Star spotting
When I first moved to London in 1984 and lived in a halls of residence in Battersea, my friend Rob and I would spend many happy hours tramping up and down the impossibly glamorous King's Road in London's Chelsea (which was just over the river from us), looking out for famous people. I would then log them in my diary, under the heading "Star Spotting". It was a rare excursion on which we didn't spot anybody famous. (The King's Road isn't anything like as glamorous now - it's just another cloned high street.) Because we operated an open door policy, "star" meant literally anyone we recognised off the telly. At the very top of the tree, we once saw Lady Di, who stepped out of a car and went into a shoe shop. This was logged. We saw Bob Geldof and Paula Yates a lot, as they then lived on an adjoining street. But if we saw, say, John Keeble, drummer from Spandau Ballet, or Steve Blacknell the TV presenter (at that stage not yet immortalised by being the reporter who went with Phil Collins on Concorde for Live Aid), we were equally excited. Anyway, whenever I see famous people in the street now, I am still transported back to those starstruck days. It still makes me excited.
Today, on a reasonably short walk from Leicester Square to Oxford Circus in Central London, I passed three stars! In reverse order of famousness: Reece Shearsmith, Amanda Burton and ... Chris Langham! One of the most famous men in Britain! For all the wrong reasons! Interestingly, I'm pretty certain Rob and I spotted Chris Langham back in the mid-80s, when he was just that funny bloke off Not The 9 O'clock News (I'll have to dig my diaries out and check.) Now, in the popular imagination, he is arguably Britain's most famous paedophile - although of course, he claims not to be a paedophile and just looked at four downloaded images/mpegs "for research", and because, as an abused child, he felt an urge to seemingly commune with the similarly abused to try and achieve some kind of closure. We know all this because, being famous, his case has been all over the papers since he was arrested in November 2005, charged in May 2006 and tried in July and August 2007, after which he was found guilty of possessing child pornography and sentenced in September. He was released in November after an appeal. Rather than fade back into obscurity, Langham fought back against what he considered misleading media coverage and went on telly (and in the Observer beforehand), opening up to Pamela Connolly on More4's Shrink Rap (how we're supposed to take the programme seriously with that silly punning title, I don't know).
I watched as much of that programme as I could bear. Langham did seem to be a broken man who had suffered a great deal since his original arrest - albeit his family seemed to have, if not forgiven him, certainly decided to let bygones be bygones and support him. He came across as a pathetic figure, wracked with self-loathing and self-doubt, but confident enough to appear on the telly to claim his innocence. He claimed - and it is up to us, as the viewers of the programme, to decide whether to believe him or not - that he downloaded four images/videos but that six other ones downloaded automatically while his computer was switched off. He also said that once he'd started watching one of the appalling films he felt that seeing it the through to the end was the only honorable response to the severity of suffering. Due to the nature of the programme, I was rather put off by the way they timed lurid revelations to appear just before the ad-breaks. Yuck.
All of the thoughts that went through my head when I read about the trial and viewed the subsequent "comeback" interview hurtled through it again in the moment that I passed Chris Langham on Charing Cross Road. Clearly, he has to go about his business (or leisure time, as I'm imagining it must be), and I wasn't offended by his presence or the fact that he was walking along with his head held high, nor did I feel the urge to throw rocks at him, or sneer. However, I do still feel disgust at the thought of anyone seeking out and viewing those images, whatever their excuse (and there is no excuse), and what struck me most vividly how much perception can change. In the mid-80s when I saw him, I was really excited. Now, I'm uneasy and a bit creeped out. Is that wrong?
Anyway, Amanda Burton! Nice star-spot!
posted by Andrew Collins @ 2:39 PM
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22 Comments:
The other side of this is that some young lads will be thrilled when they see YOU and log it in their diary!!
You are now part of the celebrity cycle!
AnonoNick
As good fortune would have it - and I was going to end the entry with this, but forgot - in Borders on Charing Cross Road, whilst paying, a man exclaimed to me, "You're a TV critic! I've seen you on the telly!" I couldn't deny it. Then he said, "Can you make me famous?", which I think he meant light-heartedly. I replied that I wasn't famous yet myself. He replied, "Yes you are, you've been on the telly." The logic was sound. However, it is a very transient kind of "fame", as this man did not know my name, and couldn't actually place where he'd seen me on the telly, he just knew that he had, at some point.
I'd have had exactly the same response to Chris Langham, Andrew. The sight of him would make me flinch, rather than try and get his head on a pole. He's obviously a historically troubled individual, but his rampant narcissism - evident once again, through his 'need' to do that programme -is one of the most enduringly unsettling things about him.
We saw Anna Forde just off Oxford Street last week. I thought that was a quality spot. She's still a beautiful woman.
It's the Pete Townshend defence.
Granted, Townshend was only cautioned while Langham was convicted, but the different public reaction to the two cases is very interesting. Langham becomes a pariah, while Townshend seems to have suffered little long-term fall out.
Why the difference?
John
Doesn't sound like the interview was the confessional I was expecting. In the circumstances a dignified silence would seem to have been the best policy for him since the sceptical will just think, 'another paedophile justifying his actions' , regardless of how unfair that might be in his case - who knows.
