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‘Whitney’ is a documentary in search of its lost soul

Jonnie Barrow
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‘Whitney’ is a documentary in search of its lost soul

A good documentary is like a good magic trick, it takes elements of the real world that you’re familiar with, and uses sleight of hand to present those elements in a brand-new and scintillating way. The choice of subject matter, and the style in which it’s presented, are absolutely everything. A bad documentary and a bad magic trick have elements in common too. The behind-the-scenes machinations may be distractingly overt, the constituent elements too familiar or poorly presented, or the style may clash with the subject matter.

Whitney is not a bad documentary, but it possesses enough of the hallmarks of one to keep it from being a particularly good one. Forcefully directed by Kevin Macdonald with the blessing of Whitney Houston’s estate (the first time they’ve granted such permission since her untimely death in 2012), the film chronicles her life from childhood, moving through her rise to fame in the 1980s before her personal and professional decline and tragic passing in the 2012.

A documentary’s most persuasive presentational tool is its editing, and there’s some fleeting fun in the sheer filmmaking verve of some of Macdonald’s sequences. An early success montage practically weaponises the Kuleshov effect as historical events, famous contemporary faces, close-ups of money and hints towards Houston’s future drug use are cut between snippets of her music videos and her singles consistently reaching #1 on the charts. A later montage is similarly used to illustrate her downfall, intercut with scandalous tabloid headlines and literal explosions from contemporary war footage.

The problem with this editing technique is that, as fun as it is, it’s headbangingly obvious, amateur-level filmmaking. Macdonald is a better filmmaker than that. It’s the tip of an iceberg of irritation. One particularly annoying example of Macdonald’s manipulative filmmaking occurs during an ostensible ‘revelation’ in the narrative, wherein it is imparted that many of Houston’s relatives became paid employees as part of her entourage. Previously during the introduction of an interviewee, a subtitle would appear to illustrate how exactly they were related to Houston: “Brother”, “Family Friend”, etc. After it is revealed that many of these figures were, at one time, her employees, their subsequent re-introductions would be subtitled “Brother, Employee” etc, for the remainder of the film.

Macdonald’s attempts to nudge the audience to consider the nuances of Houston’s life come off as an insistent shove which proves extremely grating, even amidst the refreshing candour of the interviews themselves.

The film fails to offer any justification for why it’s being made now, or even at all. It’s no hardship to be reminded of Houston’s extraordinary talent, but the film offers no new information or insight into her life that a skim read of her Wikipedia page wouldn’t reveal. Previously unreleased home video footage of her real-life disposition offers food for thought, but most of the talking heads simply speculate exactly as we, the public, have done for years; why exactly was she so self-destructive, how was it allowed to continue, and why did nobody intervene?

There are small flashes that hint towards a better version of this documentary, one that focusses more on her music and demonstrates how the heights of her superstardom were inextricably linked to her downfall. But such a documentary would have to dig beyond the conjecture of family members who have a legacy and themselves to protect. The whole documentary ultimately feels disappointingly hollow, unable to surmount the absence of Whitney herself. Even a semblance of Houston’s self-analysis would have been welcome; she was often refreshingly frank about herself, and glimpses of that could have been extremely effective in heightening the tragedy of her failed potential.

Despite these foibles, it’s not an unenjoyable watch. It’s never less than engaging – Houston herself was a luminous screen presence and her family and friends similarly light up as they reminisce about her – plus there’s a real kick of nostalgia to reliving her greatest hits which can’t be denied. I think the reason this review comes off far more negatively than I felt while watching it is because Houston deserves a far better monument to her life and talents than this film. Despite my love for Whitney and my continued sorrow for her tragic later years and inauspicious passing, the film didn’t make me cry, and that says a great deal. Like with a fumbled magic trick, I remained unmoved.

