The Critical Commentator

Merry-Go-Round Mark Gertler (1891-1939) Photo Credit: Tate [CC BY-NC-ND] ... Why is this practice so common among people my age? If you aren't hearing-impaired and are fluent in the language, what is it about subtitles that makes them appealing? An easy assumption is that this is the result of a short attention span, passivity and a lazy nature, a failure of generation zombie. But having experienced watching TV with and without  subtitles, I'd say the former doesn't beget lazy viewing so much as a quicker information download. The new status quo of "subtitles on" among the young reflects both a values shift and cultural conditioning as a result of of big tech's encroaching impact on our entertainment experience. For instance, the small screen in our living room has to share the limelight with the micro screen in our lap. The U survey [research by streamer U] revealed that 80% of generation Z and millennials "double-screen" when they watch. With subti...

  The Golf Course, North Berwick John Lavery (1856-1941) Photo Credit: Tate [CC BY_NC-ND] The lasting memory of this Ryder Cup won't be a single swing of the club so much as the ugly backdrop: galleries that drifted from partisan into venomous and the organisers who let the line slide until it snapped... There's a difference between atmosphere and interference, and Bethpage spent too much of the weekend blurring the two. Boos during practice swings and the sing-song "YEW-ESS-AY! YEW-ESS-AY! after a European miss were tiresome, but survivable. What crept in on Saturday was different: insults aimed at players' wives, homophobic slurs, cheap shots at Mcllroy's nationality dripping with tiresome stereotypes. Europe answered with performance. So much for home advantage: for two years the Bethpage sales pitch was the snarling, uniquely American cauldron that would rattle Europe. Message received, but the idiots took it literally. Add the optics of Donald Trump's fly-...

...  lf Woodhall believes it, it must be true. Less than a year ago the 24-year-old Yorkshire native moved to the United Arab Emirates with little more than a dream. Today, she is one of Dubai's successful manifestation gurus, effectively preaching that wellbeing can be achieved by wishing to be well. The Charlatan Frans van Mieris the elder ( 1635-1681) Photo Credit: Guildhall Art Gallery [CC BY-NC] Hers, though is a fitting and growing niche in a city where if you've got it, you flaunt it, and if you don't, you're here because you want it.. There was only so much partying Woodhall could do before she turned to manifestation, she explains, starting workshops that have gathered a following among the legions of Gen Z manifesters on TikTok (as evidenced by the proliferation of cameras on the beach) "We've grown up comparing our lives to celebrities and influencers," Woodhall says. " I feel like it's what Dubai was missing for the expat community....

  Socrates unknown artist Photo Credit: Harris Manchester College, Oxford  ... Far from a land of enlightenment, Britain, along with the rest of the modern West, is in the grip of what might be characterised as an intellectual crisis. A recent OECD report found literacy and numeracy "declining or stagnating" in most developed countries. Average IQ having risen for the entire 20th century, now appears to be falling. People are reading fewer books. Trust in science and experts is declining. The spread of fake news, superstition and conspiracy theories testifies to a citizenry lamentably lacking in the kinds of critical thinking skills universities are supposed to instill in their students. The most highly educated parliament in this country's  history is also its least impressive. I don't think these problems originate in higher education - my finger is pointed as always at ubiquitous screen-based distractions -- but they throw into sharp relief our universities' fa...

The Smiling Amazon Alexander Christie (1901-1946) Photo Credit: Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums  [Public Domain]   ... Being nice is all about how you wish to be viewed, whereas being kind means doing what is right - never mind the optics. Nice is telling your friend that her speech is fantastic - being kind is pointing out that it's filled with bad jokes, none of which will work with the intended audience. Nice is ignoring the letter from school about nits because your daughter has curly hair that is impossible to untangle without hurting her - being kind is carefully combing through it every night for a week to ensure her head is free from the itching, even if she hates it. Being nice can be actively harmful\too. When it's disingenuous, it's a superficial kind of action. It leads us to doing hurtful things because our focus is on ourselves and how others perceive us. It's difficult, especially for women. So many of us have been conditioned to people-please: b...

  Arenig, North Wales James Dickson Innes (1887-1914) Photo Credit: Tate [CC BY-NC-ND] Baked beans, sarcasm, the lochs of Scotland and Sir David Attenborough. Each have been singled out as unmistakably British institutions that make people proud amid the political scandals and toxic controversies that can sometimes seem overwhelming. The glimmers of light were identified as the men's style magazine GQ gathered 15 celebrities - including the sportsmen Anthony Joshua and Ian Wright and the actors Brian Cox and Andrew Garfield - for a "sweet, nostalgic, silly, sublime and absurd" What's So Great About Britain special September issue. The heavyweight boxer Joshua said Britain should be as proud as other nations of its storied history. "We conquered the world," he said. "You come to Greece and they're like, 'Alexander the Great!' Be proud, innit? It's unbelievable, The whole bloody world speaks English or wants to learn English." Joshua,...