R.I.P. John Hughes

Another hero from my childhood has passed away, John Hughes, the filmmaker. Growing up in the 1980s this man was a legend to me. No other filmmaker captured the 80s with more accuracy; portraying the fashion, angst and stereotypes with such detail around characters you can’t help loving. Whilst many go on about Ferris Bueller as his greatest film, personally I think you can’t go much further than The Breakfast Club for cinematic gold, a film which consistently makes my favourite films list. Thanks for the good times Mr Hughes.

Summer Reading

Here is my employer’s (Weber Shandwick) latest thought-leadership piece for your consumption. I hope you enjoy the read.

The news cycle in 2009

My summary of the news events of the year is below. 2009 will be officially known as Groundhog Year.

Big Brother find out about Jacko

I thought Big Brother lost its “social experiment” relevance a long time ago, that was until I was told about this by a friend. Interesting to see the contestants’ reaction to finding out the news about Michael Jackson’s death…one of serious shock and sadness.

If only some of the media could replicate some of this, ITV’s reshowing of Martin Bashir’s “Living with Michael Jackson” was a hugely cynical approach to try and increase audience share. I hope, like me, you avoided watching it.

Britain: the home of democracy. Yeah right

The electorate has spoken in England and there are now no Labour-run councils in the whole of the country. The Government has now also moved into third place behind the Tories and UKIP in the UK-wide European Election vote, despite totalling the same number as MEPs as the latter (13 each, compared to the Conservative’s 25). Check out the Beeb’s coverage here.

There is no doubt this is a complete disaster for Gordon Brown and the Labour Party and that there is nothing to spin here. I’m of the view, however, that this could end up being even more of a disaster for the British political system and most importantly for us…the public. If Brown stays on (which seems likely) it will be against the will of the public and ultimately against what democracy is all about. To make a dramatic point, under Gordon we will live under a dictatorship run by an unelected Prime Minister who sets his own agenda despite the will of the overwhelming majority.

It is my view that we are entering a hugely dangerous period in our nation’s politics and that the outcome of the next twenty-four hours (or so) will decide whether we care for democracy or not. We have nothing more to do than put faith in the Labour Party’s elected MPs to make the right choice on behalf of the British public. Some of you may feel he’s the right person to lead the country but we’ve spoken, we don’t and you work on behalf of us. Do your duty please.