Russell Brand preaching revolution on Paxman Last Night

Aotearoa

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

One of the few articles I've read in recent memory that had me riveted. His articulateness is more obvious when he writes.

he did a great one about amy winehouse when she died too.

wretcheddomain

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

One of the few articles I've read in recent memory that had me riveted. His articulateness is more obvious when he writes.

This exaltation is actually beginning to nauseate me. I'd better depart this thread to evade this sickly sycophancy before I become contaminated with its miasma.

sok2005

wretcheddomain wrote: »

This exaltation is actually beginning to nauseate me. I'd better depart this thread to evade this sickly sycophancy before I become contaminated with its miasma.

Did you just put "this is givin' me the vomits" into thesaurus.com?

Cienciano

I'm not a fan of him as a comedian, but he's bang on the money here.

beks101

Temptamperu wrote: »

I don't know why people don't like Brand. Hes a smart and articulate individual who has over come much adversity in life to get where he is now.

Oh maybe I know, jealousy is an awful thing.

Perhaps people just find his personality irritating, his melodramatic mannerisms, tendency to indulge in obscure rants and his ridiculous back-combed 'bed head' hairstyle annoying for no other reason but that they're intensely irritating?

Fair fcuks to anyone who's overcome adversity and bettered their lives, I'm all for that, but doesn't mean I'm going to automatically subscribe to their newsletter or force myself to like them when I find them acutely exasperating, for fear of being labelled with that old "jealous" chestnut.

There's no doubt the man is talented, but I think his gifts lie more in wit, articulation and provocation than political reform to be honest. Good entertainment, great television and massive ratings - Newsnight knew what they were doing.

humbert

I love listening to him on the rare occasion that I do. It's like watching Buster Keaton. I imagine that at any moment it's bound to completely unravel into disaster but he manages to hold it together.

I wouldn't but too much stock in what he says but he's original and I think he means what he says, though at the speed he goes at I'm not sure he always understands what he says.

Maximus Alexander

I find him enthralling to listen to, whether or not I agree with everything he says.

clairefontaine

I thought it was funny coming from a man worth $13 million.

He needs a haircut and new pants.

Good god he is ugly.

Sea Sharp

Bit of a tool really. He acts in a way that ensures people won't take him seriously and then bam!, here's some fancy vocabulary to show that I should be taken seriously.

Logical Fallacy

Temptamperu wrote: »

I don't know why people don't like Brand. Hes a smart and articulate individual who has over come much adversity in life to get where he is now.

Oh maybe I know, jealousy is an awful thing.

He is a bad combo for most people, smart, funny and flawed.

strobe

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

I'd take him seriously if he put some of his money towards education programmes for deprived kids in localities near where he grew up (grassroots is where to starut making a difference IMO) rather than hanging out in vapid Lala-land with Katy ****ing Perry.

Out of curiosity, how do you know he does not engage in philanthropy?

Edit: Actually a quick google seems to suggest he's involved in multiple charities and charitable causes, both in terms of time and money.

Is it that he's not engaged in femme-fatale's personally validated charities that's the cause of your consternation? Or did you just do the whole "guy's rich and famous, probably spends all his time and money on sail boats and fancy parties with his rich friends, probably" (but leaving out the probablys) thing, based on absolutely nothing?

padd b1975

Looks like Russell is back on the heroin.

HighClass

Seems a lot of people already have their minds made up on him, so no matter what he says they will write it off. Here is another good video if anyone hasn't seen it.

MRnotlob606

reptilian in his movement .
sniff sniff

Plazaman

Elephant in the room here, Jeremy Paxman is an equally irritating twat. As bad as Brand is, he was putting forward valid arguement albeit in a flowery way.

Are the people here giving out about him telling me that they don't think that the Government are out of touch with the ordinary people (he was talking globally not just about the UK)? Are they saying that there should not be a redistribution of wealth or should we get the middle and lower classes to pay the higher taxes (directly or indirectly) and not apply the same proportions to the rich? And if you don't think this directly relate to Ireland, does this sound familiar or relevant to a lot of people :

But it’s not that I’m not voting out of apathy. I’m not voting out of absolute indifference and weariness and exhaustion from the lies, treachery, deceit of the political class, that has been going on for generations now.

I thought it was a great interview and love the way he caught snide Paxman out at the end by referencing the "Meet the Ancestors" programme he was on where he found out his granny was screwed over (not literally....I think) by the aristocrats who owned the house she worked in. Paxman ended up boohooing, it was a soothing sight.

anncoates

To be fair, I guess having personal wealth should not really disqualify you from wanting a classless society as long as you were willing to eschew that wealth if it were ever realized.

That said, it's tailor made for cop out as it's an opinion that is unlikely to be ever realistically tested.

It's an ironic fact that, historically, many liberal/left-wing causes have had a middle-class dimension not least because of the capital (cultural/educational) involved.

I actually like RB.

Despite the fact you want to forcibly steer him towards a decent menswear outlet, barber and sedate him a little sometimes, he's a interesting guy: also intelligent and articulate, especially in his writing.

