Saturday 1 September 2012

"Spasticus Autisticus".. Shock to Rock!

Unless you have been living on the moon or something you will not have failed to realise I went to the opening Ceremony of the Paralympics. I shall blog about this in great detail along with all my photos that I took!.

All of the opening ceremony was spectacular none of it oozed sappy sentimentality but it was honest heartfelt and moving. There was an aspect of it that shocked but in a good way it was Ian Durys shocking : "Spacticious Austicisticious"" I have to admit that this was a shock that I have never ever heard of . And in a way I was ashamed of myself for not having heard this song before. I felt as if my ears have been covered over for the last thirty years.


As a youngster I knew that this was a term that shouldn't really be used though it was , it was different times and some of the Charity campaigns were very much Tiny Tim from "Great Expectations" and that you should help these people because it was a cause. There was little thought given by most to what happened to beyond dropping the coin in the Charity envelope or the charity box that adorned many a supermarket. The lyrics were hard-hitting: "So place your hard-earned peanuts in my tin".


I didn't realise that this song had once been banned by the BBC . It was an electrifying sequence of the Paralympic Opening Ceremony and I was there for this moment in history , I am part of this change this moment that will propel the laying bare of disability in it raw terms and promote debate .


The Paralympics demanded we listen to this song and we did.



Ian Durys "Spasticus Ausisticus" at the Paralympic Opening Ceremony.



Alison's Lapper stunning statue.

8 comments:

  1. I thought that was one of the most powerful parts of the opening ceremony, really giving vent to the anger people feel about the discrimination they face. And what a clever piece of setting, to use a background of the staue of Alison Lapper. Do you know, when it was first erected on the fourth plinth, I heard somebody describe it as "obscene"? I was really shocked that in the 21st century somebody could take that attitude about something so beautiful

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was totally blown away by this. It was something I shall remember for the rest of my life and it has had such a profound affect on me.

      Delete
  2. I think Alison's image is a very powerful statement, for that reason I applaud the sculptor. I haven't watched the ceremony, as I am on my own with kids and have no chance to watch anything at all

    ReplyDelete
  3. When I was at my parents', we did a bit of channel-hopping one night and stumbled across a programme called "I Spasticus". We found it a bit shocking to be honest. It's a group of mentally and physically disabled people who set up non-disabled people and laugh at them. For example, a blind man walks into a shop next door to a sex shop, pretends he thinks he's in the sex shop and starts asking lots of embarrassing questions about vibrators to the shopkeeper. Or a Downs Syndrome man asks a passer by to help out on a police line up, all the others are Downs Syndrome, and they make him imitate their disabilities. Some of it is funny, admittedly, but it obviouly makes the unwitting participants feel really ill at ease and I wondered if it would stop people helping disabled people out if they worry they're in the TV show. I guess it got us talking about the issue though, which is probably the main aim

    ReplyDelete
  4. I missed that bit, thank you for writing about it xxx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gosh how amazing you were there. I think the paralympics has been such an inspiration and really

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sorry having trouble commenting. Brilliant post and thanks for for linking up. Sorry it's taken such a while to visit its been a hectic few weeks!

    ReplyDelete

Everytime you comment on this blog you will be sent a kitten ... that could be a lie .. though it would make me very happy Thank You! If you are allergic to cats then wine will be sent .... * that could be a lie also.

Not connected with kittens

In line with new Data Protection legislation (GDPR) by commenting you do so in the knowledge that your name & comment are visible to all who visit this blog and thereby consent to the use of that personal information for that specific purpose.