Oxford honours academic who fled Nazis and succeeded Tolkien

Angus Brown
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Oxford honours academic who fled Nazis and succeeded Tolkien

Professor Eric Gerald Stanley, a renowned authority on Medieval Literature and successor to Tolkien, has been honoured across Oxford after his passing aged 94 last month.

Acknowledged by many of his peers as one of the 20th century’s leading scholars in his field, Stanley was a long-time editor of Oxford’s “Notes and Queries” and a prominent contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary.

Andy Orchard, Oxford’s current Rawlinson and Bosworth professor of Anglo-Saxon, descried Stanley’s work as “prodigious in its scope and scale and impact”. Professor Lynda Mugglestone, another colleague,  remembered his encouragement of her own work.

Upon hearing of his passing, one of Stanley’s students said: “Oxford has lost an irreplaceable link to the best of its history, to a time when students earnestly believed in the capacity of ideas to change the world.”

They added: “Eric modelled the unlimited potential of imagination in everything he did.”

Having fled from Nazi Germany with his parents in 1934, Stanley was admitted to University College in 1941. He taught at the University of Birmingham and Yale University before being elected a fellow of Pembroke College in 1977.

At the same time, he was appointed Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of English Literature, a position previously held by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Stanley’s published works include The Search for Anglo-Saxon Paganism (1975) and In The Foreground: ‘Beowulf’ ( 1994). He also worked extensively for the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), though he was never a member of its staff. Stanley first participated in its work in the 1940s, when the dictionary came up for revision in the 1990s he played a key role, eventually coming to inspect all entries of Old or Middle English origin.

A friend and peer of eminent figures like Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Harold Bloom, Stanley was well-known for being well-dressed and for making fast friends wherever he would go. He and his wife would take annual trips to Italy by car, a tradition which he continued alone after her death.

Pembroke College flew their college flags at half-mast on the 21st and 22nd June in his honour.

Gary Lineker – ‘the media scrutiny is far more intense compared to 30 years ago’

Fred Dimbleby
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Gary Lineker – ‘the media scrutiny is far more intense compared to 30 years ago’

fI talk to Gary Lineker the day before he leaves for Russia. Organising an interview has been complicated because of his bewildering schedule, but he manages to free up some time for me to talk to him. If you cast your mind back to that point, it was a time of cynicism. Far from thinking that ‘football is coming home’, England fans were already preparing themselves for yet another disappointment. We were not expecting a tournament fraught with excitement. It has already been a World Cup which has mirrored our wider context: completely unpredictable and constantly changing. As England make their final preparations for their round of 16 match against Colombia, I look back at the transcript of my interview with Lineker.

The England team

What would you say a good tournament would look like for England?

“I think if we got to the quarters that would be a really good effort. It is a long time since we actually won a knockout game in a tournament so if we could do that, that would be a reasonable performance. If we do get to the quarter finals then I don’t know but that would be a good effort.”

Is this England team any different to previous teams, or have we just got more cynical about football?

“No, I think we have just entered a period where we are not introducing enough world class players over the last 12 years, or players who would be close to world class. So, we are going through a bit of a tough phase where we have not had enough world class players to really compete at this level. This squad is inexperienced and the expectations, because of that, are low. I think we have the youngest team in the tournament and fewer caps than any other squad. I think expectations are relatively low for this one and probably quite rightly so. But we have a plethora of really good talent coming through and certainly in two years’ time, or four years’ time, I think we will be very competitive. But this squad, while we have some talented players, is still a little while away from what teams have had in the distant past. There is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel from some of the players coming through and they will benefit from the experience of playing in the team. Perhaps the fact that expectations aren’t too high means they might surprise us.”

This generation of footballers are paid more and have larger advertising contracts than in your day. Do you think they still care as much about playing for the national team?

“Oh yeah, I think they still care a lot. I think sometimes because they haven’t performed so well, media people in this country put it down to a lack of effort: that they don’t care much and it’s all down to the quality of football. But I am absolutely positive that the players what to be on what is the biggest stage of all. Yeah, of course they still care.”

