When I was a kid I loved Gary Glitter. He was a big, shiny, real life cartoon who churned out monster glam anthems and always had a sense of spectacle.
When they found 'child porn' on his computer I took advantage of the sudden number of seats available for what turned out to be his last shows - thinking 'innocent until proven guilty'. He was later proven guilty. Ooops.
Since then Mr Glitter has lived in Spain and Cuba, in Cambodia and most recently a Vietnamese prison. The prison thing was for abusing two young girls.
Since his release there's been a media hoopla around where he was going to go next. Thailand refused to allow him in - even after he 'feigned' having a heart attack. Hong Kong turned him back at the border. Singapore want nothing to do with him. In fact 19 countries so far have said that they will refuse Mr Glitter entry.
Leaving him a hostile reception waiting back in the UK.
What surprises me here is the relentlessness with which the UK press has pursued this guy. They found him in Cambodia. They chased him through Thailand. And they're in every airport with him now. All this despite the fact that his career was short-lived and effectively over 30 years ago.
Now I'm not going to defend the guy. He's pretty indefensible. But where was the clamour for jail when UK author and scientist Arthur C Clarke said this from his long term home in Sri Lanka
"''Once they have reached the age of puberty, it is OK... It doesn't do any harm. I am trying to think of the youngest boy I have ever had because, of course, you can't tell it here. I think most of the damage comes from the fuss made by hysterical parents afterwards. If the kids don't mind, fair enough.''
Clarke didn't get jail - he got a knighthood.
Which may prove that a penchant for bacofoil is bad for your chances of staying out of jail. Or proof that the tabloids hold you accountable only to the level of your peak fame. Or perhaps, saddest of all, this has nothing to do with protecting kids from men like Clarke and Glitter and all about filling the front pages for a day or three during a slow summer.
Perhaps we could start a campaign to have Clarke's Knighthood posthumously stripped?
1 comment:
Hmmm. Had no idea about Clarke.
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