A2 Weekly News Update 13

My story this week comes from the Daily Mail, it highlights the recent rumours about Eastender's actor Danny Dyer, and the allegations made against him as to why he is taking a break from the soap. Rumours that he is struggling with alcohol are flying about the papers this week and this article speaks of the more recent rumours that Dyer cheated on his wife Jo Mas just 9 weeks before they were due to get married allegedly sending explicit images to another woman.

Danny Dyer, his wife Jo and daughter Danni

 His aunt, Debbie Meakin has spoken out urging the star to 'take a step back and look at his life' since his actions have been leading him into a downward spiral in the media. It was annouched that Danny would be taking an extended break, going to South Africa to recuperate and sort out the mess that has been made. A source told The Mirror that 'If quitting the show to give him time to focus on his family is necessary, he will' while another family member of Danny's said 'He's nothing like people think. He's got different values and different attitudes to other members of the family and there's a long running rift between us. 

Within in the media Danny Dyer is a huge figure and is on our screens frequently in Eastenders, but with the amount of pressure that is put onto his shoulders everyday, it is no wonder that the star has perhaps gone off the rails and is now taking his family with him. Earlier on in 2016, a rift with former TOWIE star Mark Wright was revealed into the media and a series of aggressive tweets and messages were exchanged between the pair as a result of an incident which took place at V Fest. So this isn't the first time that negative news regarding Dyer's behaviour has been put out there.

Why do I find this article interesting?

This article caught my eye because I think when we as an audience hear of stars that have begun to descend in a downward spiral as a result of the pressure put on them by the media, but it frequently seems to be stars who are new to the business or are younger in age. So for Danny Dyer, a star who has been known to millions for a fair amount of years, to begin to struggle with the demands of the society he is in, shows the sheer amount of pressure the man is under everyday, not to slip up.

Film Analysis- Weekend (2011)

The third case study I watched within the film industry was ‘Weekend’, directed and written by Andrew Haigh in 2011. In an alternative way, the theme of masculinity is explored within this film, however it contrasts to the way this theme is explored in Skyfall and Kingsman. Typical stereotypes of a masculine man can be the individual being confident, dominant, heterosexual and successful. Yet within this film, stereotypes are challenged and subverted in order to illustrate a new perception of this theme. In Skyfall, masculinity is predominantly shown through the heavy action scenes, and the more intimate romance scenes, but since this is an action film this is expected. Comparing this to Weekend, which is a romance, the subverted stereotypes illustrate their masculinity through the passion they share for each other.

With a low budget of £120,000, Weekend creates a sense of realism within it since the dialogue included does not seem scripted, and there is no background music like you would usually expect to see in a romance. In my opinion this is one of the reasons I enjoyed the film because it felt as though it was a real life situation and that is something important when it comes to film making.

A2 Weekly News Update 12

My story this week comes from the Daily Mail and it highlights the late George Best and his son Calum Best. Calum was evicted on Tuesday at 9pm and at 10pm on Channel 5 'In Therapy with Calum Best' was shown. It has been widely publicised for years that George Best, Calum's father struggled with his alcohol addiction, which strained his relationship with his son and subsequently ended up in the boy moving to LA with his mother, Angie Best and the decision made by his mother was so that he would not end up being involved in what was happening with his father. George Best was never able to shake the nasty addiction and as a result of this, died in 2005. 

Calum Best talking to therapist Mandy Saligari

Calum spoke to therapist Mandy Saligari on the show and the 35 year old began to make connections between his tough past and his 'ruthless and selfish' behavior that he displayed as a young adult. Mandy suggested that perhaps the reason he behaved in this way to reach out to his Dad, and when this was said Calum didn't say anything.  Another shocking point that was raised was that Calum only has one friend that he see's once a year, and the rest are just 'fleeting acquaintances'

Calum with his father, George

This then led me to start thinking about the representations presented within this article and the obvious ones would be gender, age and class. But also representation of issues is highlighted, with alcoholism being an issue and parent sibling relationships being an issue aswell. Calum Best got into a swing of drinking a lot, doing multiple drugs and partying hard, as well as his widely publicised period of 'sleeping around'. If this was a women in the media, the criticism and lash back would be extremely heavier than it has been for Calum Best, but yet he then came under fire because of how young he was because when he went through this 'reckless' stage, because his father was older it became socially acceptable for him to behave in the way he did.

Why does this article interest me so much?

The thing that stood out so much for me was when I saw Calum had said he only has one true friend. For a popular, good looking and successful young man like Calum it is hard to believe that he isn't surrounded by a room of people wanting to be his friend, yet it displays that a person may be famous and have all this attention surrounding them, but if they are not humbling and trustworthy, a friendship can't be formed. So perhaps this is the case with Calum?