Creepy Fucker Matt Hancock

[fuckinghellthisshit]

Just had to share this, it made my skin crawl. Her use of 'handbag shield' is exceptional.

twitter.com/simondainty/status/1257710358376177664?s=12&fbclid=IwAR3qh1gNzzay9qkXsoYqS97UrsOFMGbYjimcL_M7VQXqCOtgaN8e2NHFxk0

Haha yes let's ask the health minister during a pandemic

It was filmed in December. Is nobody listening to what she's saying?
Not sure why it's being shared now, to be honest.

Yes it's blatantly way too close
And she agrees-putting bag between them, leaning WAAAYYY back etc

Amazed anyone can't see it tbh

Amazed anyone can't see it tbh

I don't know that anyone is really taking issue with him being too close, and maybe only one person re the bag.

It's mostly a question of why people think it might be, because it really does look clearly very awkward.

No one has said they aren't too close.
It's just that some people think it's because he's a creepy sexual predator, and others think they might have been told to stand close for the cameras.

I personally think it's maybe because he has no idea of personal space. Like a lot of men, he thinks it all belongs to him. I mean how can he not understand how awkward that is.

I suspect they were told to stand like that and think this is being over interpreted.

I personally think it's maybe because he has no idea of personal space. Like a lot of men, he thinks it all belongs to him. I mean how can he not understand how awkward that is.

I've generally met two kinds of men that do this. One is trying to be intimidating or thinks it's sexy. I'm not sure how likely that would have been in this scenario on tv though, given the person knows what they are doing they usually don't do it when people in authority are watching.

The other is a type of person who is clueless about social norms, and usually has other odd behaviours. But if it were that he'd probably do it all or much of the time, which as far as I know isn't the case.

My sense is that he's really too close and weird to just be a regular close talker - they are closer than normal but not that close IME. And he doesn't come from a place where everyone is a close talker.

I expect they are that close for the cameras. Odd for talking to one another but for a still shot you do end up standing in each others space. Then if there is a delay to getting the photo such that you end up chatting then it is really awkward. Normally the first thing people do after a photo is taken is step back.

Some serious reaching in this thread.

Has anyone considered that he may have a degree of autism: high functioning Asperger's? Some of his more gauche, or awkward, body language is reminiscent of those who are on the highly functioning end of the spectrum, & who have perfected a studiously practised stance, which can still seem a little awkward.

It seems really unkind, and more than a little cruel, to suggest he is a sexual pervert. I don't get that feeling at all.

He does seem particularly aware of, and involved with, autism organisations.

Yes, I thought high functioning too. My daughter has no social space awareness and during school plays or photos or just playground interaction she gets uncomfortably close to whom she is talking too.

I don't see it as creepy, just more unaware and awkward

Justhadathought
Yes I think you're on the right track there.

For everyone commenting about photos and "still shots" - it is a video

twitter.com/simondainty/status/1257710358376177664

Justhadathought - you expressed that much more tactfully than my "goofy and nerdy" comment with an allusion to the self-awareness of a junior school kid.

The comments about their proximity maybe being due to directions about where to stand might also be on the button. Watching again with that in mind, I noticed that there is a lot of "chatter" from others off-screen, which gives weight to that theory, ie. being told to stand close to pick up their voices clearly and separate from background noise.

I have been interviewed a few times for TV and you definitely do get "positioned" and prompted about how to stand, where to look, etc. - for practical reasons. Not that dissimilar to being bossed around by a wedding photographer.

goofy and nerdy? Unkind? Judgemental?
This is a man who has climbed the slippery pole of Westminster to the very top and is, as we speak, making judgements that affect the lives of all of us. This is the man who managed C19 in the care homes so reckelssly and yet it is unkind of a middle aged woman to point out that he is making a similarly aged woman incredibly uncomfortable due to his creepy weird personal space invading behaviour.

Do you know how much media and interpersonal management training these, the most privileged people in the country receive? They are taught how to stand and speak to people.

I totally accept people have different views of personal space and his beahviour in the clip but to suggest it is 'unkind' to discuss it is completely absurd.

For the cameras my arse.

"to suggest it is 'unkind' to discuss it is completely absurd." - I agree.

There might be different interpretations of what is going on in that video and different theories to account for it but I hardly suppose he is a regular poster on FWR whose delicate feelings might be crushed by the comments of his Besties on Mumsnet

Who gives a fuck if the Minister for Health is offended by people questioning his behaviour around women! In a week when his scolding of a woman's 'tone' was front page news.
"be kind"? Really? To a health minister who has performed poorly and behaves oddly around women despite years of media training?
FFS

I'd not use the word unkind, and I don't have a problem with discussing it. I do think it's wrong, however you want to describe that, to simply assert that he is obviously being pervy or aggressive.

Yes, political types do get some media training. If he manages to be successful in his job I imagine he's learned to judge things like where to stand when he talks to people, too. But someone who has a deficit in that area may still not recognise it easily when something in the situation goes off - like getting bad directions from the person doing the camera work. You've learned to follow the directions about where to stand, to look at the person talking not the camera - but in this instance it doesn't serve the purpose.

@Goosefoot - Creepy means 'causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or unease'. Dolls can be creepy, people who misread social cues are often creepy it doesn't mean aggressive or perverted and I didn't say that. His groin is in her personal space, she moves her bag to block him and allow her more personal space. He doesn't pick up on this and leans closer to her. I posted this days after he was called out for speaking condescendingly to a female minister.
At the worst he has no respect for a woman's expertise, opinion and personal space at best he needs more media training and to speak to women about the fact they find his manner unpleasant.
I have spent a life time with men accidentally getting in my space and accidentally touching me. I no longer give a flying fuck if it is deliberate or not, I just want them to stop.

“ Christ, if anyone posted this amount of abuse about a woman's supposed character and personality, based on one video, you'd all be up in arms! ”

This.
Absolutely disgusting character assassination. Like playground bullies

I no longer give a flying fuck if it is deliberate or not, I just want them to stop.

Exactly. And if the camera operator or the director, or the media trainer, or whatever, don't understand this, or aren't picking up on this, or don't care about this, then they are at just as much fault.

I no longer give a flying fuck if it is deliberate or not, I just want them to stop

Exactly. And if the camera operator or the director, or the media trainer, or whatever, don't understand this, or aren't picking up on this, or don't care about this, then they are at just as much fault

^^
This

And I absolutely would think a woman who stood pawing some bloke and rubbing her boobs against him on I would think she was equally creepy

I'm astounded how far women go to make excuses for men, it's like we are programmed to just accept it. And as for women not having their character assassinated, is that serious?!

Women can't even blink without being told they are doing it wrong

Men however are everything from socially awkward, unaware of their size, accidentally invasive or autistic when they act like this.

Never are they seen as what they actually are