Critic Cal

"The Mating Game Has Evolved", proclaimed the bottle of shower gel that I'd scraped from the bottom of our where-did-this-even-come-from? toiletries barrel on my hurried way out of the house. "Unleash The Chaos With Lynx Attract For Her – A Fragrance So Irresistible It Will Drive Guys Wild." Chaos did not ensue. Much as I deplore false advertising, I was, on balance, relieved. Still, it got me pondering their promotional premise: hooking up is a unisex sport now. Women are no less free to pursue numerous casual sexual encounters than men. To which I say: yes to equality! and great if we're really (really?!) gonna lay off with the misogynistic shaming ... All the same ... I dunno. Two things: Firstly, "evolved" strikes me as an ironic word to describe a drift towards instinct-led sexual ethics. Isn't, like, the human ability to reason against our immediate animal appetites in part why we fancy ourselves a somehow higher form of life tha...

Angry, angry, angry! Sickened, repelled, repulsed, incensed, enraged, incandescant, disgusted, frustrated, despairing, despondent, dejected, discouraged, downhearted...[1] (and: glumly and slowly resigning myself to the fact that I share in the heinous malfeasance by which I have come to be wearied and riled...) The offending article? This television ad . Transcript: Gary's cat is missing. [sad music] Hang on, you don't know Gary, do you? [happy music] Well, don't worry then. You can forget about things that don't affect you. Like with the new Peugeot 208. You can forget car insurance -- it's covered for three years. So is all this. Only with the "Just Add Fuel" finance package… Huh?! What? WHAT??! Who got to decide this, and announce it on national TV with such cheerful assurance? It is nothing short of a statement of far-fetched faith posing as universally-accepted fact (with no attempt to provide supporting evidence). The advert takes for granted t...