![]() Date: 2024-08-16 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00005853 | |||||||||
Media ... Disruption | |||||||||
Burgess COMMENTARY | |||||||||
Russell Brand on MSNBC Mocking Media Published on Jun 17, 2013 A very funny interview with comedian Russell Brand who is setting out on a world comedy tour. Buy your tickets by visiting his website. Comedian Russell Brand terrified anchors on MSNBC's Morning Joe program by lecturing them about how the media distracts from real news by obsessing about superficial distractions.Brand almost immediately put host Mika Brzezinski on the back foot by describing his tour as an exploration of how Malcolm X, Gandhi, Che Guevara and Jesus Christ 'are significant culturally and how icons are appropriated and used to designate consciousness and meaning....they're all people that died for a cause, they're all people whose icons are used to designate meaning, perhaps not in the manner in which they intended.' Brand then poked fun at MSNBC's army of 'actors' in the back of the shot who were supposedly tweeting, noting that they were merely a gimmick to create the impression that the program was a hotbed of news. The anchors began to get visibly uncomfortable when Brand made the point that mass media was an operation in changing information 'so it suits a particular agenda' and that viewers were being manipulated. Instead of addressing Brand's point, the anchors instead obsessed about the comedian's accent and his clothing. 'You're talking about me as if I'm not here and as if I'm an extraterrestrial,' responded Brand, 'thank you for your casual objectification.' 'I'm a little nervous,' retorted Brzezinski, presumably not used to entertaining guests on her program who act like real people. When the conversation began to break down, Brand asked , 'Is this what you all do for a living?' before hijacking the broadcast to talk about Edward Snowden, the NSA spying scandal and Bradley Manning. 'Look beyond the superficial, that's the problem with current affairs, you forget about what's important, you allow the agenda to be decided by superficial information -- what am I saying -- what am I talking about -- don't think about what I'm wearing, these things are redundant, superficial -- don't be distracted,' said Brand as Brzezinski physically cowered. Brand, who is a close friend of David Icke and was the only celebrity of note to draw attention to the Bilderberg Group with a recent tweet, is known for broaching topics of conversation which firmly go against the establishment grain. He also follows Alex Jones on Twitter. His Brand X show routinely features guests from the counter-culture as well as those with controversial political views.
|