Er this is sort of linked, in that The Manners Manifesto briefly mentions paedophiles... I've made a tinpot and unaskedfor, but respectful, 'video' of the Manners Manifesto, which is on my tinpot 'blog' with a silly punning title. Probably would've been good manners to ask before posting it - although I'm not sure how viewable it is anyway. In my defence I did it mainly as practice at using some bloody fiddly new software. Incidentally there was an item on yesterday's London news about a million pound film promoting good manners on public transport... the Manifesto effect?
Simon B: genius.
Good question, John, re: Townshend. I have no ready answer. Certainly, Langham's work on The Thick Of It had made him a great comedy favourite, so it's not as if he had less artistic merit - and Townshend's greatest work is much further behind him than Langham's.
Simon, here you go: now I'm posting the link to your work of art. I'm actually flattered by it.
Even if, for argument's sake, it was for research and he started to watch one of the films, the fact he was even able to watch it until the end in my opinion.
Also, I'm no PC expert, but how does your computer download something when it's turned off?
Insufferable though AA Gill may be alot of the time, I enjoyed his review of the Langham Confessional, which went sort of thus :
"There is an argument that watching child porn only encourages people to make more like it. I felt the same about this programme."
i was at the same halls and spotted jools holland in kings road waitrose.
even cooler - at was art school halls with andrew collins!
My absolute best star spot was years ago on an August Bank Holiday in Oxford Street.
Strolling towards me was a largish gentleman minding his own business and enjoying the summer sunshine. I'm usually quite cool about seeing famous people, but this time, I stopped dead in my tracks, as did a woman next to me. As the chap passed, we looked at each other in amazement and she said what I was thinking:
"Isn't that Marlon Brando?!"
It was indeed!
Just had a comment posted anonymously - nothing wrong with it, but I have made it clear that anonymous comments are disallowed. (You've got to have rules!) To the anonymous poster: please can you post it again with a name attached, even if it's in the body of the message. Cheers.
I was working in Hamleys in Xmas 1985, Dallas was at its height, and Bobby Ewing was shopping with his wife, trailled by loads and loads of people. He arrived at my till and I honestly didn't give a toss. A few days later, Ian Paice (drummer from Deep Purple) ambled up unnoticed and I was honestly shaking trying to swipe his credit card through!
This blog entry made me think of Townshend , all the info is on his wikipedia entry.
Doesn't look like he went nearly as far as Chris Langham did but it still affects alot of peoples' opinion, my girlfriend won't listen to The Who now.
I remember once ,on a visit to Alton Towers, seeing Robert Powell getting off one of the rides. " Jesus Christ it's Robert Powell!" my teenage self exclaimed. This was met with a very un Christ like glare from Mr Powell.
Maybe the anonymous post was an ironic comment on the celebrity-centric nature of this discussion. Or p'raps not.
Johnny Ball came to my school once and refused to sign an autograph. I wont call him names or anything, I'm not famous and don't know what it must be like to be asked questions or bothered all the time, but still.
My Wife and I also saw James Nesbitt at Victoria station, he was walking all on his own and everything, no body guards at all, amazing. I also saw the Queen, but she had a lot of security, obviously believes her own hype..
Other than that I met Richard Herring once, but that was in a sort of professional capacity, so I don't think that counts, even if he was a teenage hero for his great TV work with Mr Lee. Awesome.
I will die a happy man.. If only I could meet Stephen Fry even if for a brief second then I would be complete.
Oh, I nearly forgot, I did manage to get the autograph from the 'Doctor' from Doctor and the medics, so I am way ahead of the game!!! Although, you know, Spirit in the sky was a bit crap, and I am an atheist, so I have since lost the signature of the skyward-hair pointing fella... Shame as he is obviously nicer than that c*** Johnny Ball.
Blimey, thanks Andrew, I'm flattered! I regret not trying a bit harder with bits of it but it was already stressing my computer in places. I might go back to it in time and make it perfect and sell it for a million pounds.
Back in the day, my then girlfriend and I had a pain au chocolat and a coffee in the now defunt Gary Glitter coffe shop. In light of subsequent events I often regret giving the "leader" any of my hard earned money.
I seem to take great pleasure in slightly less than major star spots. So I got quite excited when I sat next to Steve Steen (off of CBTV) on the tube,and then later on the same day Kevin Day.
Re the Langham/Townshend thing: the publicity surrounding Townshend's arrest didn't lead to someone from his past taking the opportunity to level a number of accusations against him of which he would subsequently be cleared. Without those other allegations Langham's trial would probably have been very different (if it had happened at all) and the public reaction to him might have been different too.
Surely if you did honestly want to research such things then there would be proper channels to go through, such as the police or children's charities? If you wanted research then these would surely be your ports of call, dowloading illegal and horrific images would be the last thing you did!
Zoe
PS Nicest celebrity I have ever met - James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers. I may be biased as they are my favourite band but he was an absolute gent to my husband and I when we met him in May last year.
Surely the difference is that Townshend had evidence to back up his claim that he was researching. For example "Uncle Ernie" off Tommy is clearly about child abuse from a relative. The sight of Keith Moon in the film version still gives me the heebie-jeebies. He is also on record in interviews about the subject.
Secondly Langham had the whole business with seducing the teenage fan by giving her acting lessons charge as well.
Which as it ran more or less concurrently lead to the general assumption that he delves in murky waters.
Like most, I don't think this is something you research in this way.
I mean Andrew, you don't indulge your taste for serial killers by actually murdering people "just to see what it is like", do you?
But if you do could you murder that churning tub of smugfat Stephen Fry for me. There that will really put the cat amongst the pigeons, attacking our National Treasure in waiting.
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