The Red Mist - like anyone actually cares…

I suppose we’re all guilty of allowing stereotypes to colour our view of things to an extent, but my hackles were raised yesterday when, on Tippler’s esteemed blog, which I frequent regularly, someone under the name of Lynx commented on a post inviting suggestions for new faces to be put onto an updated “Sgt. Pepper” album cover, saying:

On the music front, I’m by no means a music critic (after all, I still have Bony M’s greatest hits LP), but I’d choose Pet Sounds over any Fab 4 album. I guess it’s because listening to the Beach Boys brings up images of California (sun, sea, sand, …), whilst The Beatles evokes a vision of cold, rain and a bunch of scallies nicking the wheels off your car as soon as your back is turned!

Really? So, when listening to, say, “Norwegian Wood”, or “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” you sit back, close your eyes and conjure up images of scallies nicking wheels off cars in the pissing rain? How odd.

Liverpool is my home town, and my own experience of the place, having spent my first 38 years there, and being a regular visitor since, is nothing like that. Nor do I find every Liverpudlian a natural comedian, as we are supposed to be. We have our share of miserable bastards, I can assure you. In all my time there, I was never attacked, had my pockets picked, burgled, or had my wheels pinched (although I did have my car stolen once). None of my friends, aquaintances or family suffered any of these experiences disproportionately, either.

I posted the following, anonymously, just to make a point, and hopefully to avoid a flame war starting on someone else’s blog, which is unfair.

Nothing quite beats perpetuating a tired old stereotype, does it? Poor substitute for wit…

In hindsight, I may have been wrong to reply anonymously (I’m not in the habit of doing that - I prefer to state my views under my own name), but I felt pretty strongly about it at the time, and my judgement may have been wonky. I have now corrected that situation and “come out” on Tippler’s site, inviting the flame war, if such ensues, to take place here.

What annoyed me was that two very significant, and similar positive icons, i.e. Beach Boys and Beatles, both of whom had huge cultural global impacts on the sixties and beyond were used to conjure up to quite different stereotypical images, neither of which portray the respective places in their entirety (how could they?) but which convienently fit our own prejudices.

Why would the Beatles remind anyone of car crime? As far as I’m aware, none of the Beatles were ever involved in it. If anything, their music should help to deny the stereotype, not reinforce it. Why would the Beach Boys NOT conjure up images of drug abuse, hedonism and mental illness, when their members, variously, were involved in these things?

If we are to judge entire cities or countries and their populations on icons alone, what would one make of Manchester, based on the evidence of Oasis? Are all Australians like Kylie? Are all scousers like Stan Boardman? Who is the more typical American - Robin Williams or George Bush? Are all blondes dumb?

If Lynx’s experiences of Liverpool have been bad, then I’m genuinely sorry, on my city’s behalf. But please don’t judge us all on that basis. My only experiences of violence happened in West Bromwich and Coventry. What am I to make of that? These places don’t have a convenient reputation to fall back on, so I’m at a bit of a loss.

Of course, there are certain characteristics that tend to go with being from a particular area, whether it’s Liverpool, London or Cornwall, and I can laugh at the (I believe affectionate) image of scousers that Harry Enfield has portrayed so cuttingly like anyone can. Indeed, I don’t believe you have the right to laugh at anyone else until you can laugh at yourself.

But attaching negative stereotypes to positives fosters prejudice. I’m just getting a bit sick of being thought of, by people who don’t know me, as a naturally amusing thief.