Jørgen Leth

I just updated the wikipedia entry for Jørgen Leth with the fact that he’s no longer going to be doing the Tour de France for Danish TV2. Someone beat me to his renunciation of the consulship.

It’s a sad day. Trine Sick on DR1 asked whether his view on human nature is is backwards. How about the view that says we should all disguise our faults even though we all know we have them. I we’re all just flawed human beings, so what’s the fuss about? As far as I know, he’s not convicted of breaking any laws. Even if he were, one of the goals of the judicial system is that once you’ve served your time, you’re excused, and supposedly welcomed back to participate in society. Well, not in this case, everybody’s busy passing moral judgments.

I have a deep respect for Jørgen, and I appreciate the fact that someone has the guts to stand up to hypocrisy, while taking the blows as they’re dealt him. Hard. It reminds me of Søren Ulrik Thomsens great essay “Parcelhuskvarter på højkant” from Politken August 4th 2002, where he describes how the Copenhagen courtyards have been deprived of all hiding places, so there’s no longer a place for 13-year old kids to jerk off or try a fag in secrecy. Not everything in life is pretty to look at, and that’s just how it is. Sorry.

Back to Jørgen. Is there a paypal button somewhere that I can click to donate money? What does it take to help the guy out? He’s given us so much, it’s time for us to give some back. I can’t believe that TV2 didn’t have more of a spine on this.