Kenneth Clark: 'A Stick in the Mud...'

Lord Clark comes clean about his "biases" and beliefs, in this unedited clip taken from the end of "Heroic Materialism", the final episode of the superb 1969 BBC2 documentary, "Civilisation".

"Civilisation" has finally been released on DVD, and at *very* reasonable cost.

(**This is not my work, obviously!**)

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Kenneth
• Clark
• Civilisation
• BBC2
• Heroic
• Materialism

[Shalashaska8636]

briliant show

love the comment below about video games from neothomist1275 -(video games)-Such things damage concentration and patience'...this guy obviously has never played video games-vast video games where puzzles and logic are applied to problem solving such as in RPG's like FInal Fantasy-over 90 hours of gameplay.After al thats all that video games r huge problem solving engines.

Video games are art-they just suffer from intellectual snobbery because they are a relative new art form

[kasranov]

Oh, I agree. But some games are more groundbreaking than others. Just as some films and documentaries are more groundbreaking than others...

[CONSVLTVS]

For me, this was the best of a handful of early television triumphs. Since that time, attention spans have shortened, vocabularies have shrunk, and television has become what Attenborough and the BBC were trying to show it need not be. We may be materially richer now, with flashy gadgets and distractions. We are palpably less refined, and Western Civilization is passing through a phase transition point of culture and politics. Like Clark, I am hardly optimistic.

[armbar]

I regret to say that saw the last of the series last night on BBC 4 and I wish I had seen it all. It was a treat to see a program on Saturday night that required you to consider ideas. If they showed this on BBC 1 on any day of the week, there would be riots. If its not based on humiliation of the general public or celebrity, it is of no interest........

[overfell]

An amazing and inspirational series - also very amusing at points. This ending is simply stunning - moving and profound. Fantastic.

[ammypam]

Right-wing reactionary who produced a truly awful son.

[logica10]

"Human sympathy is more valuable than ideology" is an impressive idea that I can confirm day after day in my daily work. This is the incredible value of this kind of programme: it makes you think and rethink, to rephrase your assumed truths. A fresh standpoint, no matter this was filmed 4 decades ago. Thanks for sharing.

[TheSealOfTheRose]

Inspiring gentleman

[Wormwoods1066]

Sheep! Thanks Stick in the Mud.

[musicalgibbon]

@bassdemon16

I felt like this too, initially. I can't recommend sticking with it highly enough, though. It may be difficult to get the point, the first time of watching, but the understanding comes with repeat viewings. There are still things I learn re-watching this for what must be the hundredth time.

[Snurremegrundt]

I wonder what dominate our modern society the most these days; materialism or escapism? The good thing about escapism like movies, videogames and comics and so on, is that it is possible to sneak in messages that actually matters. But to improve the world, we need more than just an audience who are nodding their heads

[Imonlysleeping9]

People shouldn't be so quick in setting John Berger against Kenneth Clark. Sure, they had ideological differences, but both recognized the problem of "heroic materialism" and how it stands between us and a society of greater depth and self-understanding.

[VictrolaJazz]

By virtue of being born in 1903, he got to live through London in the Roaring 20's--probably the most wonderful treat in history--short skirts, bobbed hair, jazz, the Charleston, 23 Skdoo, Josephine Baker, dance orchestras, Cecil Beaton, Stephan Tennant, Edith, Sachaveral and Osbert Sitwell, the Bright Young Things, Elinor Wylie, Noel Coward, Gertrude Lawrence--was there ever a more wonderful assemblage of people and things with style?