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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Tuesday, April 9, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Thatcher had profound effect on popular culture

Margaret Thatcher was not just a political titan, she was a cultural icon skewered by comedians, transformed into a puppet and played to Oscar-winning perfection by Meryl Streep.

With her uncompromising politics, ironclad certainty, bouffant hairstyle and ever-present handbag, the late British leader was grist for comedians, playwrights, novelists and songwriters whether they loved her or as was more often the case hated her. To the satirical puppeteers of popular 1980s TV series “Spitting Image,” Thatcher was a cigar-smoking bully, a butcher with a bloody cleaver, a domineering leader ruling over her docile Cabinet.

Pop was political in Thatcher’s day, as the bitter social divisions of the 1980s sparked an angry musical outpouring.

“I see no joy, I see only sorrow, I see no chance of your bright new tomorrow,” sang The Beat, urging Thatcher to resign in “Stand Down Margaret.”

In “Tramp the Dirt Down,” Elvis Costello imagined the day of Thatcher’s death: “When they finally put you in the ground, I’ll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down.”

Former Smiths frontman Morrissey went even further, lyrically fantasizing about “Margaret on the Guillotine.”

Musicians including Paul Weller and Billy Bragg formed the Red Wedge movement to campaign against Thatcher and for the Labour Party in the 1987 election. But for some later musicians, Thatcher was a more positive figure.

Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell who sported a Union Jack mini-dress as part of the 1990s’ girl group tweeted Monday: “Thinking of our 1st Lady of girl power, Margaret Thatcher, a green grocer’s daughter who taught me anything is possible.” (Source: CTV News)

Monday May 7, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Monday May 7, 2012

Rob Ford versus the Toronto Star

The great thing about Toronto is how sophisticated it is. A World Class, big league city, as it continually reminds itself, right up there with New York, London and Paris. Major league. So-o-o-o-o cosmopolitan. Hip and cool. Celebrities come here all the time.

So here’s what’s going on in the New Paris right now: The mayor and the city’s biggest newspaper are having a feud. It actually started well before the mayor, Rob Ford, won the last election, when The Toronto Star did everything it could to defeat him, based on their contention that he’s an ignoramus. Ford won anyway and The Star, sulking, has spent much of its time since then lampooning his weight. Yes, the newspaper that’s all about human dignity and respect for the individual can’t shut up about the fact the mayor weighs 300 pounds.

Ford, figuring The Star’s never going to give him a fair hearing anyway, refuses to talk to them. Everything gets very childish, with The Star constantly moaning about being shut out of the communications loop. It’s all about freedom of the press and the mayor’s responsibility to represent all voters, not just those he likes, or the ones who voted for him. They take every opportunity to belittle him, and he gives them lots of material to work with, making a big show of refusing to attend the annual gay pride parade, and treating council like a rubber stamp until its members get fed up and rebel against him, shooting down his cherished plan to expand the subway system.

The Star isn’t satisfied with attacking the mayor’s political record, though. They want to go at him personally. They send a reporter up to snoop around his cottage, because he said he’d prefer to be there rather than at the gay pride parade. When he applies to buy some park land near his house so he can build a security fence, they send a reporter to sniff around the neighbourhood and take pictures.(Source: National Post)