Wondrous Obsessions: The Cabinet of Curiosities
Presenter appears to be a foreign student who never returned “home” – no doubt wrote a few papers, on nothing of much relevance as most academia seems bent these days and has got a professorship in said flannel subject, from some soft liberal university and now it seems has a TV career talking in the most stilted and mannered version of an affected posh english accent. Hmm bearable just – if one tunes out the accent. Little novel or precise is divulged, felt like an ill focused magazine show about the age of collecting in the the 17th century, didn’t feel I learnt much by the time it was over, the educative content of such shows needs to go up. The program itself displayed parallels to the last fake curio exhibition it discussed, where people deliberately blur the line between entertaining piffle and truth conveying signal, I did not come away enlightened and it rang a little perhaps, as though a slight of televisual story telling had been washed over me, leaving me uncaring for the merit of the programs existence or not. Certainly compared to many other great documentaries one could spend ones time viewing. Not quite true … a few things were learnt re Ashmoles connived control of the Tredescant collection which rings true, and Tredescants role of the no doubt ass-kissing kings gardener giving you enough wealth and access to acquire such a collection. Im sure the post is still as comfortable and well paid.