Media speculation

Media speculation in the run up to the tournament has been mostly cynical and negative. Even after a 6-1 win against Panama, which saw a team unity foreign to England teams of the past, The Times ran with a headline in their sports section of ‘Hmmm…did we score too many’. The headline was written in jest but some media coverage has been less playful. The coverage of Raheem Sterling’s tattoo showed a crueller side of some parts of the British media. Lineker himself is no stranger to negative and harsh media coverage – The Sun once called for his sacking from the BBC because he was a “leftie luvvie”. I ask him about the effect that this type of coverage could have on the players.

Has the media scrutiny intensified in comparison to when you were playing?

“Oh definitely, it’s definitely intensified. There are now more televisions, more magazines, more radio stations, and there’s more games shown on television so people are more aware about the players. So that intensity is naturally greater because of that. The media is far more intense in its scrutiny compared to what it was 30 years ago – that is for sure.”

Do English players get it worse than in other countries?

“No I think it is the same everywhere, it’s massively importance to the Spanish, the Brazilians, the Argentinians, the French so it’s no different. What is different in our country is the tendency to focus on footballer’s private lives. That’s being ever thus and I have never quite understood why we have that insatiable interest in how people are behaving. That’s the one difference.”

Was the Raheem Sterling reporting part of that?

“Well that’s the exact type of thing. I can’t quite understand why there have been so many negative stories and most of them are non-stories about Raheem. He’s a young man who has a terrific work ethic and has proved it in season and out of season. I never quite understood the negativity that some segments of the press direct towards him. The best way to put that right is performing on the field, which he has certainly done for his club. Four years ago, he was a very young kid and he actually had a number of really good games. He’s one of our best players and I guess it always helps if he plays well. Confidence is always a massive help with national sports.”

Does that kind of press coverage have an impact on the players or can they leave it on the plane?

“Well I am sure he will get it out of his minds come the World Cup but it doesn’t help – no one likes to have it. The stress that comes with it is something that you could really do without as a player and you don’t need the added stresses, you just want to focus on the football and your game. But I am sure that the management team within England will make sure that that is the case and that it won’t affect him or any of the other players.”

You have obviously had some scrutiny as a pundit as well as footballer, The Sun calling for you to be sacked being an example of that. Did that affect you?

“No not overly, I mean sometimes it can be frustrating. But with things like that at least it does give you the right of reply whereas before social media that was frankly pretty impossible. So, it does give you the chance to do that and obviously they can take things too far, but it has never really perturbed me. We know there’s agendas involved sometimes when they disagree with your politics, they can tend to get overly personal. We are all allowed different opinions unless they disagree with you.”

Russian controversy

This tournament has not just been about football though. Although there has not been recent controversy, the location of the World Cup has caused tension. Within the first week of the tournament, Mo Salah had been criticised for accepting honorary citizenship from the Chechnyan leader and Peter Tatchell had been arrested for protesting the oppressive treatment of LGBTQ+ people by the Russian government.

In terms of the tournament more generally, how are you feeling about being in Russia in the midst of a tense political situation?

“There is always something prior to a major tournament. We had it four years ago in Brazil with demonstrations about the amount of money that was spent on the stadiums, demonstrations because they were going through tough financial times there. South Africa also had protests for different reasons. So, there is always something prior to a World Cup but once it starts everyone focusses on the football. Once it actually kicks off, it will put behind all the other stuff and the political climate especially in Russia. It’s a football tournament and ultimately once it starts that pretty much all it will be focussed on. Hopefully, hopefully there won’t be anything else outside of the game.”

So you wouldn’t take the Boris Johnson line that this is the chance for Putin to propagandise and cover up abuses through sport?

“I wouldn’t take Boris Johnson’s line on anything. I mean every country that hosts the World Cup will obviously take advantage of that situation in some way. But this is a football tournament and there is only so much you can do in terms of scoring political points. It’s basically about what happens on the pitch.”

