Ballard's influence on Chris Morris

Perhaps. But there is a long tradition of English satire mangling words and coming up with strange new phrases, going back at least as far Jonathan Swift. Geefe was a classic piss take of tedious opinion column journos who don't actually write about much else apart from themselves, he has their register pat down.

Ned said:

Also the stuff about cars here surely owes something to Crash. Has anyone got any direct evidence?

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Isn't this just a case of brash "blokey" writers for broadsheets wanking off about expensive cars so much because it makes them look:

a) butch
b) technically knowledgeable
c) classy/rich

I think that's what Morris is sending up there.

Maybe you're right. Although I can't help thinking a lot of his style is based on Peter Cook's absurdist way with words and love of odd scenarios.

I see both JG Ballard and Chris Morris as surrealists of the everyday, and while Morris's media-themes and bizarre juxtapositions are frequently reminiscent of Ballard (whether directly influenced or not), Ballard's satirical side is often missed, as his humour is so deadpan: the whole civilization reverting to savagery thing (High Rise etc.) is to me always at least partly satirising lifestyle, media, consumerism etc., and his pseudo-academic style (as in The Atrocity Exhibition) could be compared to Morris's absurdist appropriation of authoritative news language.

For me, the most obviously Ballard-inspired example of Morris-related material (performed by Morris, but I suppose it could have been written by Armando Iannucci) is The Day Today's delayed train whose passengers descend into tribal violence (episode 6) - "by the time they arrived in London, most of the commuters had put their clothes back on and wiped off the blood". It's conceivable that this story might actually be a specific parody of Ballard. Many of the scenarios in (Blue) Jam are evocative of Ballard - disaffected protagonists who are psychotic but eerily calm, as if whatever insane thing they are doing/saying makes perfect logical sense. And the hyped-up TV news coverage of real events often strikes me and I'm sure many others as both Ballardian and Morrisian.

Obviously these instances don't count as direct evidence of an influence of Ballard on Morris, more as parallels; but I tend to think of the two as being different programmes on the same channel (or whatever other tacky metaphor!), with an intermediate stage between the two being Will Self.

Furiously like angrily?

No, more like quickly and purposefully. ‘Vigorously’ May be a better word

i was at my mates house and i made everyone watch that film High Rise (the one in the towers), everyone was already depressed coz it was winter in kabul and there were a lot of suicide bombs at the time, and we got halfway through and we switched it off. i wasn't allowed to choose the film ever again

on a separate occasion i was in a bath in a slightly squalid friend's apartment next to an overpass in delhi years ago, i was all over the place anyway, they had a copy of some ballard book and i read it in this little dirty bath one night in the heat and humidity, something about murders in suburbia or something, the additional sense of unease and everything being wrong did not help me deal with my existing sense of unease and everything being wrong

these are my main experiences of JG ballard

chris morris, not chris martin as i read the title for a second, there's something not quite right about the stuff he makes, there is a kind of dirt there i think, it's not exactly wholesome and i think that gets a bit overlooked, but he has a way with words that is unsurpassed and the day today etc is a genius format that he hit on, i love his stuff obviously

I remember watching the High-Rise film with a group of mates and finally having to say something about how shit it was around halfway through and everyone suddenly bursting into life and agreeing and saying they thought it was just them.

Shame because the book's great. Love Ballard's initial idea of writing it as some sort of assessment or medical report rather than as a novel with a main character. He thought that first draft was better than the real thing.

version said:

I remember watching the High-Rise film with a group of mates and finally having to say something about how shit it was around halfway through and everyone suddenly bursting into life and agreeing and saying they thought it was just them.

Shame because the book's great.

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it was so shit

i hate choosing films actually. almost as much as i hate choosing restaurants. i'm just bad at it.

swears said:

Perhaps. But there is a long tradition of English satire mangling words and coming up with strange new phrases, going back at least as far Jonathan Swift. Geefe was a classic piss take of tedious opinion column journos who don't actually write about much else apart from themselves, he has their register pat down.

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I always thought Swift was Irish?

Corpsey said:

Furiously like angrily?

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I was wondering to myself "does he mean furiously like angrily?" - but I assume he means quickly with great concentration.

shakahislop said:

it was so shit

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Ben wheat ley films are all just so so so so shit

I liked that Kill List one until the silly ending.

Haven't seen any others.

he's like guy Ritchie less even his talent plus massive pretentious embarrassing belief that he's making serious films about heavyweight issues

i don't like dubstep either just to be clear

i get the impression bw is one of the best people at filling in funding applications in the history of the uk

Certainly seems (based on what I know of him) an odd fit for Ballard

Cronenberg was kind of perfect