Do we really need a Morrissey biopic right now? His England is not ours-Rachel Aroesti, The Guardian

Do we really need a Morrissey biopic right now? His England is not ours - The Guardian
by Rachel Aroesti

Blurb: "The upcoming Morrissey film, England Is Mine, is poorly timed – the Smiths frontman’s politics are questionable and his strops are silly ... but what’s worse is he’s lost his outsider status"

Excerpt: "It’s not just because the most notable thing about his last artistic pursuit – debut novel List of the Lost – was that it sparked a nationwide competition to see who could hate a book the most. It’s not even a direct result of his recent stream of uncomfortable comments – although calling Brexit “magnificent” and accusing the government of hushing up Islamic extremism makes it increasingly difficult for fans to excuse his questionable politics. From his paranoid claim that HMV are trying to sabotage sales of Smiths reissues, to dog-whistle views that give a different meaning to the title England Is Mine, each week seems to bring a bizarre new missive that makes it harder and harder to justify the hero worship Morrissey has long enjoyed.

It’s not even the spine-chilling words “I like Nigel Farage a great deal,” (so said by Morrissey to Loaded magazine, of all places) that are the final nail in the coffin – after all, surely every fan had doubts about Morrissey’s empathy and political correctness. Instead, something else has soured the charm of a film celebrating the life and work of the universe’s sad-lad-in-chief."
 
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Blurb: "The upcoming Morrissey film, England Is Mine, is poorly timed – the Smiths frontman’s politics are questionable and his strops are silly ... but what’s worse is he’s lost his outsider status"

Excerpt: "It’s not just because the most notable thing about his last artistic pursuit – debut novel List of the Lost – was that it sparked a nationwide competition to see who could hate a book the most. It’s not even a direct result of his recent stream of uncomfortable comments – although calling Brexit “magnificent” and accusing the government of hushing up Islamic extremism makes it increasingly difficult for fans to excuse his questionable politics. From his paranoid claim that HMV are trying to sabotage sales of Smiths reissues, to dog-whistle views that give a different meaning to the title England Is Mine, each week seems to bring a bizarre new missive that makes it harder and harder to justify the hero worship Morrissey has long enjoyed.

It’s not even the spine-chilling words “I like Nigel Farage a great deal,” (so said by Morrissey to Loaded magazine, of all places) that are the final nail in the coffin – after all, surely every fan had doubts about Morrissey’s empathy and political correctness. Instead, something else has soured the charm of a film celebrating the life and work of the universe’s sad-lad-in-chief."

Article link: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jul/10/morrissey-england-is-mine-biopic

Remember kids, don't try to form a band if you are a white male, or don't have political views of which The Guardian approves.
 
I saw this article and thought: who will be the first to post it on m-solo? I did not have to think long because I could only think of one typically Guardian reader on this site. And voila ... Skinny did not disappoint. He just forgot to add his usual 'spot-on' which he did on twitter.

Next: Do we really need a Smiths reunion right now? - The return of the 80s band is poorly timed – the Smiths frontman’s politics are questionable and his strops are silly ... but what’s worse is he’s lost his outsider status.

I don't expect a 'spot-on' here.
 
I saw this article and thought: who will be the first to post it on m-solo? I did not have to think long because I could only think of one typically Guardian reader on this site. And voila ... Skinny did not disappoint. He just forgot to add his usual 'spot-on' which he did on twitter.

Next: Do we really need a Smiths reunion right now? - The return of the 80s band is poorly timed – the Smiths frontman’s politics are questionable and his strops are silly ... but what’s worse is he’s lost his outsider status.

I don't expect a 'spot-on' here.

And, like Pavlov's dog, slavering for a meal, here you are again, my German friend, to do what you always do. Do you even have a life?
 
I dislike a lot of his politics but he's still pretty popular. Didnt world peace debut at number two in the u.k charts. Didn't a majority of people vote to leave he e.u. Seems more like the guardian who's out of step with England. I probably lean there way politically but they in many instances seem very morally judgmental and haughty
 
I dislike a lot of his politics but he's still pretty popular. Didnt world peace debut at number two in the u.k charts. Didn't a majority of people vote to leave he e.u. Seems more like the guardian who's out of step with England. I probably lean there way politically but they in many instances seem very morally judgmental and haughty

Which the Mail and Express never do, do they? Of course you'll disagree with something if it doesn't fit your weltanschauung.
 
