David Blain Inspires Xenophobia In England

Tony · 18th September 2003, 05:37 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer ..full article

Quote:

LONDON (Reuters) - If there's no such thing as bad publicity, then magician David Blaine's stunt of starving himself in a clear plastic box in London has been a smashing success.

More than a million satellite viewers tuned in two weeks ago to see Blaine -- a 30-year-old American whose previous tricks include freezing himself in ice and balancing for 35 hours on a high pole -- enter the box suspended by a crane, where he has vowed not to eat for 44 days.

So much for "tolerance".

Mr Manifesto · 19th September 2003, 12:30 AM

So if you throw eggs at the screening of a Woody Allen flick, are you anti-semitic?

schplurg · 19th September 2003, 12:39 AM

No you're wasting good eggs, unless of course they are already rotten.

Tonys sig "quote #3":

"Every quote is taken out of context when it's put in the form of a signature."
-----Grammatron"

Mine isn't.

reprise · 19th September 2003, 01:14 AM

All I can say is that if Blaine thinks the Poms are giving him grief, he should be very glad that he didn't choose Australia in which to perform his stunt. Our intolerance of wankers is legendary, whether they're home grown or imported.

JamesM · 19th September 2003, 02:00 AM

What a bizarre article. The response to Blaine has nothing to do with xenophobia and everything to do with what you would expect to happen if you made a spectacle of yourself in a major city, and a stationary target, to boot. Don't tell me this wouldn't happen in any country.

I think antics of the Londoners is pretty funny, myself, but then I am a coal-hearted misanthrope.

Stig · 19th September 2003, 03:27 AM

I'm going to London next week. I think I'm going to take my catapult and a big bag of Maltesers to fire at his box. I think he's a bit of a helmet. Nothing to do with him being foreign though.

Stig

reprise · 19th September 2003, 03:44 AM

I think that it's possible Blaine didn't realise just how irritating many other nations find the brash "look at me, I'm important" kind of celebrity seems to be accepted in the US - though how in the hell you can be an international entertainer and not realise that the Brits (along with the Aussies) find this kind of hyperbolic self-promotion beneath contempt is beyond me (sack your management team, Mr Blaine). Being famous for being famous is a sure recipe for ridicule in many nations; promoting yourself as such borders on insanity (and the comparisons to Houdini did NOT help Blaine's image, they just made him seem even more self-important).

That said, who can judge just what the Brits will regard as having artistic merit? After all, there was that exhibition of used nappies at the Tate. Perhaps Blaine could donate his own to the collection.

HarryKeogh · 19th September 2003, 04:05 AM

i enjoy a good magic trick as much as the next guy but it's just that he's soooo boring.

i live about 20 minutes away from where he stood on a pole for a couple of days. i never bothered to pass by. it's just not exciting. i dont think it has anything to do with the people of england taking pleasure at humiliating an american. theyre taking pleasure at humiliating a jack off.

sure, not the classiest behavior but not xenophobic.

BillyTK · 19th September 2003, 04:16 AM

Tony may wish to look up definitions of "xenophobia" to avoid any further confusion with "incredulity". I'm in total agreement with JamesM, and suggest that Tony may also wish to look up the definition of "chauvinism".

Here's a quote from Captain Snort from this thread which pretty much sums the whole affair up:

Quote:

[...]my sentiments are summed up by one of the placards held up when he went into the box. 'One man starves, the world watches, 1 billion starve, no-one cares'

18th September 2003, 05:37 PM	#1
Tony Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Texas Posts: 13,759	David Blain Inspires Xenophobia In England http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer ..full article Quote: LONDON (Reuters) - If there's no such thing as bad publicity, then magician David Blaine's stunt of starving himself in a clear plastic box in London has been a smashing success. More than a million satellite viewers tuned in two weeks ago to see Blaine -- a 30-year-old American whose previous tricks include freezing himself in ice and balancing for 35 hours on a high pole -- enter the box suspended by a crane, where he has vowed not to eat for 44 days. So much for "tolerance".
	__________________ It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. - Aristotle Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company. - Mark Twain

19th September 2003, 01:14 AM	#4
reprise Graduate Poster Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 1,859	All I can say is that if Blaine thinks the Poms are giving him grief, he should be very glad that he didn't choose Australia in which to perform his stunt. Our intolerance of wankers is legendary, whether they're home grown or imported.
reprise Graduate Poster Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 1,859	__________________ It's a Feathertail Glider.