How have you felt about covering this World Cup?

“I love the World Cup –its always exciting. It’s a huge stage and we’ll probably get the biggest audiences that you will get on any TV programme. Especially if England start to decently and get to the knockout stages, we will get huge viewing figures and that is exciting. We have a great coverage team, we got some great pundits who have all played at the highest levels. For us it is not quite the same as playing, but it is our biggest stage that we ever do TV shows from.”

What’s it like making that transition from football to commentary like some of your commentators have done recently? Is that a tough shift?

“It’s a different skill but these players have done it at the top level and they understand the game pretty well. It’s a different skill getting that across to viewers but I am sure that the new boys will be fine with the change. It will take two or three games to get a feel for the analytical side and explaining that to an audience. So naturally, it’s a first and I am sure that they will be nervous. They are in at the deep end, it’s a World Cup as a first time.”

Twitter life

Lineker doesn’t restrict himself to football nowadays. Twitter has enabled him to add political punditry to his CV and he is known both for his political commentary but also his constant disagreement with hired agitator Piers Morgan.

Talking about your life now. You’re obviously active on social media and twitter, is that something that you are enjoying?

“I do enjoy it, I enjoy it for all sorts of different reasons: following people that I find interesting, the immediacy of news on twitter, and obviously it’s a big platform when you have a lot of followers. It is a different way of expressing your views on opinions on all things, but for the next month it will be predominantly football obviously.”

It’s also been somewhere that you have got into spats with other prominent people like Piers Morgan for example, are those personal arguments or are you slightly playing around there?

“A bit of both really. I have a few disagreements with him but if we all agreed with each other, life would be fairly dull. Occasionally it can be a bit of fun, and at other times things are quite irritating. At least it does give you the chance to put your opinion and your views and try to argue a point.”

England won their last World Cup fixture against Colombia 2-0. It was such a significant match that Kirsty McColl, of ‘Fairytale of New York’ fame, wrote a song about it. England fans have already begun the nail-biting process of preparing for a knockout match and will be questioning whether it will ever really return home. But Lineker seems to have confidence in the side. He realises that this is a group of players who are young, humble, and genuinely excited by the competition. Long gone are the days of English players who seemed bored by the greatest football stage on earth. Whatever happens in the upcoming matches, this tournament has been a success and a renaissance for English football. The players are approachable, the manager is genuine, and England fans are finally hopeful. Lineker says that a good result for England would be a place in the quarter finals – only time will tell whether his wishes come true.

Campaigners to protest Trump’s Oxford visit

Angus Brown
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Campaigners to protest Trump’s Oxford visit

Protestors have pledged to protest Donald Trump’s planned visit to Blenheim Palace, with Oxford Stand Up To Racism calling for people to demonstrate against the British government “rolling out the red carpet” for the controversial US president.

Oxford Labour Muslim Network has also condemned the potential presidential visit, and Oxford and West Abingdon MP Layla Moran has said she will join protests against the president’s visit.

The reaction from locals has been more mixed. One local publican offered the president a free drink if he stops by his pub, whilst Oxford City Councillor Tom Hayes demanded that the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner “pull on every lever at [his] disposal” to prevent Trump’s visit.

Hayes argues that the president’s views are “alien to the majority if not all of Thames Valley” and that they will stir up support for the far-right in the area, endangering the safety of local residents. Hayes furthermore articulated his “concerns about the prospect of a hardcore band of far-right supports converging on communities within the Thames Valley.”

The councillor added: “The birthplace of Winston Churchill – the man who defended Britain and the world against fascism – shouldn’t be rolling out the red carpet for fascism.”

Oxford Stand Up To Racism have similarly accused the US leader of spreading the “politics of hate” and “incit[ing] racism and division”.

A spokesman for Oxford Labour Muslim Network said: “Donald Trump is not welcome in Oxfordshire and not welcome in our country. Not now, not ever.”

