Identity Crisis

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All of this is a bit of a shame, because when I was able to push aside my instictive squicky response to a white man writing satire about sexual assault and gender politics, I really enjoyed this book. Elton described himself as an atheist but said he was in favour of God defined as "the mystery of the universe". He has written fifteen major bestsellers, including Stark, Popcorn, Inconceivable, Dead Famous, High Society, Two Brothers and Time and Time Again, three West End plays and three musicals, including global phenomenon We Will Rock You. There were flashes of genius in this book and some great ideas underpinning it all, but the execution let it down badly.

Identity Crisis by Ben Elton | Waterstones Identity Crisis by Ben Elton | Waterstones

The result, The Young Ones had an inconspicuous business influence (at any rate, at first), yet its social effect was Goliath. That's not a major social problem, but when you get to the amplification of outrage I think certainly the quoting of single tweets – or a hundred tweets – as if they represent a movement is worrying.We have a camera trained on each of the culture-war things that are contributing to the England Out (Leave) campaign: trans people and TERFs, Love Island, Cambridge Analytica, various MeToo-type stuff, the incel guy, different campaigns over different murdered people, scenes in the police station, a lot of Twitter. Prior to the 1987 UK general election, Elton supported Red Wedge by participating in a comedy tour organised by the campaign.

Ben Elton releases 16th novel, Identity Crisis | Stuff.co.nz Ben Elton releases 16th novel, Identity Crisis | Stuff.co.nz

The attempts at satire and commentary on political correctness and social media were interesting but I felt as if that took over. More than that – and greatly to my surprise – he denies any iconoclastic dimension to alternative comedy.There, he honed his trademark “motormouth” persona – at first a strategy for vanquishing his trademark hesitancy, it in like manner exhibited accommodating while overseeing hecklers, by keeping them from getting an opportunity to talk. At its heart, the novel is a murder mystery and people are turning up dead with a blow to the back of the head with a blunt object, probably a hammer, seeming to be the only thing they have in common. It cleverly jumps on very current issues; social media, fake news and the sheer fickleness of modern society. I would be the first to admit that there are people and spaces online where it's impossible to walk without offending *someone* and that there is definitely a culture of outrage in some online spaces as well. The book is chiefly concerned with spotlighting the catastrophic collapse of much public debate into a giant rolling fatberg of grievances, real and imagined misunderstandings, and ugly eyes-closed partisanship.

Elton takes a satirical swipe at a Britain sliding off axis Elton takes a satirical swipe at a Britain sliding off axis

The book's protagonist, the Paul Weller-liking DCI Michael Matlock, is someone who frequently, thoughinadvertantly,say that wrong thing. But my insight, the one I had but didn’t express, was that although we live in an era of instant communication, the world Elton describes is one in which we are no more accurately informed than the French citizens who overthrew a king. Only the internet age could have given him that oxygen because in the past he would have been reported in a very different way. Live from Planet Earth was axed by the Nine Network on Wednesday 23 February 2011 after three episodes, despite having six commissioned.You can see why, in that context, the prospect of a few trolls quibbling with his take on 21st-century identity politics might seem small beer to Elton. When Senior Detective Michael Matlock says that a woman was in the wrong place at the wrong time when she was killed, he doesn’t realise the social blunder that he has committed and the ramifications that will result. He has received accolades for his hit TV sit-coms, The Young Ones, Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line.

Identity Crisis - Reading Project Identity Crisis - Reading Project

For the record so am I, but I would also probably take cues from the fact that every Brexit novel has been shit. We celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories, traditions and living cultures; and we pay our respects to Elders past and present. Elton became a stand-up comedian primarily to showcase his own writing, but became one of Britain's biggest live comedy acts. A prime-time family show, its traditional format and characters won it the 1995 British Comedy Award and both the public and professional Jury Awards at Reims.They say you shouldn't meet your heroes – but my inner 13-year-old would never forgive me if I spurned a chat with Ben Elton. In an era of no-platforming, entertainers losing gigs for dug-up homophobic comments and accusations of past abuse, coming back to haunt people, the book reflects common concerns about saying the wrong thing. Ben Elton’s Identity Crisis is a dreary, unentertaining and uninspired “satire” - confirmation bias in book form for the olds that modern stuff is rubbish. In 2007 he was awarded an Honorary Rose for lifetime achievement at the Rose d'Or festival, [49] and was also made a Companion of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, in recognition of his work with students. Elton's father is from a German-Jewish family and Elton's mother, who was raised in the Church of England, is of British background.