Slagging off RTE has never been a particularly tough job. Most of its programming is about as easy to defend as Monsanto, the Catholic Church, or serial killers. And unfortunately, not much is set to change with its new series of the 80s, Reeling In The Years, where the most evocative events are combined with the biggest pop hits.
You can marvel at the hairstyles, sing along with the old tunes, and gasp my god, was that really 1980?/81?/etc. You can go quiet at the sad bits, laugh at the Eurovision bits, and rejoice when your county wins the Sam Maguire. Don t worry, though, here s no analysis, little to make you angry, and nothing to tax the brain.
If you think that the past is controlled by whoever owns the present, and whoever controls the past controls the future, then it is scary to see how the 80s are remembered by Official Ireland. Selective memories are all very well, but complete amnesia on certain subjects isn t.
For instance, while RTE censored any real discussion on Northern Ireland under section 31, surely it s safe to turn the sound up in the archives now. But no, there is no soundbyte from anyone from the nationalist community concerning the H-Block hunger strikes. Instead we get Charlie promising the unification of Ireland, Maggie insisting they re not political prisoners, and a reporter at Bobby Sands funeral stating that, Republican funerals always draw a crowd.
Plenty of guff from Ronald Reagan though, and scenes of jubilation in Ballyporeen as one of their boys is sworn in as Biggest Fella In The World locals marching in the rain under the U.S. flag, and then more locals welcoming the newly-released American hostages from Iran. Elsewhere, a young Mary McAleese reports on the Delorean car built for the American super rich. What a quaint sight, Ireland shrugging off its Catholic past, and embracing its capitalist future.
Although Bob Geldof is allowed a quick rant about everything in Ireland being second-rate and shoddy, most of the voices featured here are conservative Ronnie, Charlie, Maggie and Garret.
The foreign news sections are viewed through the same Tory-blue tinted lenses. El Salvador is mentioned, and we re told Archbishop Romero was a supporter of human rights. But we re not told about America s involvement, the US-sponsored massacres, or even why Romero was killed. The Iran-Iraq war gets the same treatment, the impression being given that war was inevitable as the region grows more unstable.
An overview of the 80s that could look at how different policies, ideas, and events evolved over the decade could be very interesting. Unfortunately, this is simply a stack of pseudo-political soundbytes with a Boomtown Rats soundtrack. This ain t the story of the 1980 s.
Reeling in the Years, Mondays at 8pm, from September 6th.