A not so grand day out

Far be it for me to drone on about on particular subject that bugs me, but fuck it, media coverage of the Grand Iftar in Easton has been a particular source of irritation this week. Whether it’s BBC’s toe-curling Points West coverage or the failing Bristol Post reaching out to the twee middle classes, in my little working class world the Grand Iftar has brought about an almighty ‘meh’.

I have no issue with people of religion, who are part of a rapidly shrinking minority, celebrating their ceremonies and ancient superstitions. If people believe in their gods, they should be free to do so as long as their actions do not in any way affect my own life. The Grand Iftar does not affect my life one iota. I suspect that I am not alone in not giving a toss.

I would rather the media focussed on what I regard as the real issues in Bristol. The poverty, homelessness and rough sleeping, the care sector crisis, the many thousands in low paid insecure work, the struggles disabled people have with with a benefits system that sees many people struggling to get by. Call me old fashioned, but I am far more interested in righting the wrongs of our once great city instead of dwelling on bizarre (to me) religious events.

I do wonder if the media coverage reflects the gentrification that threatens to tear the heart and soul out of Bristol. Clearly, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of people who trudged their way along charmless Stapleton Road in order to what some people claim to be the greatest street in our land. Honestly, I don’t recognise these people at all.

They certainly aren’t there in established working class areas where hipsters have not yet taken over. The decaying urban sprawl still remains, the city’s infrastructure in tatters. The cameras of the BBC and the rest of the local media either pretends there is not, shall we say, a less savoury side to Bristol or hasn’t recently left the fancy dan trendy bars that seem to welcome only people with bushy beards and non Bristolian accents.

Working class chip on my shoulder? Too right I have. I know only too well how Bristol has changed through the decades. I cannot deny the beauty of the harbourside area – God knows I drink down there often enough – but much of it is not the Bristol I grew up in. The Grand Iftar certainly isn’t.

To me, the media gushing at the end of ramadan had more to do with the middle classes reaching out to a religious minority and celebrating a religious festival they personally had no interest in.

Ah, some will say; you should respect people’s religions, people’s customs etc. Call me old fashioned but I was always taught that respect was something you earned, not just handed out for free.

The media undoubtedly shapes the city’s agenda to some extent or other. Perhaps, it could concentrate on the areas where drug addiction is out of control, where young people have bleak or non existent futures because of the failings of our society, where old people are stuck in their homes day after day having to fend for themselves when they can barely move from their chairs. In other words, get out of your trendy, twee apartments and see the real world where freedom exists only for those who can afford it.

By all means let the media cover the Grand Iftar, but don’t pretend most of us are interested. We aren’t.