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Justified…

There are some things in life that you would simply rather not see. The pasty self-satisfied flesh of Gordon Ramsay covered by nothing other than a tubful of black caviar stumbles into this category, for the majority of the seeing population at least. And yet, however vehement our rants and protestations on the topic at hand may be, we continue to be bombarded daily with such less-than-welcome brainchildren of advertisers’ late nights and double-espresso highs.The aforementioned image is in fact part of an advert for The F-Word, Ramsay’s latest Channel 4 venture, an endeavour so eloquently named that it defies distillation. Quite the contrary – it is frank, it strips the essence of Gordon to its most raw, natural form, gently framing it with delicate black dots. And yet by exposing the soul of the programme in all its meatiness, all it is doing is ruining the surprise; stripping the cherry off the cake, so to speak.Not only does it ruin what can only be described as the pick of this country’s intellectuals’ primetime TV-watching fantasies by dispelling any carefully nurtured illusions of the loud-mouthed chef’s no doubt equally impressive physique, the ad also contributes to a growingly prevalent trend of desensitisation of the public. It’s a trend that’s been continuing for some time, and one that is symptomatic of the ‘shock’ culture that crept throughout the twentieth century, and which achieves little save an erosion of our ability to experience any awe or wonder at the modern world. It is evident in the smug but quietly despairing cynicism that pervades the stunts of Madonna or Janet Jackson, or the eroticism cum pornographic imagery that the Turner Award displays as its excuse for cutting-edge art. Who now treats these events with any seriousness? Full-body nudity or explicit simulated sex cannot be more than a decade away from splashing all over the small screen, but outside of the dungeons of computer hacks and the pages of the daily Mail such an event is unlikely to be noted by an already desensitised and disillusioned public. By the same note, And yet the more outwardly obvious we get about the taboos of old, the more we are at the same time witnessing a paradoxical move towards conservative values. This is a move that is already being experienced in literature, art, everyday life; and one that will ultimately impact on future politics.As the emins, Hirsts and Houellebecqs of today continue to push their self-conceived boundaries by delving ever further into territory that would make even the poo-smearers of Oxford proud, people are getting tired of what no longer shocks or surprises and which leaves no intellectual aftertaste other than, at its best, a bitter trace of ammonia in the mouth.And yet despite our best efforts to desensitise modern society, we have unfortunately not yet become immune to the beatings, bitings and general throws of physical violence that seems to be becoming so prevalent in our day-to-day lives. Cherwell could easily spread a pair of breasts on its pages and you would be pushed to find anyone complaining, apart from perhaps the girl who thought hers were more deserving of the prime spot.Anna Mikhailova  ARCHIVE: 5th week MT 2005

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