Tina Malone; cultural icon
Liverpool takes steps to move on, and then Channel 4 recruit a Scouse micro celeb that fulfils a lot of the old stereotypes. It was never going to be Simon Rattle or Terence Davies, but Tina Malone? Come on!
Can one ‘bowling ball’ make a difference? Surely it’s like worrying about Rab C Nesbitt, string vests, Glasgow kisses and deep fried Mars Bars (mmm, deep fried Mars Bars…).
TV creates or fulfils perceptions. In other words, in Britain it often fulfils southerners perceptions of northerners.
It’s the Coronation Street effect. If Tina Malone managed to make a dent in Liverpool’s 12 months of hard graft in a three-week stint on the box, then consider the damage that Britain’s longest-running programme does to Manchester.
Manchester is innovative, the ‘original modern’ city, it has pulled together all the surrounding boroughs to sell ‘Manchester’. Its chief exec Sir H is hailed as a master of his art. And yet, three times a week, at 7.30pm you switch on the box to see the land of flat caps, red brick terraces and cobblestone streets. It’s nostalgic in an historical drama, unfortunate in an everyday soap.
TV and movies can make or break a place. It’s the reason why the Australian government was happy to spend £17m on an international advertising campaign supporting a three hour ad in the guise of a film.
Film is also the reason that New Zealand found its way – after Lord of the Rings. Everybody wants a piece of that New York kinda magic, where even the grit and gang killing is strangely alluring.
Does it matter if the film is a crock of kangaroo dung? Ask Tina Malone.
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