Robert Broadhurst. 'An Occurrence at Arverne' vimeo

Robert Broadhurst. 'An Occurrence at Arverne' vimeo, 7.30 mins This short video is a 'staff pick' on Vimeo with 113,000 views. After seeing it I find this is Broadhurst's first narrative film, written by him, that isn't done as a commercial advert for his usual clients - Adidas, Kanye West fashion, Armani etc which are slick glossy productions. In 'Occurrence at Arverne' there are a lot of signs that can be read in ways that betray our prejudiced expectations. A hooded black man enters a bungalow. Towards the end a police car draws up outside. Is he up to no good or has he gone round to feed the cat - who fails to show up? It's clever, subtle, and succinct. Marcus Curtis Cooke is the actor. Extensive credits are followed by slogans in block capitals such as ' BLACK LIVES HAVE ALWAYS MATTERED', 'DUMP TRUMP' and 'LOVE BEATS FEAR'

The Little Book of Humanism

The Little Book of Humanism. 2020 Alice Roberts and Andrew Copson I bought this because I am a humanist so I wanted to love it. However I don't like the unusual narrow format that means it won't stick out as far as a normal paperback in the bookcase. There may be a reason for the usual format - that it feels a more satisfactorily proportioned rectangle on which to arrange things. I don't like the quotations being often contained in a thin wriggly line, nor the photos being so lacking in contrast and by only two photographers. The illustrations are also by only two artists and some remind me of the very generalised people depicted in Jehovah's Withess literature. So it is that these visual aspects are very subordinate to the words and could have been more exciting, varied and important, could have included some great art from say Kathe Kollwitz and William Kentridge. Apart from that it can hardly be revelatory - humanism has but few basic beliefs so it's likely to be repetitive - but it does offer lots of quotes and a useful list of the writers of them with their dates. Andrew Copson and Alice Roberts have collaborated so we do not know who wrote which parts and I would have prefered them to own two distinct sections. They have decided not to alter quotes but leave the sexist 'he' where it could have been made 'he/she'. I found several writers I did not know before, lots of quotes I liked. I couldn't agree with Ingersoll that happiness is the only good, and I find the argument that eternal life would be boring is unconvincing. I wouldn't have referred to the book 'The Joy of Sex' because of an unsavoury bit in it that recommends mysogynistic sadism - perhaps Roberts and Copson got a later revised edition. My favourite bits were James Hemming on what our bodies are made of- eg 'enough iron to make a two inch nail' , Darwin on sympathy for all races and Einstein on the importance of society. I liked a Stevie Smith poem, something Protagoras said and Bertrand Russell on life as like a river that ends in the sea. I recommend buying the book - and perhaps keeping your own notebook of quotes to add to it. The profits go to Humanists UK and hopefully it will interest new people in joining a humanist group.

The Millionaires' Holiday Club

The Millionaires' Holiday Club. BBC 2. Director Simon Draper. There is a travel agent in the north of England where the starting salary for employees is £18,000. They are organising holidays that may cost per person that amount for one week. The program shows three of these young women on a work visit to see some of these luxury premises so that they will be good at selling the holidays. It also followed two couples who go on them. One were off on their travels several times a year. They wanted to see the staff as friends and kept hugging them. One of the staff explained to camera that there was in fact quite a social gap between them. The man of this couple was a quiet thoughtful person, his wife was described as being the party, and was dedicated to enjoying her holidays with some serious shopping. The other couple worked all year on their fruit farm business and took one week off to do nothing in style. The husband was prone to making heartless jokes at his wife's expense which she tolerated longsufferingly in silence. The rich holiday makers and the travel agent visitors were all shown as if they rarely had a serious thought in their heads, constantly playing their parts as happy hedonists. The staff were unfailingly playing theirs as ever devoted servants. If you've ever been to a poor world country on holiday you've experienced being many times better off than the beggars who live on the streets - which feels an insurmountable gulf which you can't alter. This is similar but on a vaster scale - these trippers keep well insulated from the poorest inhabitants, rarely leaving the hotel complex or luxury cruiser. The whole thing is nauseatingly watchable. It presents the white holiday makers and their black servants almost as if it's just a fact of nature that this huge gap exists. It shows us how enjoyable such a holiday can be - and therefore how anything that threatens this vast gap of wealth will be likely to be resisted - not as a cunning political plot but as an instinct to preserve this separate realm of wealth which the filthy rich can tell themselves is kindly giving employment to the poor, who they admire for working hard. Like a man convinced the woman he pays to pretend she fancies him isn't acting - they can imagine the hospitality staff are their faithful friends rather than the worker-dogs whose tails wag. Oh workers of the world unite.