let’s be blunt
Like many of you, I too have a copy of James Blunt’s debut album kicking around somewhere, and half-decent it is. Also, though no twitter follower myself, I hear he’s quite a sharp, witty, self-deprecating young fellow and I like the cut of his jib. So it was with a little surprise that I see James has had a bit of an online tiff with Labour MP Chris Bryant, where his sense of humour appears to have done a runner. Bryant somewhat clumsily cited three privately-educated celebrities, Benedict Cumberbatch (owner of possibly THE poshest name in the history of the arts), Eddie Redmayne and the aforementioned Blunt, as evidence of the fact that one’s name, schooling and class determines the ease at which you move in social circles and progress through your chosen career. No sh*t Sherlock!
Jimmy hit back with a decidedly taciturn turn of phrase calling Bryant, amongst other things, a ‘classist gimp’, but if ever there was a case of the lady protesting too much, this is surely it. We are all aware of the statistics bearing out the painful truth – 7% of the population are privately educated yet this number continues to dominate the vast majority (80%+) of senior and influential positions in all sectors of both public & private life. This is not debatable in any way, shape or form. It’s the truth. It is the reality.
Yes, of course there are always exceptions to the rule, and Blunt actually represents exactly this. His background and well-documented life experiences made it more difficult for him to make-it in the world of pop-music – his was hardly the edgy, fashionable or cutting-edge music or personality that this world craves and consequently every time he was ‘outed’ another door was closed in his face and made his eventual success ever the more difficult to achieve. Good on him for sticking to his guns, so-to-speak. But, had James chosen to be a big-wig in the BBC, a potential director of The Royal Ballet, a musical journalist on The Times or a budding MP in the office for arts & culture, then he would have been eminently well placed to do so. Both Blunt and Bryant are right: Blunt’s background counted against his individual success in the front line of popular music, but Bryant’s observations & analysis cannot be denied: elitism is rife in the arts but those who appear to benefit choose ignore it.
