I've always enjoyed a good intellectual 'Fry up' over the last decade.
Its a dish that appears to get better and better with age.
Fry is a man who appears to have an endless curiosity and boundless knowledge of the world, and a genuine and compassionate fascination with his fellow men and women.
He's an iconic example of that rare specimen:a geek with a soul and the generosity and talent to convey often complex ideas in a witty, interesting and intelligible way.
So many knowledgeable and/or 'bright' people (the two don't necessarily go together) tend to be selfish with their learning, or carry it like a baseball bat - beating the presumed proles into dazed submission.
Fry really wants to communicate, wants you too to become immersed in the dizzying curiosity that he himself feels about...EVERYTHING.
He exudes a kind of vulnerability and sensitivity, which, when combined with his intelligence, creates this (slightly) eccentric Cambridge Don/awed child/world weary hybrid persona.
I know, very complex, but highly entertaining too.
Fry's Bi-polar illness and troubled childhood - culminating in a spell in the nick as a teenager - have been well chronicled in the media and by the man himself.
He's not just an emotionally crippled bookworm who spits out facts like a computer algorithm, he wants and encourages others to engage with the world - both intellectually and socially.
He reminds me a lot of William Burroughs in his ability to make you say, 'Of course, why didn't I think of that!' But unlike the cold aloofness that Burroughs projected, Fry scatters his pearls far and wide and hopes that you'll chuck them right back with a few of your own.
I am aware that this post is something of a hagiography, and if I ever meet Fry he might turn out to be a complete bastard, but its a risk I'm willing to take.
His educational and entertainment value far outweigh potential future disillusionment's - at the time of writing, LOL.
Here's a 2-part vid of the man in full passionate flow:
No comments:
Post a Comment