Morrissey used to be an interesting figure, so a biopic movie of his earlier life does have some artistic merit. The fact that he's turned into something of a buffoon in recent years is neither here nor there.
 
Of course the brave new England of mass immigration and multiculturalism is not Morrissey's England. To most people born in the 1950s England is like a foreign land or a dream barely remembered. Most of the English working class mourn its passing - hence the Brexit vote. But the Brexit vote will do nothing to halt England's demise...
 
The widespread realisation that there is a problem – that not seeing yourself reflected in the culture is an actively damaging thing

Don't see the point of this article. The author claims there is some sort of damage since various listeners can't possibly empathise with musicians of different sexes and ethnicity to themselves? Right..

If you aren’t a white man, you have to silence sections of your brain to engage with nearly all the art you love
Oh okay ...
 
Which the Mail and Express never do, do they? Of course you'll disagree with something if it doesn't fit your weltanschauung.

I don't read the mail or the express but it doesn't really matter because that doesn't make it right for the guardian either. A paper I do read and enjoy that tends to do this from time to time would be the Washington post imo. The problem with the article and even the headline is that it's easy to read as England is t there's. Not to me. That is that brexit and Nigel supporters don't represent England or matter even though the popular vote on brexit obviously disproves that. It's symptomatic of of the whole remain campaigns in its tendency to be dismissive those people and Just further divides and reduces there influence on issues I probably agree with. Might not be here point or goal but it can come off that way
 
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It's his own fault - Morrissey should have had the good sense to be born a black woman.
 
One of the most badly written articles that I have ever read. Didn't the Guardian used to employ real journalists who do a modicum of research? You could tell the article was going to be a laughingstock from the first paragraph when she said that Slipknot have the same historical importance as Kurt Cobain or Moz. f***ing Slipknot. Maybe her 12 year old nephew actually wrote this nonsense.
 
To answer the question in the headline: Yes we do.
The rest of the article is political propaganda against someone who is seen by the leftwing intelligentsia as a danger to their completely bizarre utopia of the blessings of the multicultural society that they want to create on their terms and anybody having anything, or something remotely critical to say about it is deemed fascist, racist,
nationalist, Nazi, etc.. Oh yeah, of course if you are a white male you are evil and bad. Sure.
Message understood, loud and clear.
Bizarre.
 
i read the first couple of lines of her article and had to stop. i rarely post comments here, but this woman is a total asshole. morrissey was and is never about adolescent angst, he put into writing what is very real, very important, and very life affecting. i had to zone out on this uptight conservative c*** before the end of the first paragraph. he writes because of people like her.
 
Completely off base and there is hardly a cogent portion in this drivel-laden, attempted argument. Morrissey, pre-Smiths, is to many, myself included, the most important Morrissey. Out of that conflicted figure emerged every lyric, every joyful moment with his music, and every concert (been to 20...never cancelled...what's are the odds?) we've looked forward to since the solo years began. I was 11 when Johnny bolted, so seeing The Smiths was not an option. Who cares if the movie is largely fiction? It's an unauthorized account without his music...yes, his (and Johnny's music...Northern leeches!) the guy looks nothing like Moz. Jennifer Brown Findlay could play a street urchin and still be stunning.
 
One of those tolerant liberals has wrote this.
The use of the term 'liberal' has been mangled and distorted owing to the two-party system of US politics, turned into a collective noun when it should have remained an adjective. Worse still, the malaise is being exported throughout the English speaking world. These journalists are not writing from a liberal viewpoint in any true sense of the word.
 
Usual Guardian nonsense. Ringleader of the alt-left tormentors.

Yes, Morrissey's Farage name drop (how many years ago was that?!) will come back to haunt him, especially thanks to the Guardian, but I don't think the comments were down to his policitics, necessarily. the man portrays himself to be outside of the political establishment; this is of interest and generates the respect of Morrissey. Surley admiring someone is not necessarily the same as agreeing with their politics.
 
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I am not a Morrissey apologist but this journalist is trying so desperately to discredit him that ends up being ridiculous
 
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