19th September 2003, 02:00 AM	#5
JamesM Graduate Poster Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 1,823	What a bizarre article. The response to Blaine has nothing to do with xenophobia and everything to do with what you would expect to happen if you made a spectacle of yourself in a major city, and a stationary target, to boot. Don't tell me this wouldn't happen in any country. I think antics of the Londoners is pretty funny, myself, but then I am a coal-hearted misanthrope.
JamesM Graduate Poster Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 1,823

19th September 2003, 03:27 AM	#6
Stig Critical Thinker Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 281	I'm going to London next week. I think I'm going to take my catapult and a big bag of Maltesers to fire at his box. I think he's a bit of a helmet. Nothing to do with him being foreign though. Stig
Stig Critical Thinker Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 281	__________________ "I can understand why people believe in God; what I can't understand is why they aren't trying to kill the motherf****r." ---Doc Webster in "Callahan's Con" by Spider Robinson U.K.L.S. 1993 - 'till I go bald

19th September 2003, 03:44 AM	#7
reprise Graduate Poster Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 1,859	I think that it's possible Blaine didn't realise just how irritating many other nations find the brash "look at me, I'm important" kind of celebrity seems to be accepted in the US - though how in the hell you can be an international entertainer and not realise that the Brits (along with the Aussies) find this kind of hyperbolic self-promotion beneath contempt is beyond me (sack your management team, Mr Blaine). Being famous for being famous is a sure recipe for ridicule in many nations; promoting yourself as such borders on insanity (and the comparisons to Houdini did NOT help Blaine's image, they just made him seem even more self-important). That said, who can judge just what the Brits will regard as having artistic merit? After all, there was that exhibition of used nappies at the Tate. Perhaps Blaine could donate his own to the collection.
reprise Graduate Poster Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 1,859	__________________ It's a Feathertail Glider.

19th September 2003, 12:30 AM	#2
Mr Manifesto Hierophant Walrus of the Secret Clique Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 4,824	So if you throw eggs at the screening of a Woody Allen flick, are you anti-semitic?

19th September 2003, 12:39 AM	#3
schplurg Muse Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 923	No you're wasting good eggs, unless of course they are already rotten. Tonys sig "quote #3": "Every quote is taken out of context when it's put in the form of a signature." -----Grammatron" Mine isn't.
schplurg Muse Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 923

19th September 2003, 04:05 AM	#8
HarryKeogh Catholic School Survivor Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: New York, NY Posts: 11,342	i enjoy a good magic trick as much as the next guy but it's just that he's soooo boring. i live about 20 minutes away from where he stood on a pole for a couple of days. i never bothered to pass by. it's just not exciting. i dont think it has anything to do with the people of england taking pleasure at humiliating an american. theyre taking pleasure at humiliating a jack off. sure, not the classiest behavior but not xenophobic.

19th September 2003, 04:16 AM	#9
BillyTK Master Poster Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 2,625	Tony may wish to look up definitions of "xenophobia" to avoid any further confusion with "incredulity". I'm in total agreement with JamesM, and suggest that Tony may also wish to look up the definition of "chauvinism". Here's a quote from Captain Snort from this thread which pretty much sums the whole affair up: Quote: [...]my sentiments are summed up by one of the placards held up when he went into the box. 'One man starves, the world watches, 1 billion starve, no-one cares'
BillyTK Master Poster Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 2,625	__________________ Part-timer.