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Jack Straw and Saw IV: how they are connected
November 7, 2008
Swordplay’s denizens enjoy Question Time of a Thursday evening, and last night was no exception. The array of guests was typically impressive, especially playwright Bonnie Greer (albeit that the show’s host, David Dimbleby, preferred to call her Germaine).
The debate turned to knife crime. Specifically, whether seeing more boys in the cub scouts might help reduce it, as apparently suggested by the London mayor, Boris Johnson. This unquestionably risible idea was scotched by Ms Greer, and even former cub scout and current Justice Secretary Jack Straw seemed somewhat underwhelmed by it. Indeed, if the truth be told, the show arrived at something of a plateau at this juncture, prompting a dalliance with the remote to see what the other channels had to offer.
[ ... ]
We agree. We recall that Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, a novel dealing with a subject far more problematic even than knife crime, contained not a single swear word. Despite the likes of Ross and Brand, communication is eminently possible without recourse to what the late Peter Carter-Ruck - doyen of libel lawyers and a man charged with libel reading Lolita - would have described as “mere vulgar abuse”.
The image is of a Saw IV cast member mid-premiere. Will the cub scouts save her?