The group “call[s] on the good people of Oxford and Oxfordshire to stand in solidarity with us, Oxfordshire’s Muslim communities.”

A poll of the readers of the Oxford Times found that 74% were opposed to Trump’s visit, while just 26% were in support.

The planned three-day presidential visit is set to take place in July, with President Trump due to meet the Queen on the 13th, an event expected to be met with significant protests. Trump is due to dine at Blenheim Palace on the 12th, the second day of Trump’s first official visit to the UK since his election in 2016. This will be followed by a meeting with Theresa May at the Prime Minister’s country retreat in Buckinghamshire, Chequers.

Blenheim Palace has yet to confirm the visit.

UCU to vote on second set of strikes

Abby Ridsdill-Smith
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UCU to vote on second set of strikes

The University and Colleges Union (UCU) is to hold a ballot to determine whether university staff should return to the picket lines.

The ballot follows the University and College Employers Association’s (UCEA) final offer of a 2-2.8% pay rise for university staff. The offer falls significantly short of UCU’s 7.5% pay claim. UCU says that real-terms pay has been devalued by 21% since 2010.

In initial consultations, 82% of union members said they would vote to reject the offer while 65% were in support of industrial action against low pay. This vote recorded a turnout of 47.7%.

In fighting low pay, the UCU also seeks to tackle casualisation of university staff contracts, the insufficient compensation for hours worked, the low living wage and the gender pay gap. In Oxford, the gender pay gap was reported to be 13.7% in March 2018.

Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary said: ‘The employers’ below-inflation pay offer does nothing to address years of decline in the value of higher education pay so we now have little option but to ballot for strike action.

‘Universities would do well to listen to their students and make investment in staff a top priority. That means a decent pay offer and concrete commitments to tackle problems with gender pay and insecure employment.’

The ballot will be open from August to October 2018.

Oxford UCU has not responded to a request for comment.

 

Cellar faces threat of closure after fire safety concerns

Angus Brown
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Cellar faces threat of closure after fire safety concerns

The Cellar’s future is again under threat after authorities ruled its fire escape is too narrow for the venue’s current capacity.

Oxfordshire County Council has ordered the venue to reduce its maximum capacity from 150 people to 60, as its 70cm fire escape is 30cm too narrow.

The club’s management have said that one events promoter has already pulled out from future work due to the impact of capacity reduction on the club’s viability as a live music venue.

The news comes just one year after The Cellar fought off plans to redevelop the site into a storage basement. The current capacity was agreed in the 1970s and has remained unchanged ever since.

Oxfordshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service Fire Protection and Business Safety Manager, Dave Bray, noted that the venue’s “means of escape from the basement…was found not adequate for 150 people.”

The order reducing the number of possible attendees will remain in place “until the alternate escape route is improved,” Bray added.

The owner of The Cellar, Tim Hopkins, told The Oxford Mail that he was “shocked and frustrated” by the Council’s decision. The club takes “health and safety very seriously” but noted that it would now cost “tens of thousands of pounds” to upgrade the venues fire escapes to maintain the venue’s current capacity.

Hopkins suggested that one solution may be for Cellar to expand into the premises of the Lush shop above the basement venue, which has now moved into Westgate Centre. The owners of those premises have said that “no proposals” had been received for Hopkins’ possible plans.

Mr Hopkins told the The Oxford Mail that with staffing numbers considered, only approximately 50 tickets could be sold per event. As a consequence, one promoter has now pulled out.

Hopkins said: “There’s a lot of history and it’s been a stepping stone for a lot of bands. There is already a shortage of venues…to close a place of this size would leave a massive gap.”

“It’s used by breakthrough bands, students, different sections of the community and for fundraisers. But once it’s gone, it’s gone,” Hopkins added.

The Cellar has been open for at least 45 years. Hopkins notes it is “one of the oldest gig venues in Europe.” It has previously hosted breakthrough bands like Foals and Stornoway, as well as iconic names like Mumford and Sons and The National.

