Charles Gray/Room 101

[GulPlum]

Iggy wrote:

>That one, IMHO, is pretty cool.  (Well, ok, the "raging queen" part I didn't
>know about.. and I don't know how cool the "arguments with this boy toys"
>thing is.. but still...)

The "raging queen" bit is neither cool nor uncool, it just *is* (live and 
let live, I always say). Incidentally, his more outlandish costumes Gray 
wore in RHPS were pretty typical of the way he dressed as a matter of 
course. :-)

However, the blazing rows at 3 or 4 in the morning (some of which lasted a 
couple of hours) were absolutely, definitely uncool. It was an *ultra* posh 
street (the house I lived in was sold last year for almost 3 million 
pounds, and it needed a lot of work done to it - people were impressed when 
I told them my address at the time, but they didn't know that I rented an 
attic room) :-) and his behaviour really was untenable at times. Apart from 
the rows, he had a habit of listening to Verdi operas late at night, VERY 
loud with his windows wide open (I lived there during the warmer months of 
the year).

Talking of "posh" (explanation forthcoming), I mentioned at the weekend 
that "adults who read Harry Potter" was one of the items Linda Smith wanted 
to consign to oblivion on Room 101 last night.

For those who don't know what this show is about (the link I provided 
didn't really say much beyond the basic premise), a celebrity is invited to 
discuss their pet peeves with the show's presenter, Paul Merton. It's all 
done for laughs, in case anyone was wondering... Several "things" (depicted 
by inexpensive props) are proposed to be banished from the world, and the 
celebrity has to persuade Merton that the world would be a better place if 
the subject under discussion was consigned to oblivion.

The whole thing is a million miles from being Politically Correct and is an 
opportunity for people to be as prejudiced as they wish. In the past, 
people have banished "people in wheelchairs", "golf", "bicycles", several 
politicians, etc... Anne Robinson (of "Weakest Link" fame) got into very 
hot water when she wanted to abolish "Welsh People" 
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2543573.stm).

Enough on the background, on to last night's show. Ms Smith's argument was 
that other than people reading HP to little children, or those with reading 
difficulties (!), adult interest in the Potterverse is unhealthy and 
debilitating (or a symptom of general infantilism in society). She was 
particularly scathing of those who "feel no shame to be seen reading Potter 
in public" on trains, etc, and "don't have the decency to disguise the book 
with pornography or something". The rest of the conversation was variations 
on that theme.

In some cases, especially if he's unsure of what the audience reaction to 
his decision may be, Merton takes a hand-count of the studio audience as to 
whether or not to allow a particular "thing" to be consigned to the depths 
of Room 101. He did so in this case - with an overwhelming proportion of 
the audience voting in favour of oblivion. The show's director clearly 
agreed with the decision - when showing the people against casting out 
"adults reading HP", he chose to show a pair of media stereotypical  Potter 
fans: two very obviously overweight women wearing spectacles looking very, 
very nerdy. The segment was introduced with a filmed interview with an 
American stereotypically geeky guy in a bookshop buying the new HP book 
(OotP) "for his wife", and much discussion ensued about whether or not 
someone as geeky and unattractive as this guy could have been married...

All in all, the show went to great lengths to maintain the image of adult 
Potter fans as sad, unattractive geeks.

(Admittedly, the show's presentation and style always shows the object 
under discussion in the most unflattering light possible, so there's 
nothing really unique about taking the p*ss out of Potter fans in that way.)

As for the reason why I thought of mentioning the topic of Room 101 when I 
used the word "posh", the last item Linda Smith proposed consigning to Room 
101 was... "anything posh" (She was successful).