Only the truly weird would suggest last week was anything but weird.
The publication of the Trump dossier was pretty odd, given the allegations contained inside had not been substantiated in any way.
The President Elect’s subsequent press conference was its own piece of absurd theatre too.
And then, of course, a couple of guys from Dundee inadvertently started an international race row involving Michael Jackson, Marlon Brando and that guy from Shakespeare in Love.
For those who missed it, an episode of a new comedy on Sky Arts series, Urban Myths, was pulled from the schedules because Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris-Michael objected to the casting of Joseph Fiennes as her father.
Written by Bob Servant creator Neil Forsyth, the 30-minute comedy dramatised an alleged road trip undertaken by Jackson, Liz Taylor and Marlon Brando following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Unlike the Trump dossier, it made no claims to truth other than it was inspired by an event that may or may not have happened.
The story goes that Jackson had flown Brando – played by Dundee’s Brian Cox – and Taylor to New York for one of his concerts. Unable to fly home to California in the immediate aftermath of September 11, the unlikely trio had to rent a car and make the journey by road instead.
Pretty funny stuff but after the Urban Myths trailer aired, featuring Fiennes in prosthetics, the outrage really began with accusations of “whitewashing”, where white actors are given black roles.
Jackson’s daughter claimed she was sickened by the portrayal of both Jackson and Taylor, who was her godmother.
Ben Palmer, the director of the episode, said Fiennes had delivered a “sweet and nuanced” performance but it is one we will now never see.
Which, without wishing to belittle Paris-Michael’s feelings in any way, sets a dangerous precedent.
Satire cannot be constrained by the sensitivities of the few and public figures are, in a way, public property.
It’s unlikely Donald Trump’s family particularly enjoy Alex Baldwin’s portrayal on Saturday Night Live but the world is surely better for it.
And that is a deliberate attempt at character assassination compared to the whimsical nature of Urban Myths, which made no claims to be anything other than a fantasy.
More pertinently, Jackson, Brando and Taylor were all hugely famous and controversial in their own ways.
The idea that household names like those should be off-limits to writers or dramatists unless they are suitably reverential is not a healthy one.
