In any big city, there are always going to be many things going on at any given time. London is certainly no exception with a person’s options of things to do practically limitless. For example, you could tour many of the wonderful historical sites like Westminster Abbey, Big Ben or London Bridge, and, if you ever want to get out of the city, there are many castles that you could possibly go see.
The most renowned aspect of London culture is, of course, its theater, and this reputation is completely justified. On any given night of the week, there are going to be dozens of plays that could be seen. See, here in London, going to the theater is like going to the movies back in the States. It is often cheaper to see a play than it is to see a movie.
So, it is theater that draws people to London. What is the most popular act in London right now? Is it Chicago? Nope. What about Phantom of the Opera? Not a chance. Is it anything by Shakespeare? The Bard must be spinning in his grave. No friends, the most popular act in London is hanging right near the Tower Bridge … and it’s hungry … really hungry.
That’s right, the most popular act in London is magician David Blaine who is living in a clear plastic box for 44 days with only water and a journal. He has become the center of attention with a little more than two weeks in that box under his belt. People have flashed him, hit golf balls at him and thrown tomatoes and eggs at him, and a model helicopter was flown with a visible hamburger over his plastic box.
Even celebrities cannot seem to escape the mania surrounding this stunt. On September 19th, Sir Paul McCartney got into a tussle with some photographers in the middle of the night after he came to Blaine, or, as McCartney referred to him, “a twat.” Apparently, McCartney was none to happy that somebody was going to disturb his Blaine-In-A-Box watching, and really, wouldn’t you also be upset?
What makes this interesting to watch is that while this is not the first time Blaine has done something like this. He has been buried in a coffin and frozen in a block of ice for several days in the middle of New York City, so the man is not stranger to … doing weird things. No, what makes this interesting is the reaction by the London public.
While Blaine was frozen in New York, he was not harassed this severely or consistently. So, what is it that makes Londoners so cruel, especially when they are often stereotyped back in the States as being uptight and prudish, save for the occasional riot that breaks out leading to a football match?
People are angry, it seems, because he is just doing this for attention and money (Blaine owns all of the television rights for the event), and they say it undermines people who have gone on hunger strikes before. Gandhi – I say this knowing it is the understatement of the year – he is clearly not.
I could care less about why Blaine wants to sit in this box in the first place. It seems stupid and pointless to me, but maybe he is like Forrest Gump who woke up one morning and wanted to run. Maybe Blaine woke up one morning and decided he wanted to sit in a box. Who knows, one day I might want to sit in a box over the Thames River or maybe even the Nile, but I certainly don’t want anyone taking away my box-sitting rights.Matthew Geiger is a senior history major.