Cheek to Cheek

Just to get things straight; I'm no Chris De Burgh fan.  I would likely run from a room (possibly howling) upon hearing the intro to Lady In Red, but that's just my musical intuition and/or sensibilities taking over.  I also gain keen personal enjoyment and pleasure from Bill Bailey's Scale Of Evil, in which De Burgh tops the scale (though I believe, for no reason other than my own completely unfounded conviction, that George Clooney should really top it).  Telling jokes or "having a bit of banter" about someone in the public eye, is a human bond, most of us seem to share.  But there's a fine line between humor and cynicism.  Publicly slating a person's character, mocking their appearance, their manner and the way they speak, all under the guise of  journalism, is not shame on them, it's shame on you.  Seriously, at one point I had to check that I wasn't in fact reading a piece submitted by a student to a Secondary School Literary Publication.  I am, of course, referring to the now viral article written by Deborah Ross, and published in The Independent today.  Wherein, Ms. Ross, shares what Mr De Burgh imagines to be a pleasant afternoon sipping hot beverages, and talking about all manner of things from marital affairs, to frugal toothpaste saving tips.  Ross, or "Debbie" as CDB likes to call her, does not play nice.  It isn't so much the things she says, rather the way in which she puts them across.  While she seeks authenticity from her interviewee/victim, she does not return it, instead she attacks an (almost too)easy target from the outset, offering the reader only a speculative view, fulfilling what was evidently a constructed and set agenda.  Her Judas Kiss article twists the jocular internet memes that have long been De Burgh's legacy (and our amusement), into a scathing attack on a man she has apparently met once.  The whole set-up is kind of reminiscent of the Stephan King classic, when high school bullies pretend to be besties with the unwitting protagonist Carrie, in a cruel attempt to make her the laughing stock of the prom.  Now, how did that one end, again...
We all like to laugh, and admittedly while reading the piece, I may have giggled once or twice at the more than obvious cringe worthy De Burgh Partridge-isms, but overall I know who came out looking the worse in print.  OK, so De Burgh is no saint (imagine!), and Christ, his music is terrible, shudder-inducing mush, but he's hardly the leader of some right wing, anti-everything that isn't white, male and chaste, religious sect.  You know, someone who might actually be deserving of such a public display of sadism.
Of course this is just my two cents, any piece of journalism is open to critical interpretation.  Perhaps you'll read the article and find it to be an insightful and open piece of writing, or perhaps you'll just find it bloody hilarious.  Or maybe not.  I trust you'll make your own mind up.
How to correctly make fun of famous people:
Bitches be cray. 
I have both read and witnessed first hand, a certain type of  higher-than-thou, bullying behaviour, from some bloggers.  Bloggers who have been on the blogwagon for far longer than I have/long enough to know that this is not proper blogging etiquette.  Or indeed, etiquette, full stop.  When you welcome followers to your blog, it's much like inviting a person to your home for tea; you don't ridicule your guests and then ask them to pass the sugar.  
The following are the two most important things I have learned, to date, when it comes to directly working with fellow human beings:
Rule #1:  Be nice, and don't bitch about or to other people.  Keep your personal problems, personal.
Rule #2:  If you can't do any of the above, be quiet!  
Remember, you never know who you might be talking to.  Just like Santa, people do take note of who is naughty or nice.  I'll leave you now, with the words of a Dublin legend:
  Ah leave it out. Ah here. Leave it fucking out. by Waterford Whispers News