He was a brilliant performer and entertainer.
Saw him a couple of times live and he was good value.
When he was originally Yewtree'd, I did initially try and minimise in my head what he'd done.
But having looked into the details, it wasn't good. Shame.
You don’t spend years on television unless you are popular (unless it’s Mrs Browns Boys)
But it’s an essential betrayal (though of course not a betrayal anywhere near the scale of those he abused)…deceiving us all into believing he was this amiable slightly cringeworthy light entertainer. Not a shred of remorse or willingness to accept responsibility. I’m one of the strongest advocates of separating the art from the person, but in his case the art was as much selling himself and ingratiating himself to us as it was the actual physical art.
Yes, that show being on continues to be a mystery for the ages.
I dunno. I mean do we really expect the people we see on TV to be like that in real life? Mr Rodgers in the US apparently really was as nice and genial as he appeared on screen but with most presenters...sure, it's a bit disappointing if they're dicks in real life but is it really a big surprise? We surely understand that even as presenters they are playing a part.But it’s an essential betrayal (though of course not a betrayal anywhere near the scale of those he abused)…deceiving us all into believing he was this amiable slightly cringeworthy light entertainer.
Yes. I mean, obviously what he did was reprehensible, but his constant doubling down about having done nothing wrong compounds it.Not a shred of remorse or willingness to accept responsibility.
I do know someone who met him once and apparently he was a bit of an arrogant prick.
No not completely. But there’s a difference between being someone who is generally ok but can be a prima Donna, a bit of a dick etc and someone who beneath the facade is a complete monster.
The thing with Jimmy Saville, is that he couldn’t hide what he was…the strange thing is that someone who was even on the surface quite a dodgy character and who seemed to be straining to confess what he really was and whilst it’s easy to look upon it in retrospect, it was so obvious that he was a wrong un that we feel more like hostages than a willing tv audience.
Harris was completely chameleonic, all the way down to the crocodile tears he’d weep when a dog had to be put to sleep on Animal Hospital.
And I’m not stating for a fact that this was a betrayal, more that it feels like one. What’s factual is the trust of the people he betrayed when he attacked them
Well, sure. It's difficult with stuff like this. A friend of mine can't listen to Michael Jackson now because of the allegations. To me...I mean, Jackson is, famously, dead. He doesn't benefit from me listening to his songs. So I'm still able to enjoy the music. I'm not going to tell my friend he's wrong to boycott though.
I enjoyed his shows as a kid but he was always odd to say the least. I don't think it was obvious that he was quite as horrible as it turned out though.The thing with Jimmy Saville, is that he couldn’t hide what he was…the strange thing is that someone who was even on the surface quite a dodgy character and who seemed to be straining to confess what he really was and whilst it’s easy to look upon it in retrospect, it was so obvious that he was a wrong un that we feel more like hostages than a willing tv audience.
There are some people like Fred West who are unremittingly evil, but that's rare.Harris was completely chameleonic, all the way down to the crocodile tears he’d weep when a dog had to be put to sleep on Animal Hospital.
With Harris, I don't think that it's a given that because he sexually abused young women that means he didn't have real emotions and could be genuinely sad at a dog being put down.
He wasn't a Bond or cartoon villain.
To me it was a disappointment rather than a betrayal that he turned out to be a wrong 'un. I didn't feel personally let down because I didn't know him personally, but it was a shame that one of my heroes turned out to be a serial sexual abuser.
Saville was odd but he was also literally stating that his charity work was a way of making sure he didn’t go to hell for his sins, not only once but several times did he claim this on tv. But people just assumed he was joking
Michael Jackson was a musician, what he was selling was his music. Harris was selling himself to the British tv watching audience, his art was more intangible than just his drawings or his wobble board etc
Again it’s all speculation on my part, but I find it hard to believe that someone who can abuse children like he did and not feel even the slightest hint of remorse for it, is likely to be genuinely choked up by a dog dying….but who knows
Australian girl I knew well (who sadly died last year from a blood clot) told me before the allegations surfaced that Harris was a piece of shit. There’s a verse in Tie me Kangaroo Sport, which sums up his views on race.
The person I know who met him - it was at some charity she worked at or something, he was visiting for some reason. Anyway, she said he strutted round the place like the big I Am. She wasn't impressed.
You used to be everything to me
Now you're tired of fighting
Yes, this is why we decided to go for monotheism to stop all those silly arguments.