it's been 10 days and for about 7 of those nothing has actually happened. people weren't sitting shivah at home, all in black, silently weeping. people went to work. people went out and socialised.
the people who wanted to pay their respects had a chance to do so. as a proportion of the population they are pretty small. i don't know a single person who queued to see the queen lying in state in edinburgh or london, and most of my social network live in london. your average briton is probably as perplexed and slightly annoyed at the wall-to-wall media coverage and lack of football on the telly as you would be.
it's been great fun in the last 10 days, actually, poking fun at the usual pile-on from the corporate sector. lots of very dubious 'tributes' and things done 'out of respect for QEII's passing'. a bit like when companies and their marketing dept's try to do something perfunctory for pride week or black history month or whatever. people have a sense of humour about it; they know it's a load of cynical bollocks.
it's possible that the media's long-planned operation about these things has given a distorted picture. the BBC has been duty-bound to stay thin-lipped and dressed in black for the entire period, and the whole show has been meticulously planned and laboured over for literally a decade. it's probably been the most-orchestrated media spectacle in modern history, british or otherwise. so the media class are very pious and devout in their shows of grief; this is their show and their moment to shine. your average briton has not been going around dabbing a handkerchief at their eyes for 10 days, or watching the footage for 10 hours a day.
the people who wanted to pay their respects had a chance to do so. as a proportion of the population they are pretty small. i don't know a single person who queued to see the queen lying in state in edinburgh or london, and most of my social network live in london. your average briton is probably as perplexed and slightly annoyed at the wall-to-wall media coverage and lack of football on the telly as you would be.
it's been great fun in the last 10 days, actually, poking fun at the usual pile-on from the corporate sector. lots of very dubious 'tributes' and things done 'out of respect for QEII's passing'. a bit like when companies and their marketing dept's try to do something perfunctory for pride week or black history month or whatever. people have a sense of humour about it; they know it's a load of cynical bollocks.
it's possible that the media's long-planned operation about these things has given a distorted picture. the BBC has been duty-bound to stay thin-lipped and dressed in black for the entire period, and the whole show has been meticulously planned and laboured over for literally a decade. it's probably been the most-orchestrated media spectacle in modern history, british or otherwise. so the media class are very pious and devout in their shows of grief; this is their show and their moment to shine. your average briton has not been going around dabbing a handkerchief at their eyes for 10 days, or watching the footage for 10 hours a day.
Last edited by uziq (2022-09-19 16:27:33)