X Factor Ceri Rees Is Saved By Lily Allen On Twitter
THE News of The World abused the stars of its stories (see Milly Dowler) but its sister organ The Sun sticks to its pet causes like last night’s kebab to the bathroom sink. The front page reports that the X Factor is not dead because it’s watched by Lily Allen, and she says Ceri Rees is being exploited.
See the front-page news:
X factor Ceri in bullies storm
We are told:
LILY Allen last night joined mental health charities and thousands of furious fans in accusing X Factor bosses of exploiting contestant Ceri Rees.
The Sun’s LUCY CONNOLLY, JOHN COLES and CHRIS POLLARD – three reporters – cover the news that Lily Allen watches the X Factor:
The Smile singer, 26, was among 11.5million viewers who watched vulnerable Ceri’s excruciating audition on Sunday’s ITV show. It resulted in the fourth rejection in six years for the tone-deaf 54-year-old widow from Bridgend, South Wales.
So. The Sun’s three reporters have an interview with Lily Allen? No. It has read her Twitter blog:
Horrified Lily wrote online: “Kerry (sic) from Bridgend, they shouldn’t have aired that audition, she’s clearly ill.”
So. Mental illness is a taboo that must not be shown? If Rees were in a wheelchair or missing a limb, she’d be hailed as brave and heroic. Because she suffers, as is alleged, from mental illness, Ceri Rees is loser who cannot think for herself. Is she the that last remaining person in the UK who thinks the X Factor is not a manipulative TV show that works the crowd like a “glove puppet” (AA Gill) and spits out “winners” to order? The poor cow.
Telly presenter and Sun columnist Lorraine Kelly said: “Uncomfy to watch ceri on x factor, she’s a poor wee soul.”
Thanks Lorraine for patnising a 54-year-old woman in public.
Mark Davies, director of communications at Rethink Mental Illness, said: “While we can’t speculate on Ceri’s mental health, she does appear vulnerable and it was clear she’d been set up to fail.Producers have a responsibility not to put vulnerable people in the spotlight when it’s clear the intention is for the public to ridicule and laugh at them. It could be seen as a form of bullying.”
A Mind spokesman said: “We want people with mental health problems to participate, but need programme-makers to be responsible.”
All nonsense, of course. The show is there to entertain. The Sun is there to sell papers.
Not too long ago we were invited to laugh an a Hairy Angel called Susan Boyle, a woman billed as mentally negligible with an above average voice who was hailed as the saviour of mankind on account of her ordinary looks. The show exploited her but she survived to have a career and make loadsa money.
The very least that should happen is that “exploited” Ceri Rees is paid to speak for herself and not used by nodding celebrities and a complicit tabloid keen to show off how much they care…
Posted: 20th, September 2011 | In: TV & Radio Comments (17) | TrackBack | Permalink
