Off With His Head: Telly Thursday on Gary Glitter’s Execution
November 12th, 2009
posted by Dan
Put yourself in a fictional universe where everything’s gone a bit nutty. Now picture Matthew Broderick’s head on a pike. Does that do it for you? It’s there as a result of his dangerous driving conviction, if that helps? How about Winona Ryder getting her sticky fingered hands cut off for shop-lifitng, streamed live and gruesome online? Or Lily Allen being beaten to death with her own iPhone for crimes against twittering?
Ok, the last one may be a bit of a stretch, but if this kind of celebrity capital punishment does it for you, maybe you should check out “The Execution of Gary Glitter“, a docu-drama broadcast this week on Channel 4 and still available online. It’s set in an imaginary Britain, where public pressure has led to the reinstatement of the death penalty for crimes of murder and child abuse, as well as widening the powers of the police in detaining suspects and pursuing their conviction. When Gary Glitter is extradited from Vietnam to face fresh charges in London, he becomes the first person to face hanging in over forty years.
As far as celebrity snuff goes, it’s top notch, but unfortunately that doesn’t seem to have been the intention. Written, produced and directed by Rob Coldstream, it claims rather to engage the audience on topics of capital punishment and how modern society deals with its most reviled offenders. Worthy subject matter, no doubt, and the real world celebrity court cases of R. Kelly and Roman Polanski could just be enough to back up the premise, but it fails miserably in the realization.
The whole set-up is completely outlandish, relying on a set of conditions so tight and specific they fail to ring true. What’s hardest to swallow are the massive changes to British law, in particular the Metropolitan police’s new ability to prosecute seemingly anyone for crimes committed in foreign territories, disregarding like a playground bully any authority or interest of foreign governments.
Coldstream has tried to cover this up with the standard docu-drama methods, talking heads and archive footage to blur the lines between fiction and reality. It works well in places, especially when authentic Glitter, fresh out of prison from his 1999 conviction, breaks down in front of a media sharktank. His blubbering makes for uncomfortable, conflicted viewing, as does the heavy reliance on footage from the 2002 Soham murders. In the latter case especially though, you can’t help feeling a tinge of exploitation, as Coldstream constructs his entire narrative from a sparse and selective retelling of the horrific events.
Through scripted interviews, Coldstream uses talking heads to drag up every possible facet of the problem, as actors bleat and attack each other over everything from human rights to class divide. The passion is clearly evident, but at the unfortunate cost of clarity. The celebrity variants do equally little to add to proceedings, as Anne Widdecombe preaches charmlessly on the existence of evil, an excitable Gary Bushnell shouts from the cheap seats and Mirada Sawyer offers the perspective of a music journalist inexplicably assigned to the highest profile court case of the young century. Each is under the yoke of Coldstream’s formulaic courtroom script, trotted out in turn to patronize the audience. No, no, Glitter taking the witness stand while everyone gasps isn’t an enormous cliche, it’s actually really clever and quite a big deal. Etc. Etc. Throughout, you’re left to wonder what exactly has motivated these people to get involved, but under no illusions that it had anything to do with social advocacy.
This overbearing condescension is endemic, in a narrative that claims to know the answers but certainly isn’t telling. What we’re left with is not so much an exploration of social policy as a particularly shouty snuff film, an ugly and charmless mess of an affair, lacking in both integrity and relevance. If there is one redeeming feature however, it’s Hilton McRae’s performance as Glitter. I’m not sure how many actors can claim “dole queue clown” and “aging Ming the Merciless” among their signature looks, but however big the Glitter look-alike casting call was, they struck gold with McRae. He gives an compelling performance of Glitter’s vulnerability and dwindling defiance, as the convicted popstar faces into his final days. If you are into celebrity snuff, and you need an excuse to watch this truly awful docu-drama with your friends, Hilton McRae provides an excellent cover. Failing that, call it research.
‘The Execution of Gary Glitter’ aired Monday 9th november on Channel 4, and will be available for a limited time on 4oD.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-execution-of-gary-glitter/4od
Words: Padraig Moran
Tags: gary glitter, telly thursday, the execution of gary glitter, tv blog
