Tuesday 9 February 2016

“No Stunt Work Please, We’re Snowflakes!”

Midland 7/7 hero Paul Dadge has condemned producers of a Hollywood blockbuster for blowing up a bus in London.
He said Sunday’s explosion – for a film starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan – was “very insensitive” .
Who..?
Mr Dadge was famously pictured as he helped masked victim Davinia Turrell to safety during the atrocity which left 52 people dead.
Oh. Him. Got a taste for publicity now, have we? Nor are you the only one, as we’ll see…
Writing on Twitter, Mr Dadge said: “Would have been VERY easy to inform those involved in 7/7 this was going to happen.
“Other films have been made that have comparisons (that) could be drawn to 7/7, survivors have ALWAYS been informed ahead.
“Very insensitive.
“Also hope London Fire Brigade were being paid to provide fire cover for the film.
Well, yes. That’s usually what happens. Why would this be any different?

There are, of course, plenty of other sensitive souls eager for their 15 minutes:
The father of 7/7 victim Carrie Taylor also hit out over the decision to blow up a bus on Lambeth Bridge for the film The Foreigner, The Mirror reported .
John Taylor said: “You can totally understand why some people would be alarmed seeing this.
“Filming goes on in the city but this seems particularly insensitive. “Obviously the London attacks were ten years ago but if people didn’t know about it then of course they would be concerned.
“When planning this kind of event in the centre of London, with MI5 and MI6 are close by, you can understand that if people didn’t know about it, it certainly would give great concern to some.
“I know a lot of the families, of other victims and survivors, would be upset by this.
“Perhaps it wasn’t thought through as much as it should have been.”
And perhaps it was. So…were all the relevant authorities advised? Yes, it would seem they were:
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the force was made aware of the incident but refused to comment on whether members of the public were notified.
A spokesman for the Port of London Authority confirmed it was a stunt for a film but again could not confirm what safety processes had been put in place.
Transport for London tweeted a single message on Sunday morning confirming the bridge was closed for filming but again failed to inform Londoners and tourists there would be a huge explosion taking place.
No-one from the London Mayor’s office was available for comment.
Just what were the company supposed to do, take out full pages adverts?

If a film company can’t film a stunt in London, after following all the necessary procedures, then terrorists will have won, won’t they?

4 comments:

PJH said...

"Midland 7/7 hero Paul Dadge..."


Hero? I knew him at the time (we had connections with the same company at the time);

"..famously pictured as he helped masked victim.."

And that's *all* he did. "Hero" because this picture made it into the papers:

http://news.images.itv.com/image/file/709205/stream_img.jpg


Oh - no; my mistake: http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/tube-bombing-hero-paul-dadge-9579846

"I recently met someone who remembered me from 7/7 and I’d no idea who he was.

“He said that I’d given him a chair, and when he’d said he was OK, I’d apparently said: ‘That’s your chair, I’ve put your name on it’."

What a hero!

He never used to be a pretentious prat, but from what I can see from Google he's milking the 7/7 stuff for all it's worth.

Trevor said...

If he's the one I'm thinking of, he attracted my attention as he popped up in two pictures miles apart - one in the west, the other at Aldgate. I thought at the time it was either coincidence or glory-hunting. I tended to the latter view at the time.

Andy said...

I wouldn't mind betting that the film producers sent out PR puffs about this. To be ignored by Metro/Een Stannart and the telly news. Ignored because there are just sooo many cuddly Euro stories to fit in.

JuliaM said...

"And that's *all* he did. "Hero" because this picture made it into the papers"

That does indeed seem to be the modern definition. Sadly.

" I thought at the time it was either coincidence or glory-hunting."

I guess now we know!

"I wouldn't mind betting that the film producers sent out PR puffs about this. "

They informed all the people they needed to inform. How could they have done more?