wasn't / isn't funny, but that the world represented by Terry & June became so safe and boring that it appalled people). To be truly avant garde it is time for a revolution against the revolutionaries.
Daily Telegraph praising Russell Brand, Gordon Brown praising the Arctic Monkeys - doesn't this sort of endorsement set alarm bells ringing in your mind?
Russell Brand is quick-witted, and obviously well-educated (to judge from the cultural references in his act) and sometimes even I find him funny. But being a genius is not enough. Dr Goebbels was a genius.
It's not enough to keep tearing things down and undermining things - talented individuals should use their genius to create culture of lasting value.
Who are you to say what Russell Brand needs to do with his career? What have you done to "create culture of lasting value"? Take a look at yourself before criticising others, particularly those who make a hell of a lot of people laugh.
I am who I am, Anonymous. No more, no less.
I have a right to my view without being shouted down.
I've no idea who Russell Brand is, so I can't comment on him at all.
I can say, though, that of the hudnreds of blogs that I've perused, "a from l" is one of the three or four that I read regularly, and have done for some time. It's well-written, insightful, and contains a wealth of information on many topics that I find very interesting. So, I'm afraid that the "little blog" and "no lasting value" comments are simply misplaced--even ironic, given that it's clearly influential enough to merit a response!
Incidentally, from the description of Brand here I suspect that he's not as funny as he could be were he not to pander to "rebellious" youth. In my view, the best comedians are those who visually and in manner appear to fit in with the establishment, and so whose criticisms of it are all the more biting. (Think here of Peter Cook--a true comic genius.)
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