![\"\"](\"https:\/\/encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTu73kI1FTyJm-Q4xjxCnZg91vylKPKl6T9m6Wg8H2fCffxD_6r\")
<\/a><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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Of course they did. Not only was it common
\nknowledge here (just as it was common knowledge that Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks
\nwere pond life), but Louis Theroux had raised the question with Savile himself
\non a TV programme that was<\/i>
\ntransmitted, and the scarecrow look-alike, cigar-chomping DJ made it clear that
\nhe would see anyone who alleged this in court with a great big action for
\nlibel. <\/span><\/p>\n The
\nBBC paid this repulsive clown so much that he could not only afford a white
\nRolls Royce, but also the very best libel lawyers.<\/span><\/p>\n The
\nairwaves and newspapers are full of the Savile story, but few have noticed what
\nmade it possible for this under-educated, not obviously intelligent,
\nill-spoken, probably smelly creep to gain access to schools for disturbed
\nchildren, children’s hospitals and wards, and even Broadmoor, Britain’s secure
\nhospital for the mentally-ill. Yes, Savile raised a good deal of money for
\nseveral charities. But what made this possible? He was, apparently, as talent-free as he was free of
\nscruples.<\/span><\/p>\n The
\nanswer is that he was a product of our Celebrity Culture. This celebrates
\npeople for no reason except that they have become well known. Paris Hilton, Katie
\nPrice and Kim Karsdashian’s names spring immediately to mind as examples of
\ncelebrity syndrome. They’re all female, but there are plenty of males besides the
\nlate Jimmy – though most of them have some vestigial claim upon our attention,
\nsuch as being able to play football well. And, of course, none of them has
\ncriminal sexual tastes. But Jimmy’s fame was drawn from the same poisoned well.<\/span><\/p>\n In
\nsome cases, such as “Jim’ll Fix It,” his TV programmes actually gave him access
\nto his victims. Again, why did the BBC give him these programmes? The only
\npossible answer is: because he was famous.<\/span><\/p>\n Until
\nwe as a society stop celebrating those of us who have little or nothing to
\noffer to the rest of us, those who can contribute nothing to civilization but
\nan ability to kick a ball, or a large and imposing bust or wardrobe, we’ll
\ncontinue to connive in the exploitation of the vulnerable.<\/span><\/p>\n While
\nwe apply the thumbscrews to BBC manager and executives to force them to tell us
\nexactly when they knew Savile was having his wicked way with kids, we are
\nignoring the underlying evil of celebrity-chic. In the meantime a few religious
\nmaniacs are worried about grown-up men and women getting married to other
\ngrown-up men and women (who just happen to be of the same gender). <\/span><\/p>\n Oh,
\nand a candidate is running for the Presidency of the US, who believes that god
\nlives on a planet called Kolob and that Jesus visited America not all that long
\nago. Would Romney, I wonder, be mounting his challenge to the sanity of the
\nAmerican electorate if we were not all obsessed by empty celebrity?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The current scandal in Britain is about how a dead paedophiliac appears to have been protected and event abetted in his crimes by his employer. The trouble is that the employer in question was the second most revered institution (after the monarchy) in the country, the BBC. The nature of the complaint against the BBC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-752","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbv6zV-c8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/plainenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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