It’s new year, so our bloated, hungover nation needs some good old hate figures to bind itself together. Here are the frontrunners
As the season of goodwill gives way to January purposefulness, we need something other than food to bring us together as a nation. We need people and things to hate. Casual misbehaviour isn’t enough: a person or entity has to offend or solidify some core British value, some sensibility we don’t think other nations share.
What makes a great public enemy? You think you can create one by sticking someone on a front page with a target on their face, and the headline “Public Enemy”? It’s not that simple. You can’t just find a public figure with a few atrocious cock-ups on their CV and make their name rhyme with something (see: Failing Grayling). Politicians make terrible hate figures anyway because everyone expects to hate them. Ex-politicians, different matter; we expect to feel neutral towards them, maybe on a slow day get their name a bit wrong. Remember our delight when we realised that we properly, deep-seatedly hated David Cameron?
Continue reading...from Lifestyle | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2GTxnTU