Legs.Eleven

wretcheddomain wrote: »

This exaltation is actually beginning to nauseate me. I'd better depart this thread to evade this sickly sycophancy before I become contaminated with its miasma.

Thesaurus.dom overload there, mate.

Jonny7

Plazaman wrote: »

Are the people here giving out about him telling me that they don't think that the Government are out of touch with the ordinary people

Kids will usually complain that parents are "out of touch"

Employees will typically complain that the boss is "out of touch"

Everyone has and will always think that "insert hierarchy" is "out of touch", it's psychological.

However does Brand have realistic working solutions to current issues - or is he just having an idealistic whinge 'bout the government?

My money is on the latter

Jonny7

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

Thesaurus.dom overload there, mate.

I thought it was an Eminem lyrics for a moment

anncoates

Jonny7 wrote: »

However does Brand have realistic working solutions to current issues - or is he just having an idealistic whinge 'bout the government?

My money is on the latter

Making the former an obligatory condition of expressing an opinion would invalidate the overwhelming majorioty of informal discussion anywhere, including here and indeed, your own post.

Plazaman

Jonny7 wrote: »

....However does Brand have realistic working solutions to current issues - or is he just having an idealistic whinge 'bout the government?

My money is on the latter

Well he does answer that himself in the interview.

Paxman: “I’m not having a go at you about that. I’m just asking why we should take you seriously when you’re so unspecific…”

Brand: “You don’t have to take…Firstly, I don’t mind if you take me seriously. I’m here just to draw attention to a few ideas, I just want to have a little bit of a laugh. I’m saying there are people with alternative ideas that are far better qualified than I am, and far better qualified, more importantly, than the people that are currently doing that job. Because they’re not attempting to solve these problems. They’re not. They’re attempting to placate the population. There are measures currently being taken around climate change are indifferent, will not solve, will not solve the problem.”

stateofflux

clairefontaine wrote: »

I thought it was funny coming from a man worth $13 million.

He needs a haircut and new pants.

Good god he is ugly.

he does not take himself or his fame seriously and in a way is probably amazed at how he was elevated to the status level he is at . I also think he is a man of integrity and is risking career suicide by some of the things he says. I also would be very surprised if he is not currently engaging in multiple philanthropic endeavors with the majority of his earning...fair play to him, we need more people like him to inspire and shake the **** up

OldRio

Katy Perry



That is all.

_Whimsical_

So a rallying cry to....not vote,just sit back and wait for political utopia?

Much easier say when you're completely financially secure, when you couldn't imagine a problem you can't just throw some money at.Though in fairness organising all those neck scarves must take its tole.

A different story for the rest of us though, who,if idealistic people chose to put their feet up and bow out of the process for years on end, will be on the receiving end of the result of that political apathy. Democracy is imperfect, the old adage goes that the biggest argument against it is 5 mins spent talking to the average person in the street and that is true. As a system it delivers to a population the government they've demanded, the government they deserve. Right now we have on average 30% of people dictating what changes need to be made to our constitution because that's how many turn out for referendums. More engagement is the answer to the problem, not less.

Dyr

His article on thatchers death was good. Can't really listen to him though

Sleepy

It's called marketing people.

The working class buy his books, go to his shows and watch him on the telly. Does his bank account no harm to play the "tax the rich" card...

joseph brand

Savoir.Faire wrote: »

He really needs to visit a good barber. How can you take a man seriously with a mop like that? It's almost as unruly and ill-conceived as his half-baked ideas and opinions.

Charlie Rock wrote: »

So you can't have an opinion on income/power/wealth distribution if you're poor because you'll be labelled a begrudger and you can't have one if you're rich/famous because you're a hypocrite.

So the very valid points he raises get buried under the accusations of hypocrisy, former drug addiction, promiscuity and whatever else you're having yourself.

Excellent.

@Charlie: One must get their hair cut before expressing their opinions, let's nor forget. The masses have spoken. Who won 'I'm a celebrity in the X Factor Jungle Kitchen'?

opr

Sleepy wrote: »

It's called marketing people.

The working class buy his books, go to his shows and watch him on the telly. Does his bank account no harm to play the "tax the rich" card...

The poor can't criticise the system because they are jealous or don't understand it. The rich can't do so because they're hypocrites only doing it for self serving purposes and the middle class don't because they want to hold onto the small slice of the pie they have got. You can only but admire the genius in it all.

Opr

joseph brand

clairefontaine wrote: »

I thought it was funny coming from a man worth $13 million.

He needs a haircut and new pants.

Good god he is ugly.

Eloquently put Miss. Everyone else missed his pants, but not you. Personally, I lack trouser awareness. Have done since birth. I tend to get distracted by the substance of what the person is trying to articulate, but, I guess that's just me.

Maximus Alexander

joseph brand wrote: »

clairefontaine wrote: »

He needs a haircut and new pants.

Good god he is ugly.

Eloquently put Miss. Everyone else missed his pants, but not you. Personally, I lack trouser awareness. Have done since birth. I tend to get distracted by the substance of what the person is trying to articulate, but, I guess that's just me.

This is so vacuous. Only the pretty people may speak.