Last year, the property’s owners, The St. Michael’s and All Saints charities, sought to redevelop the basement. This led to a petition to prevent the venue’s closure, signed by over 13,600 people.

Nightshift Magazine have claimed that, ultimately, it “would be handy” for neighbouring property developers “if the pesky music people cleared off.”

Oxford student rents second highest in the UK

Greg Ritchie
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Oxford student rents second highest in the UK

Oxford is the eighth most expensive city to live in the world and second highest in the UK, according to new figures.

Statistics released by student accommodation marketplace Student.com show the average weekly student rent in Oxford to be $271 – the equivalent of £206.

This makes Oxford the second most expensive student city in Britain after London, and £11 more expensive than the £195 paid by Cambridge students.

The figures, published in the Cities in Focus: 2018 Global Student Accommodation Indicator report, were based off a representative sample size of more than 12,000 students who booked accommodation around the world via Student.com between 1 November 2016 and 31 October 2017.

An Oxford University spokesperson told Cherwell: “The high cost of renting in Oxford is very concerning because it makes it difficult for staff at the University and other employers to afford to live near to where they work. This does make it harder to attract academic and professional staff to work here.

“The university and colleges have made it a priority to build new accommodation for hundreds of students in the past few years, which eases the burden on Oxford’s rental market.”

As well as showing average rates by institution, the report also gave a national league table which suggested that the UK is the second most expensive country for students to live.

Weekly rents are £165 on average across the country, compared to the £155 per week paid by students in America.

Students in Australia reportedly spend the most on their weekly rent, splashing £194 on average.

Katy Perry visits Oxford

Amelia Stewart
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Katy Perry visits Oxford

Katy Perry took a break from her Witness world tour to visit Oxford University last weekend.

The American singer travelled from London, where she had been performing at the O2 arena, to tour around the university’s student halls, libraries, and cathedrals.

She appeared particularly impressed by Oxford’s collection of older books, sharing videos of herself looking over a 431 year old first edition of Isaac Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica and a bible from 1578.

At Christ Church Cathedral she listened to resident musician Myles on the pipe organ. She also met with the Principal of Harris Manchester, Sir Ralph Waller, and posed in a photo with him as well as with various students.

She also attended the Oxford Encaenia garden party, mixing with this year’s honorary degree recipients such as Mary Beard and Martin Scorsese.

Perry shared her trip with her 70 million followers on Instagram.

In one post, she shared a photo of a stained glass window saying ‘Courage’ and captioned it: “the ability to do something that frightens one”.

Perry had previously declared her love for British culture, saying she “falls in love with the English very easily” and has joked about wanting to have a “pseudo fake [British] accent like Madonna”.

Her current boyfriend, Orlando Bloom, as well as her ex-husband, Russell Brand, are both British.

Trump to visit Oxford

Eve Webster
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Trump to visit Oxford

Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Oxfordshire during his upcoming tour of Britain, according to national reports.

His three-day visit to the UK is “likely” to include a meal at Winston Churchill’s birthplace, Blenheim Palace, on the 12th of July.

Trump’s advisers are expected to visit the UK within the next few weeks to finalise the itinerary of the controversial trip.

The visit will be the first the president has made to the UK since his election of to office in November 2016. The tour will not be afforded the full ceremony of an official state visit.

Due to the large anti-Trump protest scheduled to take place in London during the visit, the president’s time in the capital will be limited.

53,000 people are expected to attend the protest against the visit.

According to reports, 10,000 police officers will be relied upon to protect the president from any protests or potential terror attacks. 40 police cars and motorbike outriders will also be available for whenever Trump travels by road.

A warm reception cannot be guaranteed in Oxfordshire either. Protesters quickly began to campaign against Trump’s visit to the county, soon after its likelihood was reported.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP, Layla Moran, has pledged to relocate her anti-Trump protest from central London to Blenheim Palace in response to the the rumours.

