Readers of Monday’s edition of freebie newspaper London Lite were astounded to learn that an 80s TV icon had seized control of a popular video sharing website. ‘Bungle Takes YouTube Offline’ announced the front page, prompting speculation that George and Zippy were being deployed as shock troops to hole Amazon and eBay below the waterline. How long would we have to wait before the once huggable Rainbow bear appeared on our TV screens, brandishing an AK-47 and decrying the ‘infidel’ internet in angry Arabic, his demands spelled out to a shellshocked public by the subtitles? How long? As it turned out, this was not what happened – but in such moments of misunderstanding, the mind creates its own reality in the blink of an eye.
Such misunderstandings are also common in the rough and tumble world Aussie rules football, where it appears that players require tutoring in even the most basic of moral questions. An educational DVD is planned for release that will present players with complex situations such as the following:
If you should come across your friend and his partner having sex, should you either a) watch, or b) not watch.
If your friend’s girlfriend summons you into her bedroom believing you to be him, should you a) hop into bed with her or b) walk away.
We suppose the AFL’s perspective is that it is better to do something than nothing – then at least one cannot be said to be ignoring the problem. (Readers can reach their own conclusions about the likelihood of reining in the boisterous activities of rugby players.) Their communications manager Patrick Keane appeared to acknowledge the Sisyphean nature of his task:
“If the players already know the message, then we’ve done something that wasn’t required, but … it’s better that we do something.”
Misunderstandings were also a feature of work on the 1977 mini-series Jesus Of Nazareth, at least for its star Robert Powell. According to Olivia Hussey (in conversation with Mick LaSalle, there are many insights on Romeo & Juliet in the podcast) Powell was in a state of extreme agitation, unable to contain his concern over a lack of direction from Franco Zeffirelli. Despite assurances from Hussey that this was perfectly normal behaviour for Zeffirelli, having worked with him before, Powell was unconvinced – he wandered in to see the great man with many questions about the nuances of his role. Zeffirelli’s answer was short:
‘Oh just shut up, Robert. Just get up on the cross and die.’
A lesson in not overthinking things.
News hour, with Jerry Caesar 