Golden Oldie

A classic cut from the vintage vault here from dear old BBC in 1975. From the anthropological approach to the faux-editorial balance its a classic of its era. Includes a look at George Reids take on the world in 1975. You have to wait to the very end for the pay-off classic line but worth a look. A Dimbleby at  supremely patronising best…

Comments (5)

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  1. Scunnert says:

    Aye – who indeed?

  2. Alex Buchan says:

    Dimbleby’s continuing patronising attitude is on display every time Question Time is broadcast from Scotland. What bugs me even more is how Scots find it hard to think straight against this background of British Establishment superiority. Reading the opinion pieces in Scottish newspapers never fails to turn up one, and usually more, instances of this. An illuminating example can be found in Irene Reid’s article in today’s Sunday Herald. Here, in a kind of ‘Freudian Slip’, she lays bare the underlying dynamic that keeps Scots tied to the British state without even realising she is doing it.

    After discussing whether Andy Murray will be classed as Scottish or British she ends up rubbishing her own important research into this by saying that, as Murray is a professional, he will rightly be unconcerned with which country he represents and that such questions distracts from the issue of facilitating others in Scotland in realising their sporting potential.

    What stands out for me is that issues of national identity and national self confidence are raised and then rubbished [a kind of ‘Don’t lay yourself open to the disdain of Dimbleby Syndrome’?]. The illuminating bit is the twin justifications for this 1) individual advancement furth of Scotland, and 2) a kind of high minded counter-posing of selfish concerns over identity against a proper social concern, these being seen as separate. I have a suspicion that these two attitudes can be traced back to the theology of Calvinism and are therefore deep-rooted, but not necessarily hopeless.

    George Reid in the clip provided the antidote; seeing the building of a new nation as a worthy moral cause that can also give Scotland’s citizens the means of advancing without having to venture forth. But 34 years on the question remains one of how to engage others in this without having first disengaged from the the British state and, in doing so, abandoning the false-consciousness that is a defensive posture against the ridicule of the likes of Dimbleby.

  3. Alex Buchan says:

    Dimbleby’s continuing patronising attitude is on display every time Question Time is broadcast from Scotland. What bugs me even more is how Scots find it hard to think straight against this background of British Establishment superiority. Reading the opinion pieces in Scottish newspapers never fails to turn up one, and usually more, instances of this. An illuminating example can be found in Irene Reid’s article in today’s Sunday Herald. Here, in a kind of ‘Freudian Slip’, she lays bare the underlying dynamic that keeps Scots tied to the British state without even realising she is doing it.

    After discussing whether Andy Murray will be classed as Scottish or British she ends up rubbishing her own important research into this by saying that, as Murray is a professional, he will rightly be unconcerned with which country he represents and that such questions distracts from the issue of facilitating others in Scotland in realising their sporting potential.

    What stands out for me is that issues of national identity and national self confidence are raised and then rubbished [a kind of ‘Don’t lay yourself open to the disdain of Dimbleby Syndrome’?]. The illuminating bit is the twin justifications for this 1) individual advancement furth of Scotland, and 2) a kind of high minded counter-posing of selfish concerns over identity against a proper social concern, these being seen as separate. I have a suspicion that these two attitudes can be traced back to the theology of Calvinism and are therefore deep-rooted, but not necessarily hopeless.

    George Reid in the clip provided the antidote; seeing the building of a new nation as a worthy moral cause that can also give Scotland’s citizens the means of advancing without having to venture forth. But 34 years on the question remains one of how to engage others in this without having first disengaged from the the British state and, in doing so, abandoning the false-consciousness that is a defensive posture against the ridicule of the likes of Dimbleby.

  4. R Bell says:

    “Dimbleby’s continuing patronising attitude is on display every time Question Time is broadcast from Scotland. What bugs me even more is how Scots find it hard to think straight against this background of British Establishment superiority.”

    Could be worse, could be Paxman. He just about broke down when he found out he had ancestors from Glasgow on “Who do you think you are?” Would be nice to see Mr Smug on University Challenge without the answers in front of him…

    To be fair, Northern England and Wales also get it in the neck for the way they speak as well. It’s a variety of what someone’s dubbed “metroprovincialism” – i.e. the High Heejins in London and the Home Counties having a superiority complex, but at the same time barely knowing, let alone understanding, any other regions or countries but their own. British television treats even the likes of France, Spain as little more than places to buy holiday homes in, or get food from.

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