Trisha Greenhalgh, a leading academic in medicine at the University of Oxford, informed her 36,000 Twitter followers of the proposed date of the visit, telling them “Pink hats are needed folks” before offering one of said hats to MP Layla Moran.

The reference to “pink hats” in Greenhalgh’s tweet alludes to the “Pussyhats”, a symbol of anti-Trumpism and feminist solidarity. These hats were originally worn by protesters in the Women’s Marches held in January of last year, partly in response to Trump’s election.

Following his meal at Blenheim Palace, the president to due to visit Theresa May at her Buckinghamshire country retreat, The Chequers, and then to travel to meet the Queen at Windsor Palace.

On the final day of the president’s “best of British” tour, Trump is also scheduled to visit his Turnberry golf course in Scotland.

Following a police meeting and crime panel held last Friday, Anthony Stansfeld, Thames Valley police and crime commissioner, stated that he had not yet received detailed information regarding Trump’s visit.  

Stansfeld also explained that more information regarding the Presidential visit would soon be shared with the public.

 

Circus life is no life for animals

Fin Kavanagh
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Circus life is no life for animals

This week University Parks hosts Gifford’s Circus, one of the few major circuses still touring the United Kingdom. This once loved form of travelling entertainment has been in steep decline since the 1960s, which some claim is down to the disappearance of arguably its most quintessential performers: animals.

While this circus boasts of “gypsy violinists, tight rope walkers, trapeze artists and opera singers”, further down the billboard are some less talkative members of the company, including the horses, dogs and chickens.

The Gifford’s website goes to great lengths to emphasise their commitment to the welfare of their performing animals, with an entire subsection devoted to explaining their ethical treatment of the acts that travel with the circus and perform across the country. Spanning the length of the page, there’s a banner reading: “A life without horses is no life for the circus”. However, a more accurate slogan might read: “A life in the circus is no life for a horse”.

For as long as there have been circuses, animals have performed at them. The West became enthralled with the lion tamers that travelled with Gibson & Co in 1871 and, since then, we have fallen for the training and exhibition of exotic animals. Even in Oxford, the curiosity surrounding wider circus and carnival culture remains apparent to this day, with St. John’s College’s Cirque Nouveau Commemoration Ball achieving great success last year. Circuses have always been associated with dynamism, charisma, and spectacle, and central to this image has been the use of exotic animals.

In 2008, however, our consciences caught up with us. A study by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality revealed 71% of all performing circus animals exhibited medical problems. Among these it was exotic animals that received the poorest treatment, with lions spending an average of 98% of their working lives indoors and tigers having an average enclosure space of 5m². For those less interested in animal welfare, the 123 lion attacks at circuses since 1990 might suggest that these shows are not exactly ethical in regard to their audiences either.

In fairness to Giffords, none of its acts are exotic or endangered species, but rather farmyard and domesticated animals. Only two UK circuses still have wild animal performances, and the UK Government is set to ban them entirely by 2020. Public opinion has shifted massively in favour of such bans, although non-exotic animal performances like those at Giffords still remain widely popular. Many circuses believe these acts are central to their success and that horses especially are an intrinsic part of traditional British circus culture.

The debate as to whether these animals should still perform appears to be far more complex. Animal trainers will, of course, tell you that their animals love to perform. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), on the other hand, have very different ideas on the issue, and attempt to organise protests at all circuses with performing animals. Moreover, given that Gifford’s has only been touring for eighteen years, the argument that they are passing on traditional talents seems a bit thin.

More widely however, the industry does appear to be moving in the right direction. James Hamid from Shrine Circuses has expressed hope that animal acts will soon altogether be a thing of the past. The Chinese State Circus is one of the most revered circuses in Europe and frequently sells out without the need for any performing animals.

Let’s hope soon both circus and spectator will realise that these acts aren’t necessary for a successful performance. We should be satisfied with what humans can achieve on their own, without needing to train other species to perform for us also.

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