...to start a thread about a Mumsnet thread? Russell Brand......

[Hakluyt]

...........why?

Yes, if you want to have a web chat with a pretty comedian, then go for it. It makes us all look a bit trivial, but hey ho.

But treating him like a serious social and political commentator? Really??????

Ha ha - People do seem to get very very wound up about RB don't they?!
Comments about how he looks - and whether he is clean?!

Russell Brand has some interesting views on politics and what is happening in the world today. His You Tube vids - 'The Trews' pick holes in all the stuff the media is reporting and all the stuff Politicians are saying - and if nothing else, they get you thinking.
Brand doesn't want you to think he is a serious social and political commentator - He leaves that for you to decide.
It is others who have decided what he wants and what he means and to be honest, Russell would probably find that hilarious.

No one has to listen to him,.. it is a choice. People who don't want to consider alternatives in their thinking would probably be best staying well clear.
Personally, anyone who can stir up so much criticism and disgust in people is probably someone worth listening to. Makes you think - and that is never bad.

What is revolting against? A capitalist society? And to do this he flogs his book at 20 quid a pop?

I understand he has a back ground in drug rehabilitation, I have one myself, it doesn't mean I have the smarts to get up on a soap box and pontificate about the 1%.

He can stand shoulder to shoulder with the huddled masses all he wants. After he goes home to his million dollar home and does t need to worry about the person who has had their electric cut off or an eviction notice.

Hakluyt an impossible task, I'm afraid because Brand doesn't have one. He's like a first year politics student at some provincial poly who is totes into this Marxism stuff yeah innit . He like the idea of politics, perpetuates the 'us and them' idea but when push comes to shove there's nothing actually there. I picked up his Revolution book, tried having a little read (because I have enjoyed his journalism on occasion) but couldn't make head nor tail of it and gave up waiting for anything resembling a manifesto. The Guardian review sums up my frustration perfectly:

www.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/17/revolution-russell-brand-review-political-manifesto

No one has to listen to him,.. it is a choice

If only we could! Unfortunately he is difficult to avoid.

After he goes home to his million dollar home and does t need to worry about the person who has had their electric cut off or an eviction notice

And no chance of him taking any interest and giving practical help. It is all about the masses and 'they'.

Loved the Guardian review.

why is it wrong for a young-ish commedian(?), rock'n'roll type to have ideas about the world?
what about the beetles? about john lennon? about bob dylan? janis joplin?

I HATE the whole idea that you have to be a 'serious political commentator' to care or speak up about the way the world and the country are going.

So he's pretentious, his language is overblown, there is always a tension when people who have made a lot of money talk about social justice, but.... he's talking. That's what matters. Let's ALL talk about the stuff that matters and for gods' sake NOT leave it all to 'serious political commentators'.

John Lennon etc didn't shove it down our throats! They were also more interesting.

He's like a Marxist Dapper Laughs, only even more vocal. Parklife just about sums him up.

"I HATE the whole idea that you have to be a 'serious political commentator' to care or speak up about the way the world and the country are going"

You don't.

But you do if you want to be a serious political commentator..................

Sometimes MN is trivial. There are plenty of sleb threads, TV threads, S&B threads etc. How does having him on make "us all look a bit trivial" OP?

I wonder if he believes in the illuminati... anyone brave enough to ask?

Let's ALL talk about the stuff that matters and for god's sake NOT leave it all to 'serious political commentators

THIS YYYYYYYYY

I like him because, as I said, he questions things that need to questioned and he has the the ear of the media. I'm sure there are others who could put similar views better but they don't have the exposure.

I'm sure there are others who could put similar views better but they don't have the exposure

That is what I object to -him getting all the exposure. Why?

I am ambivalent towards RB although I quite like Dr Nefario. I think he means well and has some ideas I agree with. I admire his passion and understand his frustration with current politics.

The trouble is that by his own admission lots of his arguments are half baked and he spouts off without having all the answers. So do I, but I'm not given media publicity or the power that it bestows. And urging his fans not to vote is not protest in my book, it is disenfranchising an important section of the electorate. Plays right into the hands of the Kippers.

There is a big difference between casual chatty gossipy threads and official Mumsnet web-chats. What I said was that having him on a web-chat in his role as a comedian would make us look trivial. Because it would. Assuming that he was not invited for that reason, I then questioned why we are giving him more publicity- something he is by no means short of. Does that clear the point up, Dione?

Why not? There are sooo many things wrong with the status quo I don't care WHO says it it's just nice to hear it said.

E.G. Did anyone hear on the news that all the files on Child Abuse have been "lost" by the Civil Service\government for 20 years . Sorry that makes me sooooo angry I get choked up.

Just caught up here and it is an interesting thread so I'm reading more carefully than usual! This point - I think he's managing to engage a whole lot of people who are not currently political at all - made earlier stands out to me simply because he's not alone in that. ISIS are at it as well. It's clear we have a generation whose lives don't come close to those of the ruling classes and that's a worry, of course, but Russell 'Naughty Boy' Brand as the answer? I surely hope not. There's a gap in the market - shame nobody with substance has seen it.

BOLD FAIL ffs

Never mind - I'll practice on this question -

I wonder if he believes in the illuminati.. because it's an interesting one. Do you?

absolutely Hakluyt and Electriclaundryland
I've read more incisive and serious political commentary on these boards on a regular basis than I have in the media in general. There are some really sharp, informed minds on here who have taught me a lot and politicised me far more than any media commentator. The point is we don't need someone with poorly formed spouting using this site to further his book sales. However, I can imagine he will get taken apart a bit, but he'll probably just dodge the tricky questions altogether.

It does make this site look a bit trivial, I agree. It's all a bit 'Brand getting political with the wimmin'.

Hahahaha the thought of every post he makes being followed with one saying "Parklife" is making me snigger immoderately!

And Cameron and Clegg and Milliband are "thanking heaven fasting" for Brand because he is taking people's minds and eyes off them.

He's a dick.
Plus I'd have to sit on my hands the entire webchat otherwise my hands would involuntarily type PARKLIFE! after everything.

The only thing I think of when I see Russell Brand is 'Crabs'

I don't get the Parklife reference, what does it mean?

it means that when Russell Brand speaks he sounds like the Phil Daniels character in the Blur song