Aristocracy of Achievement

22 February 2006



Ben Kingsley Insists on “Sir”

One of the more amusing and pointless arguments in British entertainment surrounds the insistence by Sir Ben Kingsley on having his “Sir” featured on promotional posters for his new film. Sir Ben (he hasn’t been Mr. Kingsley since 2001) believes “Being a Sir brings with it responsibility.” Others who have their “K” disagree, vehemently.

One of Sir Ben’s detractors is David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam of Queensgate, CBE, who got his knighthood in 1995, and two years later was made a life peer. He told the BBC, “I think Ben’s barmy and I wish I could just get hold of him and say ‘wake up.’ It’s a silly thing to do. Within the film industry I'm just David Puttnam and I will always be David Puttnam.” When one has produced “Chariots of Fire,” “Midnight Express” and “The Killing Fields,” the peerage and CBE are, at best, shorthand for a distinguished career.

Sir Roger Moore was a bit more direct. “It’s a load of pretentious bollocks. I don’t see the point. Would it really add anything to have one’s title included? I think it’s the actor people want to see, not the knight.” Anthony Hopkins gets to be a “Sir” in the UK because of dual nationality, but he’s “Mr. Hopkins” in the US because it’s not done to be “Sir Anthony” in America. He seems to have split the difference successfully at the price of moving to the US.

However silly this seems, it strikes at the very heart of what it means to be British in the 21st century. Less than a century ago, titles mattered a great deal. If great, great grandpapa had helped Charles II against Cromwell, one might stand rather high in society -- whether one had talent or education was irrelevant. That is mercifully dying out.

But it leaves an awful question about how a society acknowledges the contributions of those who put more into the common pot than they take out. The leveling spirit of the 20th century was largely to the good in the UK and elsewhere, but in a meritocracy, not all will have equal results. Bluntly, Sir Ben is a better actor than Hugh Grant. An aristocracy of achievement rather than inheritance is no cause for shame.

In the end, if he wants to be called “Sir Ben,” that’s OK. Cassius Clay by another name was still a helluva boxer. And Sean Combs can be “Puff Daddy” one day and “P. Diddy” the next, but he’s still the Pied Piper of Hip Hop and an incredible cultural influence (not everything he’s done is crap). Jeffrey Lord Archer is still a convicted felon and second rate writer. It’s just a bit odd to think that there were people in the world who called Lord Olivier “Larry,” as if he were one-third of the Three Stooges.

The Danish flag appears here as a protest against the violence being done to the free press of that country and elsewhere by those offended by some cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed, peace be unto him. A perceived insult is not an excuse for intimidation and violence, even in the name of the Creator. One cannot insult God, only small-minded men who falsely claim to speak for Him.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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