Alan Graham must be bemused to find himself standing in the celebrity circus ring, suddenly lit up by the blinding light of publicity.
An unassuming 61-year-old farmer from Bangor in Northern Ireland, he had given permission for a film crew to shoot a video of the pop idol Rihanna on his land.
Mr Graham had no idea who Rihanna was, but he did not like what she was doing in his fields. Just as he was passing by on his tractor, she threw off her top and bra for the benefit of the rolling cameras.
Just not on! Democratic Unionist Party Alderman Alan Graham said he was fetching his tractor when he saw Rihanna cavorting in his field and thought it was unacceptable
Being a Christian of deep faith, he was unhappy the crew were filming what he believed to be pornographic images.
So he politely asked them to leave his field — and they did.
The story has spread around the world and, despite the fact Mr Graham insists he parted amicably with Rihanna and her crew, there seems to be disbelief that this principled farmer did not prostrate himself before the half-naked diva rather than evict her from his land.
Country girl: Rihanna gets down to business in farmer Graham's field
For such effrontery he has been pilloried by the show business world, the media and ardent Rihanna fans.
On Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine show yesterday, a brash and brassy journalist from the Belfast Telegraph accused Mr Graham of dragging her people back to the joyless days of terrorism, of putting back recovery and progress.
She wailed that everyone around the world would look down again on Northern Ireland and see its people as backward.
Po-faced? Message on a barn close to where the shoot was taking place
A local woman called in to complain farmer Graham had fatally wounded their tourism industry with his po-faced Christian belief.
She said that, because the filming had been stopped, the province would miss all those visitors who would have visited the area to see the field where Rihanna jiggled her stuff in her new video.
Elsewhere, Mr Graham has been attacked for being a fundamentalist Christian and Ulster Unionist — as if such allegiances automatically mean he has no place in an advanced societies.
Rude girl: Rihanna is filming scenes for her latest video at several locations in Northern Ireland
As a liberal and a Muslim who lives in London, I confess it is unlikely I would have much in common with farmer Graham, with his faith or his politics. It is possible I wouldn’t even like the man much.
Semi-pornographic: More controversy from Rihanna as she danced topless in the field on the video shoot
Lights, camera, action: Extra lighting is set up to capture the Bajan beauty before Mr Graham's protestation
Reposted from: www.dailymail.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment