British hostage Kenneth Bigley’s plight is horrific. Imprisoned and abused he’s already witnessed the beheading of his two American hostage colleagues. A caged, broken man in a Guantanamo Bay style orange jumpsuit, his captives are getting an awful lot of mileage out of torturing this poor soul. They have no reason to kill him… yet.

Kenneth Bigley has become a major asset to his captives. They can force him to say anything and so-called quality newspapers like the Independent print it verbatim. An excellent reason to keep him alive. In fact all the front pages are lapping it up. This from the Daily Mail is a corker. As ex-Guardian editor Peter Preston wrote in the Observer: ‘ We… need to realise we’re being manipulated… Al-Zarqawi’s reality is slaughter as spin’.

As the torture is dragged out, the family is forced to grovel on television programmes only seen in the UK. Latching on to news that Bush may have blocked the release of two women prisoners (the kidnappers’ key demand), brother Paul calls for Blair to ‘pick up the bloody phone’ and ask Bush to relent. He continually calls for the PM’s resignation. Understandable, but wrong all the same. Whatever the detail, this would prove hostage taking works.

It’s this propaganda that’s keeping Bigley alive. Stateside, the response was more measured. Alive the two Americans had no value and only their brutal murder could win headlines. They couldn’t hurt Bush.

And the other 1,500 British contractors are surprisingly unsympathetic. ‘This man has been too blatant; [Bigley] has gone, “Hey, I am British, they won’t hurt me.” But he was a soft target.’. He foolishly refused the protection of the army and placed himself in the firing line. With his propaganda value well proven by a naïve British press, he’s inadvertently increased the risk to every other British citizen in Iraq and elsewhere.

We all want more corpses on TV……Not a war for idealists

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‘People there will hurt you ’cos of who you are’, sang Blur of the countryside. Echoing the common sense view that small communities, by virtue of their isolation and inexperience, tend to be more bigoted than the cosmopolitan masses. By virtue of the same common sense such communities can indulge practices that make those same cosmopolitan masses’ hair stand on end.

I’ve never been a fan of common sense, which is supposedly shorthand for the stuff we all know to be true (and so never test) and that too often turns out to be common prejudice. But take the Pitcairn islanders where half the male population (seven) are charged with underage sex. Clearly an example of one of those small communities playing up to the common sense stereotype, a community so far divorced from our cosmopolitan morality it sees nothing wrong. Meanwhile the countryside lobby, is having fun appropriating what it no doubt sees as politically correct language. They claim to be ethnic country folk and are initiating a letter writing campaign to support a new coding on the census. While I don’t doubt it’s a bit of a wheeze, I hope they succeed as having been recognised as a minority, they’ll no longer be able to claim to be typical English.

Anyway. The link is that tradition and ethnicity are both communities’ defence against the tyranny of the majority. The islanders say underage sex is an essential part of their identity. They point out that the girls consent and are not otherwise abused. However, those looking in from outside are likely to argue that just because the girls have been brought up to believe this all okay, doesn’t mean it is. Similarly, the country folk argue that inflicting suffering upon animals for fun is part of their culture and ethnic country folk are brought up to see nothing wrong in this. The country folk further illustrate how little their culture respects animal life by mutilating dead horses and cattle, scrawling notes on them and dumping them in the street. Many hope that their new found ethnic status will allow them to reintroduce cock fighting.

Yet cock fighting is a tradition excised from the countryside without genocidal consequences and the end of fox hunting does not mean the end of country folk. It’s great that Britons have so many lifestyle choices, but all have to accept an underlying morality. And thankfully, that’s a morality that says underage sex and inflicting animal suffering for fun are wrong, whatever your community elders told you.

Fox hunters and the retreat into pop……Fox hunting: parliament’s chance to be relevant……Pro-hunt barbarians at the gates……On animal fashion, morality and suffering……‘Celebrity worship essential’, say scientists (the Bryan Ferry connection)

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Alienation is the common thread to so much cinema lately, with this near future pic exploring relationships complicated by genetics; too many clones. Everything here you’ve seen before, but the montage is so powerful it remains more than fresh. It’s an accomplishment that further proves Winterbottom’s incredible range and versatility.
With extra marks for the soundtrack, 9 out of 10.
Ruang Rak Noi Nid Mahasan (Last Life in the Universe)……The Village

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Last Life’s pondering could do without the boom mike’s cameos spoiling the visual sensation it’s after and introducing comedy where it shouldn’t be. Yet, while it reaches out for disconnection and alienation, without quite getting there, it’s a strangely engaging film.
A clumsy 6 out of 10.
Sarin ui chu-eok (Memories of Murder)……Code 46
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