Re: Boris Johnson's persona

I was not intending to be snide at all. If you took it that way, I
apologise.

The 'twist in the tale' is in the last quarter of the article, so if you
only read three-quarters of the article, you wouldn't have seen it.

When I said 'keep reading' in my original post, and when suggested you
hadn't read down the end, I meant it literally, without being snide.

For anyone who doesn't want to read the entire article, the author
describes how, on a subsequent occasion 18 months later, he saw Johnson
repeat everything he said and did the entire evening down to the smallest
detail.

Everything - from arriving at the last minute and asking for pen and paper,
to the untidy hair, to forgetting the name of the institute, to the
rambling jokes, and forgetting the punch line of the George Brown story -
every single tiny detail was a standard performance.

Nothing was spontaneous. Every word and every action was part of a
carefully designed and prepared act. There was no thinking on his feet.

This was only an after-dinner entertainment, but when we know what a superb
actor he is, and how carefully he prepares and presents his image, then we
have to wonder how much of what he says and does at any time is genuine.

I used the word persona - an actor's mask - deliberately.

Here's a segment of John Oliver's show on HBO where he makes a similar
point about Johnson:

And yes, keep watching, even though it's a bit irritating, because he's
making an important point.  :-)

https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FdXyO_MC9g3k%3Ft%3D1m&data=02%7C01%7CCLASSICS-L%40lsv.uky.edu%7Cb35f6d422f64402a370308d715852735%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C637001533956173691&sdata=Y%2FLoIumbAnTZkGqtdAXhEIT1I9pMf0snMLccXgoSlMo%3D&reserved=0

Mark D