I am going to try and be ruthless with myself and have drawn up a plan for my time between now and end of the first week in January given that I shall be away for twelve days over Christmas and New Year in two trips one involving the car and the other the train. In addition I have also two outings to football, one possibly two to the cinema could be three if I also go to see Falstaff from the Met and one day in search of a suit although I might wait until the sales.
I will finish writing about Borgen and Montalbano in depth and make a brief lists of those matters I would have written about and may still do later if I am not required to become in matters from by former life. Of the remaining days before Christmas there are Christmas cards and letters and preparations for travel. Not time to consult the Don’t panic manual again, but today I have not played a computer game. I went off and had a very good exercise session for 45 mins achieving higher ratings as a professional tennis player beating a team rated higher, improving the bowling and golf and wining by 12.6 in two rounds of baseball before the mercy rule was applied and then having an excellent power bowling session scoring 512 and gaining a silver medal. However I got my age sports age only down to 36.
Programmes which I appreciated recently include one on Doris Lessing and adult content of music tapes, two programmes on the life and work of Susan Boyle. The series the Tunnel which comes an end next week, the latest episodes of Boardwalk Empire and Master of Sex, also Blue Bloods with the Blacklist concluded for its first season. I watched part of the Royal command performance skipping some acts. These to be added to the relays and other films outstanding, some from a year ago and as are some TV series.
First four more episodes of Borgen in which I understand are its final season and which lived up to my expectation as the new political Party in Denmark experiences all the problems of an instant mass movement created from all those who feel outside the existing political party framework wanting to join in. The guardian TV critic regards it as a flaw that former Prime Minister Bergitte Nyborg embarks on the enterprise in such an amateurish way forgetting that although Party leaders she was comparatively inexperienced to take on the role in the first instance and was unable to keep her marriage going and to avoid major problems with her children, especially the daughter. In part as with marriage and parenting there is no tried and tested formula about creating a new political party. I do however agree that given the importance of the bacon and pork industry to Demark it was surprising that the former Prime Minister had to educated about the reality of what went on. The third series has in fact become a vehicle to discuss topics of controversy and importance to Danish society and here in the UK we need to view the programme from the Danish perspective although the inclusion of an English speaking, Scottish lover could be viewed as attempting to respond to the great reception the programme has received in the UK and other English speaking countries.
In the third episode of the new season 13000 people have rushed to support the new party and dozens crowd into the office wanting to make a contribution and this is regarded great to its leader, the former prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg her media adviser, the former public broadcasting TV 1 station news front woman and journalist Katrine and her three Members in Parliament two from her former party The Moderates Jon and Nete together with one from the New Right whose name I have not remembered.
The situation reminded of the first Committee 100 meeting I attended with Michael Randle previously of the Direct Action Committee in the chair, Ralph Scheonman who was Bertrand Russell’s. Commissar and a mixture of anarchists, communists, labourites and liberals, traditional pacifists, new age practitioners of Satyagrapha(non violent resistance) and where I was one, libertarians and collectivists with the attraction of commune just coming back in fashion, Catholics and Anglo Catholics, Jews and the C of E, Non conformists and atheists,, heterosexuals, lesbians, homosexuals and bisexuals, as well as I assumed those reporting to the security services if not members of the security forces, in London the USA and Moscow. The idea that we would reach agreement on anything was ludicrous but that we eventually did in terms of the form of demonstration was remarkable, although even we slimmed down the planning group to around 30 we were bitterly divided between those who wanted revolution or saw the activities of committee as potentially leading to revolution
(I must get Wikipedia to include my name and adjust their article on the Committee 100 which has several inaccuracies as well as write up more about the reality of my experience of the Direct Action Committee.)
In the instance of Borgen there is a Christian who wants the new Party to support limitations on abolition with Birgitte having to say that her party would never adopt a position where a woman did not have control of her body in this respect and where another new activist wanted her to read a 450 page theoretical economic work which when she got down to it had state control nationalization of almost everything as its conclusion.
