http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/?service=Rss http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/tom-sutcliffe-its-good-to-be-strung-along-1815323.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/tom-sutcliffe-its-good-to-be-strung-along-1815323.html ]]> <p>There was a brief theatrical vogue, some years ago now, for travelling toys. The scene would shift from one geographical area to another in the play and to illustrate this fact the designer would contrive to have a model train or airplane or steam-ship trundle jerkily across the stage. I quickly grew to loathe the fashion partly because it was just a fashion and went round like measles but also for two paradoxically opposed reasons. The first was that audiences were so easily gratified by the effect. Almost invariably they would give one of those collective moos that cuteness always squeezes out of a crowd and then applaud as if it was an act of unprecedented genius to put a teeny-weeny train on stage. The second reason was that I wasn't nearly as immune to the charm of such moments as I would like to have been. There was something about the sudden shift of perspective, the reverse zoom it imposed on your point of view, that had delight in it, and I didn't like it, in much the same way that you can fiercely resent being made to cry by a cheap tear-jerker, even as the tears roll down your cheeks. </p> Thomas Sutcliffe Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/tom-sutcliffe-lets-be-clear-about-what-were-eating-1813656.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/tom-sutcliffe-lets-be-clear-about-what-were-eating-1813656.html <p>It hasn't really been a good few days for this Government, when it comes to the relationship between simple scientific facts and public health. Their commitment to giving the people the facts doesn't apparently extend to giving them facts that might contradict current political orthodoxies. But they do have a modest opportunity this week to show themselves to be on the side of useful scientific intelligence. Tomorrow, the House of Commons debates a 10-Minute Rule Bill put forward by the Labour MP Helen Southworth, in which she calls for a legal requirement for a uniform system of food labelling on the front of packaged food.</p> Thomas Sutcliffe Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/tom-sutcliffe-its-time-for-tough-love-at-the-tate-1807185.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/tom-sutcliffe-its-time-for-tough-love-at-the-tate-1807185.html <p>I tend to think of Bullets Over Broadway when I hear about collaborative artworks, Woody Allen's 1994 comedy being a near-perfect parable of the ruthlessness necessary for high artistic achievement. In the film, a mob enforcer with only rudimentary education (he burned his school down) is given the job of looking after a gangster's moll who has been given a starring part in a Broadway play in return for a hefty investment. </p> Thomas Sutcliffe Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/tom-sutcliffe-its-time-to-admit-flying-is-a-luxury-1805649.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/tom-sutcliffe-its-time-to-admit-flying-is-a-luxury-1805649.html <p>Forgive me Gaia for I have sinned – or rather I'm about to. This weekend I'm flying to Washington with a son – an 18th-birthday present inspired by his passion for the West Wing – and at a stroke every climate-friendly choice I've made in the last few years has been blown. No point feeling smug about driving a Toyota Pious (as my children mockingly call it). No real point either in wondering whether the solar water panels on the roof are ever likely to justify their existence or patting myself on the back for a quasi-religious devotion to recycling. I have, of course, paid the surcharge for a carbon offset, but if I'm honest I don't want to look too closely at the mechanisms of that scheme for fear of discovering that its only effectiveness is in persuading people to overcome their doubts about taking a flight in the first place. And there's absolutely no good pretending that this trip is an unavoidable necessity because it isn't. It's for fun and – beneath shifting and variable levels of guilt – I'm looking forward to it. Even the flying bit. </p> Thomas Sutcliffe Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/tom-sutcliffe-when-a-film-is-not-a-film-1803287.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/tom-sutcliffe-when-a-film-is-not-a-film-1803287.html ]]> <p>When the Cannes organisers invited Disney/ Pixar to present Up as the opening film of the 2009 festival they made history. It was, as was widely reported at the time, the first animated feature to open Cannes and the invitation was broadly treated as an acknowledgement – by the most Brahmin band of cineastes – that animated film really has acquired the status of "filme" , not just a children's entertainment. I'm sure the organisers didn't regret it. Up, as most reviewers agreed last week, is hugely enjoyable and a masterclass in a certain kind of storytelling – particularly in the wonderful opening section, which compresses an entire marriage into a few poignant minutes. But, as I peered through my 3D glasses at the adventures of Carl and Russell, I found myself thinking that what I was looking at wasn't really a film at all – but a kind of literature.</p> Thomas Sutcliffe Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/tom-sutcliffe-no-fair-trials-in-the-court-of-public-opinion-1801809.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/tom-sutcliffe-no-fair-trials-in-the-court-of-public-opinion-1801809.html <p>I heard the phrase "the Court of Public Opinion" quite a few times yesterday morning – prompted by interviews and discussions anticipating the fact that MPs were all going to get a letter from Sir Thomas Legg and a lot of them weren't going to like it.</p> Thomas Sutcliffe Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100