Proms not multicultural enough!

[Ramrod]

Margaret Hodge criticised for Proms attack

The culture minister, Margaret Hodge, is facing a chorus of criticism from across the political spectrum after attacking the Proms for not being multicultural enough......The minister said the annual series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall failed to attract a diverse audience and unite different sections of society.....

You can't make this stuff up

[WHISTLED]

The queen is far to white too dont you think? Get her on the sunbed.

[Cobbydaler]

The Proms are quintessentially British!

Well, OK, let's have some Bollywood in to diversify it...

[SOSAGES]

anyone can go
no dress code
£5 to get in

[Cobbydaler]

Originally Posted by SOSAGES

anyone can go
no dress code
£5 to get in

But the music is Nationalistic & not inclusive....

[TheNorm]

This made me laugh:

Privately, Mr Brown, who has championed the values of Britain, was said to be angry that Mrs Hodge's remarks had not been cleared with Downing Street.

[nffc]

I quite like them, but notwithstanding there was only one concert last year i really liked.

[Caff]

From the OP link:
"She said: "The audiences for many of our greatest cultural events - I'm thinking in particular of the Proms - is still a long way from demonstrating that people from different backgrounds feel at ease in being part of this.
"I know this is not about making every audience completely representative, but if we claim great things for our sectors in terms of their power to bring people together, then we have a right to expect they will do that wherever they can."
A BBC spokesman defended the Proms saying: "We are proud that the BBC Proms is world-renowned for the way it combines excellence in classical music with an ongoing commitment to bringing it to the widest possible audience.
"Indeed, this has recently been recognised by three nominations for audience development in the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards."
The Proms were founded in 1895 to give everyone the chance to hear live classical music with low ticket prices.
It is the biggest classical musical festival in the world with more than 70 concerts in the Royal Albert Hall over eight weeks in the summer. "


... and it's still going strong!
And - oh, I do like tuning into the Last Night especially.

Silly woman - I take her point but: it's called 'tradition'!

Maybe she'd like everyone to "feel at ease" at the Download, Isle of Wight, V, O2, Day Out and Glasto festivals too. Oh, and my son's band does a pretty sick<edit 'tight'> metal gig.

[MovedGoalPosts]

If I said what I really thought about such politically incorrect attitudes (yes that's not a typo), that get spouted by this government's so called leaders, I'd have to ban myself from this forum.

Well if she is not happy easy don't go to them don't watch them on tele and if she is really offended go on a jolly to india or whereever. Personally i think it is time this government got on with doing what governments are supposed to do and stopped trying to interfere in the lives of ordinary citizens and take their "we think we know better" attitude and shove it where the sun doesn't shine. Other benefit to that is if they have an obstacle up there might make it harder for them to talk out of it quite so much.

[Ramrod]

I was wondering if Mosques or Synagogues are perhaps not multicultural enough....what about C of E churches?....All those hymns being sung without so much as a nod to multiculturalism

[dave6x]

Seems a pity this woman can't get on and do the job she is paid to do instead of interfering in an event that is the most accessible and successful classical music festival in the world.

The BBC is right to be proud, and I recall that some meddling with the Last Night a few years ago was not well received either here at home or with the wider international audience. People around the world love it for what it is.

Over the 8 weeks of concerts it showcases music old and new from around the world, anyone who judges the Proms on the patriotic Last Night, that is really just a bit of fun for the loyal promenaders, is ill informed and does not understand what the Proms is all about. When I've attended Proms concerts it is heartening to see people of all ages, colours and creeds just there to enjoy the music, not to make a social statement as they do at the highly elitist and heavily subsidised opera and ballet, and maybe this is where she should be looking to make them more accessible to the masses!

Long may The Proms continue without political inteference!!!!

[Osem]

Originally Posted by TheNorm

This made me laugh:

Well of course Brown doesn't want his ministers telling us what they really think - he'd much rather they carry on misleading the public about what their real agenda is.

[BBKing]

Seems a pity this woman can't get on and do the job she is paid to do

I'm much happier that she's spouting whiffle in the papers rather than attempting to do a job that might actually damage things, given her record. Ghastly, ghastly woman.

Anyway, everyone's missed the point here - what she's arguing for is that the Proms should be made less elitist, less highbrow, more acceptable to people who might, say, watch ITV talent shows without requiring medication. Since the Proms aren't particularly elitist or highbrow at the moment, what does that say for Government attitudes to things that are actually culturally or intellectually challenging (in other words stuff that I might enjoy, like the fine performance of Salome at the Royal Opera House I attended a couple of weeks back)?

The crux is that there are large numbers of British institutions that Margaret and co. aren't going to force to be more representative in a million years - the Sun, for instance, or Big Brother have been mentioned (see http://www.chickyog.net/2008/03/04/m...the-dark-ages/). Both would have to be made more intellectual if people like me aren't to be excluded, but we can't possibly have that, can we, it might exclude the thick and feeble-minded.

LOL BB you really think anyone wants an intellectual big brother people watch it as they can then feel superior about themselves and realise life is not all bad.