(This is a Rant. If anyone is offended, well, tough. You don’t have to read this. Having said that, no on-topic comments will be removed from this article.)
George Best: I’m sure some people are genuinely sorry he’s dead. I’m also sure that he was a decent footballer in his day, too, although that was well before my time. That said, this is not really about that. It’s about media manipulation of the emotions of weak-minded individuals for a purpose that I’m currently unclear about.
Why did the media bombard every bulletin for the last three weeks of his life with “He’s nearly dead” and then have a three-hour programme to broadcast the funeral? This all just seems ridiculously out of proportion and out of context. Many people had forgotten all about him until he became ill recently: many people resented him having a liver transplant when it was suspected (and subsequently turned to be the case) that he would continue drinking excessively.
When exactly did he turn into such an icon? This just seems to be something engineered by “the media”, and I’m not entirely sure who I mean by “the media”, but that’s the only handle I can put on it. Personally, every single person I’ve spoken to about George Best thinks that the TV news and newspaper coverage of a dying person’s last days of life were scrutinised far more than necessary. He’s always been well-respected as a footballer, but nothing else since then has gained much respect: he was sent to prison for drink-driving and assaulting a policeman; he had further convictions for drink-driving and was banned from driving; there were also allegations of wife-beating.
This strikes me as another dose of “Diana hysteria”, no-one cared until she was dead, and even then the media whipped up a frenzy of largely false sentiment. Diana suddenly became “The People’s Princess”. What’s George Best? The People’s Footballer? The People’s Alcoholic?
He was a good footballer for a few years: he was an alcoholic wreck for the next 30 years. Why are the media trying to make the population at large care about him so much? And idolise him in this way?
Yes – I must agree with you. Obviously no one wants ANYONE to die prematurely…and 56(?) is a young age now…BUT the media coverage is totally out of proportion and rather stupid i think.
PermalinkAs someone pointed out in The Metro this morning, there has been considerably less media coverage of the demise of Richard Burns, a great rally driver who had a brain tumour and died recently, which is far more tragic than the passing of George Best in a pool of his own, 60% proof, piss. 🙁
PermalinkQuite so. And George Best was given what was, to all intents and purposes, a State Funeral, it seems. WHY?
PermalinkBBC Let’s Talk is being recorded on December 8th in Belfast. One of the topics that we will discuss will be the death of George. Anyone interested in being in the audience should call 0870 765 2217 for tickets.
Thanking you in advance,
BBC Let’s Talk
Permalink[I’m unclear whether the previous comment from ‘Sue’ is technically spam or not: it’s not off-topic, nor is it trying to sell anything, nor do the BBC (presumably) have anything to gain from it directly… That said, I’m approving the comment for inclusion here, although it’s clearly a ‘borderline’ case. Not that I’m gonna risk my life by going to Belfast and stirring up trouble about George Best, in his home town…]
Permalink“Why did the media bombard every bulletin for the last three weeks of his life with “He’s nearly dead†and then have a three-hour programme to broadcast the funeral?”
CF: Pope JPII.
“Why are the media trying to make the population at large care about him so much? And idolise him in this way?”
Quiet news week. I was more concerned with my own malfunctioning liver at the time.
Permalinkhi i agree with you he shouldn’t have died at such a young age, and please could someone tell me why george best became an alcoholic i need to know it is for my homework thank you.
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