Jon a sitting member in the parliament was concerned about the lack of finances and arranged for her meet a Banker who wanted to give one million Krone and after an alcoholic lunch where he has chosen the menu he increases the donation to 1.5 million claiming that he is supporting and does not want anything. Birgitte accepts starts to spend on their HQ and offers free coffee to the activists. Jon then arrange for her to meet some with agricultural interests but at this point she realises there is no such thing as a free lunch after finding that the view of the banker are being incorporated into aspects of the draft financial policy statement.
Birgitte blows the whistle on her self and after getting a 100000 Kr loan from her husband and using her own resources she pays back the quarter of million already spent and concentrates on setting membership rate of 300 Kr some say too much others too little so she settled as this sounds the best compromises and then invites everyone to leave except the founder members declaring that one they have agreed their platform on the various issues then it is for the supporters to decide if it is a party for them to join or not. The issue of what they stand for and political expediency to get stabilised and recognised is the subject of the next two programmes and I going to jump form the fourth to fifth programme for this purposes.
The leader of one of the opposition parties approaches her to support a proposed new piece of legislation which will make all forms of prostitution illegal in Denmark after the plight of slave trafficked women comes to national media attention. If she agrees the combined vote with force the Act on the Government who are opposed to blanket change in a situation where it is not a crime to sell sex and those in brothels who pay taxes are in a grey area with their receptionists and accountants can be liable to prosecution unless they can show an income separate from the sex trade
At first Birgitte is enthusiastic in signing as way of gaining public and political acceptance but the new right former member wants her to be cautious and establish the facts, and then Katrine who is favour of the order gradually come round after meeting a sex worker union leader representing a couple of thousand out of the thousands estimated to be involved in the sex trade. Birgitte refusal to sign the draft legislation is criticised by the other Parties involved and her nemesis’s the former Labour Party leader through his newspaper and other media interests and they begin to lose members. The Sex Worker leader agrees to attend a public hearing where is the lone voice explaining that there are those who enjoy the work, are not forced into it through poverty, partner pressure etc and feels humiliated and raped by the viscous and cruel assertions made against her and use of false statistical information.
Birgitte with Katrine help is able to provide that one of the charity help agencies has grossly exaggerated figures in order to gain a 40% increase in government financial aid and slowly the position changes and the Government agrees to introduced legislation which will improve the present situation without introducing a blanket ban.
There is a meeting between the new line up of parties where the ruling party is represented by the Minister of Justice, Birgitte makes attempts to negotiate conditions for supporting the government approach which includes a special anti trafficking task force to deal with the issue which has attracted media attention and public support, but after presenting an excellent case for legalising brothels of brothels with sex worker represented listened to towards the end of meeting the meeting the government decides that the change would be politically acceptable but some progress had been made
In the fourth episode Jeremy, the English speaking CEO at the International company where Birgitte was on the Board. is poisoned when eating pork at a fashionable restaurant with him throwing up over Birgitte going viral on You Tube and leading to yet another vitriolic attack from the former Labour leader. He is in fact allergic to the antibiotics given to the pig which has clearly been slaughtered and used without sufficient time for the medication to have cleared the system. With the help of the brother of Katrine who pig farms Birgitte learns the nature of the industry in Demark when the quantity of Danish bacon produced has become more important than quality with the commercial animals factory farmed and hundreds of thousands of piglets slaughtered because they do not measure up to commercial requirements. (I have eaten suckling pig twice during a visit to the capital of Majorca.)
The brother does not eat this produce himself because of concerns and instead uses animals which he rears in the open at the back. Katrine promises not to reveal the source of the info being used but he becomes understandable and angry when Birgitte mentions his involvement in a TV interview albeit in way which does not directly identify except to his neighbouring pig farmers and where he says he does not want to speak to his sister again. Because the leader of the extreme party, the Freedom party also pig farms and is incensed by the sentimentality that he shows how they clip the tail of the little piglets soon after birth which causes uproar and eventually they are able to use his emotional intervention when they learn that he has been warned about his methods. The intervention in this issues gets them recognised as a new party,
I failed to record the sixth programme which centres on a new recruit as prospective member who a communist and had visits to the Russian embassy where 80% used to be KGB. The other part of the story concerns the visit Birgitte makes to the hospital are having problems one hand and Jeremy noticing that she has not been eating and as been losing weight. In the previous episode he finally gets to meet her children in the process of making them a bread and butter pudding B BTOH TAKE TO HIM ALTHOUGH SON Magnus had previously expressed anxiety given his close relationship with his father, Philip former husband has help out by taking the children when he arrives for a short stay between visits on his continuous world wide taking position. Interesting when asked he admits to paying for sex on a couple of occasions on his travels which shocks Birgitte when first revealed. However she reveals to Katrine that one female European Minister confided she rented young men on her travels as she had no time for an ongoing relationship. Philip on the other hand says he has never done. This seems to influence Birgitte towards him.
