For a brief moment, a quick look at tonight's TV schedules led me to believe that may be channel four had returned to quality broadcasting.
This impression was given as I misread their documentary tonight at ten o'clock, Surviving Gazza, which I briefly interpreted as Gaza.
But this confusion, brief as it was, leads me to this thought, the predicament of Paul Gascoigne's illness and the impact on his family, tragic as it is, is more acceptable to the British public than perhaps a documentary detailing the plight of Palestinians in the Gaza strip of whom 400 have died, and 2000 have been injured in just the last few days of whom the vast majority are innocent victims of Israeli aggression.
And coming back to Paul Gascoigne, I just wonder what public interest is served by such an intrusive documentary or what benefit for Paul and his family.
This impression was given as I misread their documentary tonight at ten o'clock, Surviving Gazza, which I briefly interpreted as Gaza.
But this confusion, brief as it was, leads me to this thought, the predicament of Paul Gascoigne's illness and the impact on his family, tragic as it is, is more acceptable to the British public than perhaps a documentary detailing the plight of Palestinians in the Gaza strip of whom 400 have died, and 2000 have been injured in just the last few days of whom the vast majority are innocent victims of Israeli aggression.
And coming back to Paul Gascoigne, I just wonder what public interest is served by such an intrusive documentary or what benefit for Paul and his family.
you had better ask Gazza, he agreed and his "ex" took part against her better judgement at the behest of her two older children who naively saw it as a way of helping
ReplyDeletethere is not a drunk in the world who does not lay the the blame for there misfortune on everybody but themselves.
they are never "cured" untill they regognise the problem lies with them alone.
the one person who came out of this sad story with any dinity was his young son who had only known his dad as a drunk and not the football hero he once was.
As I understand it, Gazza is bipolar, not a 'drunk'. His drink problem is a symptom of the disease.
ReplyDeleteBipolar Affective Disorder (what used to be called Manic Depression) is a mental health condition, and like any other health problem should be treated with sympathy and proper care, not with ignorant generalisations, or by exposing the sufferer to ridicule on TV, in the Sun, or anywhere else for that matter. The Elizabethans used to laugh at loonies - we have hopefully moved on in the past 400 years. If he had another disease, like cancer, we wouldn't be blaming him, would we? But because he has a mental health issue it's somehow his fault? Shocking!
Even if he was a 'drunk' he would surely still be deserving of our sympathy and help.
Well said Eastcliff. Some very interesting comments there. It's a sad fact that one in four of us will, at sometime in our lives, have a mental health illness.
ReplyDeleteThere are varying degrees of success in providing treatment and helping those patients through the dark times in this country. The care services are seen as Cinderella organisations by governments of all colours. Certainly there have been big strides over the past 25 years or so in mental healthcare and happily we are less inclined to institutionalise people - who remembers St Augustine's at Chartham, or Eastry hospital for example.
At Chartham, the setting and the hospital grounds were actually quite conducive to recovery, say many who stayed or worked there, but the Victorian buildings were not up to standard at the end.
Can't help thinking something was lost when the whole site was flogged off for a large housing estate back in the early 1990s.
I think the whole concept of care in the community is missguided. Alcohole if invented today would be a class A drug. I meet so many who are affected by it.
ReplyDelete