Tim Barry

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Tim Barry

The problem with the BBC

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For years now complaints have been levelled at the BBC for its lack of impartiality. It never ceases to amaze me how many people form their opinion on world events through the lens of the BBC. When I suggest to them that that the BBC is perhaps not the best way to keep themselves informed, I’m sometimes met with disbelief that auntie could even be questioned.

…akin to going to the newsagent to buy a copy of The Guardian and being forced by law to buy a copy of The Telegraph…

Last year, I read The Noble Liar: How and Why the BBC Distorts the News to Promote a Liberal Agenda by Robin Aitken, which gives an insider view on this very subject. It’s a an enlightening, but sobering read because this is the body that (if you own a television) are forced to support through the punitive license fee. It’s akin to going to the newsagent to buy a copy of The Guardian and being forced by law to buy a copy of The Telegraph at the same time. The sooner the license fee is abolished, the better. In that scenario everyone wins, those who want to watch the BBC can pay for it and those who do not, are free not to pay for it.

However, railing against the license fee is not the point of this post. This morning I went to check the news and wanted to see what the BBC said about the current Coronavirus situation, so I headed over to their dedicated Coronavirus page. What’s striking is the lack of a viewpoint that questions lockdown in any way shape or form.

Just take these headlines: “I was young and fit, I thought I’d get over Covid”, “On the edge of exhaustion in the NHS”, “Everybody’s got to do their bit to beat Covid” & “Why are people breaking lockdown rules?” (this one had the sub of “There are three kinds of coronavirus rule-breakers, according to one psychologist.” the implication being, that you dear BBC reader are not one of those rule breakers…).

This is a small example of the BBC’s systemic failure to present a balanced view on important issues in order that people make up their own minds, as opposed to being told what to think. The BBC drives an agenda on Coronovirus where lockdown is good, the virus is very bad and our national duty is to protect the NHS. Furthermore Big Government is always something that the left leaning BBC will champion and COV-2 has given the BBC a golden opportunity to do just this. It’s many ways, it’s a socialist dream.

This is a problem because too many people still rely on the BBC to inform them on current events and from that people form a distorted view about what the different viewpoints on a particular subject are.

The challenge of ‘A Hidden Life’

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This week I went with a couple of fellow Foresters to see Terrence Malick’s new film A Hidden Life. Whilst I had scanned a review of the film, the truth was I had not fully registered the sheer scale, depth and length of what I was to sit through. However, it was a line from Rod Dreher’s excellent review of the film – “the best evocation of the Gospel ever committed to film” that was enough for me to say ‘yes’. Not knowing what to expect was both exciting and unnerving, exciting because we were heading out to the cinema, unnerving because I had an inkling it might be demanding…

The film is long. I’m talking Peter Jackson timings here. Yet, whilst the pace is slow, it does not drag and is a testament to the skill of Malick’s artistic direction – a feat made all the more impressive due to the paucity of dialogue.

“We create admirers. We do not create followers. Christ’s life is a demand. We don’t want to be reminded of it.”

A Hidden Life is strewn with Biblical references and parallel’s to the Gospel. A memorable scene is when the main character Franz Jägerstätter is talking with a local man touching up the artwork in their village church. Looking at the painting of Christ on the church wall, he says to Franz, “We create admirers. We do not create followers. Christ’s life is a demand. We don’t want to be reminded of it.” This is the linchpin of the whole film – the straightforward, yet costly reality of what it means to follow Jesus. He then goes on to make a somewhat prophetic statement that there is an even darker time coming when men won’t fight the truth, they will just ignore it.

It seems that time has come.

The film is emotionally charged, especially with regard to Franz and Fani’s three children and the impact of Franz’s decision on them. It makes for uneasy watching if you have children yourself. What would I do? Do I admire Christ or actually follow Him?

For me, a striking aspect of the film was the fundamental stance that Franz takes. He knows where the line is and he refuses to cross it. Many of us today move the line much, much further up the field and the result is that compromise eases itself in. Just like Franz, we have all the reasons under the sun to ignore the line in front of us.

It was telling that Franz was the only one in the village who saw the line and refused to cross it. The refusal cost him everything and I guess this is the challenge of the film. It would have been so simple, so easy for him to make just the smallest compromise, yet he remained steadfast, resolute and above all, free.

I am struck by the compromises I make in my life, more comfort, a bit more ease. What’s more is that I’ve got so used to it. The solution is not to go looking for trouble, instead perhaps this film is a timely reminder. A reminder to consider whether I simply admire Christ, paying Him lip service in word and action or am I actually willing to take up my cross, lose my life and follow Him?

On the way back, in the car, we chatted about where we draw the lines today. In the workplace this has become particularly hazardous. It’s no longer enough to abstain from ideological assent, you have to partake or else. In essence, the lines have become more fundamental and therefore much more costly.

Franz Jägerstätter kept it simple: “I can’t do what I believe is wrong…”

If you get the chance, go and see the film.