Although Katrine no longer works for the TV station the father of her child, Kasper does although his role at the station is lifted the ongoing issue is the role of the news station head Torben who has to contend with a new boss representing the interest of the Board, a young man with contemporary about management and creativity. He uses a room with odd shaped chairs and chalk boards and encourages Torben to think outside the box. He makes demands and threatens and at first Torben gives in. He fires an economist because her realistic message does not fit in the positive message which the managers wants to carte. He describes the woman as a Pakistani prophet of doom. He is told he must present the sacking to the team has his idea and he repeats the description to the horror of the team. He then has to face a complaint from staff about his language which only add to the criticism of his boss.
Later he stands his ground in front of his colleagues earning their respect but getting in effect a final warning and later still the manager appears to climb down over a belief that the midday news should be cut. He had already agreed that the evening news should have content aims just at women and the later news at men. There had been indications that the news Editor Pia was attracted to him and his stand had changed attraction into reveal her interest which at fist he considers and then holds back, married with family. Later he responds and haring a noise they assume it was a cleaner but his manager reveals that he has been a witnessed and begins to use to this get his way. Torben‘s wife has visited the station to express concern that he has been spending so much time at the station he has been missing out the attending the school activities of his children
The main emotional story of these episodes concerns Katrine who finds her feelings for Kasper have grown stronger when she sees him asleep with their child, However when visiting his flat to bring medication she had previously forgotten she finds a bra by the bed and realising that Kasper has a girl friend although later he admits he has been seeing a number of women. She reacts by reducing the agreed contact he has with his son. He threatens to go back to court.
Katrine presses for an explanation about why walked out on their living together and he explains that he could not cope wither her role as a mother and as wife. He adds however that their son is the most important thing in his life and he could not think of anyone else he would have wanted to be the boy’s mother which makes her feel good about herself once again.
The episode on prostitution and the talk with sex worker leader has helped her to work through her own feeling about love and sex and she invites in from the station Torben’s boss who had refused on their date. He has called round with the lame excuse of being in the area. The scene closes when it is evident they are gang to have sex. The new balance in her life leads to reconciliation with her mother who reveals to eh daughter something she has never talk anyone before, that when her first born son with under a year of age she had an affair with a neighbour, something she had not told her husband and reveals this because she understands some of the issues which mothers can experience when they begin to cope with the realities the different roles they are expected to maintain.
There is one area where I did find myself sharing some of the criticism the Guardian TV journalist and this is the relationship with Jeremy although in instance it was the fact that Birgitte had accept the roles on major companies. I would have expected her to have been offered and taken a different kind of role, especially after her success as the negotiator of peace between the two sides in the African state. A role within Europe , or the United Nations, some aid organisation would have also seemed more likely for the character that had developed, or the extent to which she appeared to have walked away from political matters and her previous own political/ having said this one feature of smaller parties is the tendency for them to split as one personality with their visions finds difficult to be subordinate with another of a different vision although the public the difference may not appear significant. Such difference exist within parties where factions an division can be just as strong but can usually be contained, although doing so in the contemporary world of 24 hours TV is even more difficult than previously.
I have been able find out that the main story of the episode which did not record and I failed to realise this when I could have recorded again. It is evident that Birgitte did visit her CP and this led to hospital and the diagnosis. She has not disclosed to her ex husband or children and was viewed isolated and alone in hospital learning to face the news.
No comments:
Post a Comment