Mind of Merc - Real Issues

Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. 

Today I was thinking about an article I was reading earlier this week about the recent decision to cast Joseph Fiennes to play Michael Jackson. 
Apparently this has caused uproar and generally has received a mixed reaction with some seeing it as further support of the perceived racism in the Academy Awards and some as ‘ridiculous’ that a white actor could play a black celebrity. Meanwhile some are viewing it as an accurate representation of the character given Jackson’s ‘pale’ appearance at the time when the production is to be set and some take it (and its reaction) to be an interesting observation given the opposite direction of other casting choices – such as black actress Noma Dumezweni being cast as an adult Hermione Granger and the consideration of Idris Elba for the next James Bond.

But, if you want to know what I think – I think such squabbles are petty and obscure the real issues, the real battles that still need to be fought. 

If you’re wondering what I mean then, just picking some off the top of my head, women’s pay is still unequal to men’s, extant racism, sexism and ageism exist everywhere we look (and on a much bigger scale) and poverty has still not been ‘made history’. These are the matters and fights worthy of our attention and concern. These are the issues that need to be addressed, the problems that need to be solved – not whether a casting decision for a one-off production is acceptable.
 
Is it acceptable that 22,000 children die every DAY from poverty? Of course it isn’t. Is it acceptable that women still receive on average 20% lower pay than men doing the same job as them? Of course it isn’t. Is it acceptable that there are still some places that decide how they treat other human beings based solely on the colour of their skin, which religion they practice or their own misinformed opinions? Absolutely not. 

Racism is wrong, but, if you want to battle it, how about taking the fight to places where it is much more widespread and prevalent, much more unchecked, and often a matter of life or death. 

While time and effort is wasted debating the fiddling intricacies of possible perceived slights, the real discrimination still carries on unchecked. While we debate and argue and nitpick over minor ‘issues’, real social injustice endures. We blindly follow the unimportant and trivial when we should be concerning ourselves with the far-reaching and substantial matters that affect everyone consistently and unceasingly. 

We need to focus on the real ‘social wrongs’ – showing our objection to real ‘outrages’ and ‘prejudice’ – saying this is what we don’t accept and, what’s more, that we want something done about it.
 
Wake up, world! You’re looking in the wrong direction!

L-I-F-E goes on - !!!NEW!!!

Sticking with the song L-O-V-E but this time changing slightly more - and yet it still fits The Doctor...

L-O-V-E  L-I-F-E not by Nat King Cole
L is for the way you lifted me
I is for immortality
F is foes abound wherever we are around
E is everywhere I’ve travelled - beyond compare

Life is what I get when I’m with you
Life you’ve saved mine more than once it’s true
Life with you is sometimes scary
And yet it’s extraordinary
Life goes on for me and you

L is for the way you lifted me
I is for immortality
F is foes abound wherever we are around
E is everywhere I’ve travelled - beyond compare

Life is what I get when I’m with you
Life you’ve saved mine more than once it’s true
Life with you is sometimes scary
And yet it’s extraordinary
Life goes on for me and you
Life goes on for me and you
Life goes on for me and you

I L-O-V-E Who - !!!NEW!!!

I was listening to the song L-O-V-E the other day (RIP Natalie Cole) and it occurred to me that with some slight moderations it could be said to fit several of the Doctor's companions rather well.

L-O-V-E not by Nat King Cole
L is for the way you left a-me,
O for the one that I now see,
V is (a) very real extra terrest-a-rial,
E is evil and there is no way you’ll join that band

Love is all that I wanted from you
Love is something more than you can do
You’ve loved and lost before
There’s no way you’ll go through that door
Love is what I want from you

L is for the way you left a-me,
O for the one that I now see,
V is (a) very real extra terrest-a-rial,
E is evil and there is no way you’ll join that band

Love is all that I wanted from you
Love is something more than you can do
You’ve loved and lost before
There’s no way you’ll go through that door
Love is what I want from you
Love is what I want from you
Love is what I need from you

All About The Brains - !!!NEW!!!

I think Meghan Trainor's song 'All That Bass' carries a brilliant message - size zero is just that - zero, nothing, emptiness. But I think with some slight tweaking the song could also promote another important message:

All About The Bass All About The Brains not by Meghan Trainor
Because you know it’s all about the brains,
‘bout the brains, not looks babe
It’s all ‘bout the brains, ‘bout the brains, not looks babe
It’s all ‘bout the brains, ‘bout the brains, not looks babe
It’s all ‘bout the brains, ‘bout the brains

Let me make it clear, I don’t despise you
But I feel pity, pity at what you try to do
'Cause there’s that look you so desp’rately chase
Look for fame but in all the wrong places

So many magazines promoting all that slop   
Was gonna let it go   
But think it’s time to stop       
Don’t need no beauty beauty so give it up
'Cause babe your looks don’t last forever   
(It) Matters what you got up top       

Yeah, you know it’s such a sad thing to see nowadays   
Everyone thinking it’s beauty and not brains that pays   
You know I much prefer the library to the tan salon,
Because it’s my brains not my body that I choose to focus on

Because you know it’s all about the brains,
‘bout the brains, not looks babe
It’s all ‘bout the brains, ‘bout the brains, not looks babe
It’s all ‘bout the brains, ‘bout the brains, not looks babe
It’s all ‘bout the brains, ‘bout the brains

I'm bringing brainy back
Gonna go and tell those airhead people that
Think I’m pathetic but I got what they lack,   
And I'm here to tell you,
No – your looks don’t last forever   
(It) Matters what you got up top       

Yeah, you know it’s such a sad thing to see nowadays   
Everyone thinking it’s beauty and not brains that pays   
You know I much prefer the library to the tan salon,
Because it’s my brains not my body that I choose to focus on

Because you know it’s all about the brains,
‘bout the brains, not looks babe
It’s all ‘bout the brains, ‘bout the brains, not looks babe
It’s all ‘bout the brains, ‘bout the brains, not looks babe
It’s all ‘bout the brains, ‘bout the brains

Because you know it’s all about the brains,
‘bout the brains, not looks babe
It’s all ‘bout the brains, ‘bout the brains, not looks babe
It’s all ‘bout the brains, ‘bout the brains, not looks babe
It’s all ‘bout the brains, ‘bout the brains

Because you know it’s all about the brains,
‘bout the brains, not looks babe
It’s all ‘bout the brains, ‘bout the brains, not looks babe
It’s all ‘bout the brains, ‘bout the brains, not looks babe
It’s all ‘bout the brains, ‘bout the brains

The Pluto Song - !!!NEW!!!

First new post of the new year. And a cheerful little ditty borrowed from the Monty Python boys and amended to a more *ahem* palatable topic.

The Penis Pluto Song not by Monty Python
Isn’t it awfully nice to be a planet
It’d be frightfully good to have a ring
It’s swell to be a body
It’s divine to be in space
I orbit round the sun
But I follow my own pace
So three cheers for the smallest in the heavens
Hooray for the new kid on the block
The little guy, (the) one at the end
Who yet can still beguile
I’m quite a new discovery
But I’ve been around a while
But don’t ask those folks at NASA
For they will say with a smile
That I’m just a dwarf