A Moment that Changed the World

“The moment has come. Centuries from now almost all human beings have lost the ability to see.” So says the trailer for #Apple TV’s new series “See”.

To set the scene, “Some say that sight was taken from them by God.”
“No kidding,” I say.
“But something’s different. After so many years. The children. They have the ability to see.”
“Whoopee do,” I marvel.
No. The power of sight is what you might describe as “magical” or “evil”.
“Not that old chestnut”. I thought it was the other way round. On one hand a punishment from God. On the other hand, damned if you can see. All this helpfully provided with subtitles.

There are armies of blind people galloping about on horses, wielding swords and spoiling for a good dust up. Blindness does not seem to get in the way of a really good fight. “See” it would seem, is doing for war what #”Scent of a Woman” did for pheromones.

I know a few people that I wouldn’t want to cross for fear of a poke in the eye with a white stick, but honestly and truly, I’m not losing any sleep about the possibility of visually impaired folk raising an army to take on the rest of humanity, not even to save the planet.

It’s not a spoiler to say, that of course, its not all fighting and reproducing. Hundreds of blind people crossing a knackered suspension bridge do plunge to their death in a moment of blind madness. Is that supposed to be funny or tragic? I’m not sure. If I say what I thought, I’m bound to offend someone.

This might all turn out to be a bit of good old fashioned knock about fun but the cast seem to be treating it pretty seriously. They had a coach called Paradox Pollock teaching them how blind people move. Wonderful. They wore black out masks to get them into the groove of what it’s like to be blind. The story of playing blind is nearly as gripping as the trailer. https://www.radiotimes.com/news/on-demand/2019-11-01/see-cast-act-blind-apple-tv/ . Me thinks they do over egg the experience of stumbling about in the dark for a bit, then hey presto, off with the blackout mask before the drive home. Try catching a bus you can’t see. It’s not a paradox. It’s pollocks with a capital “B”.

In the depths of my memory is a conversation between a blind and sighted man in which the sighted man explains that when he closes his eyes, or lies in bed in the dark, he gets a really good sense of what it’s like to be blind. “So what happens when you open your eyes or switch the light on?” asked the blind man.
“I can see again,” says the sighted man.
“Then you have absolutely no idea of what it’s like to be blind.”

There is a redeeming feature to all this blood lust. It has provided employment opportunities to a couple of partially sighted actors. Good for them and how very broad minded of #Apple TV. That must have put them into a health and safety spin. I wonder if they let them carry a sword and drink a hot cup of tea at the same time. Alfre Woodard, who plays Paris, thinks that if the show continues they might even have a blind person playing a blind person. How enlightened. A blind person doing blindness.

The truth should never get in the way of a good story. After all, I confess, I’m looking forward to series three of #”The Crown”. I might even watch #”See”. It could be big on laughs.

Image is Siobhain Santry's drawing of Anna.