Ugliness, the greatest crime of all?

I hate ugliness. I loath and detest it. I hate ugly people. I hate ugly buildings. I hate ugly views.

A controversial statement for a Sunday morning? Let me explain. When I talk about ugly people, I don't mean people who are not beautiful. Quite the opposite, we are conditioned to think certain looks are beautiful. I totally disagree. I once saw Simon Weston, disfigured Falklands war veteran speak. He was inspirational. As I listened to what he was saying, I realised that there was a beauty about this eloquent and inspirational man. Something far deeper than shallow and transient looks. I volunteer as a helper with a group which takes people with disabilities on holiday. Many of the people who come away with us, have issues such as Downes syndrome. As a result of this, I've realised that these sort of things aren't ugly either. Our group is probably one of the most beautiful things in my life. I've taken all my children with the group at one time or another. It is amazing how their attitude to looks and image has changed as a result of actually knowing the people in the group. Most interesting was how my daughter returned from our trip this year and was shocked when I mentioned one of the girls who went with us had Downes syndrome. She said "I thought she'd come as a helper". The girl is a successful actress, having acted in films such as Hellboy and Eastenders. She lives independently and doesn't need a "helper", so in some ways my daughter was right.

When I talk about ugly people, I mean people who speak and act in a repulsive way. I was trying to think of the ugliest person alive I could and decided that to me it must be Robert Mugabe. It's not because he is physically repulsive, but I associate his views, policies and actions with his looks, therefore he's ugly. There are certain celebrities, who by some measures are gorgeous, but who have the same effect on me. This country is beset currently by a plague of plastic surgery and botox. I struggle with the whole concept. Why? because across the world there are millions of people dying for want of basic health care, whilst we spend hundreds of millions on "cosmetic" procedures which often make the people look ridiculous. For years, I had a massive crush on Lesley Ash. It started when I saw her in Quadrophenia. Why on earth did she feel the need to get "enhanced". It's a free country, I wouldn't ban cosmetic procedures, but I just can't get my head around the use of these medical resources, when there are countries where there aren't even basic nursing facilities for the general population. I featured the sculpture of pregnant Alison Lapper on the 4th plinth, as I thought this is a great example of what I'm trying to say. Is it an "ugly" statue? By my definition, ugly is something I look at and I feel a negative reaction to. Something I wish was not in my sight. I found this particular statue quite fascinating. It's not "beauty" in a conventional way, but it doesn't have a "yuk" effect on me. All great art it is challenging. I'm sure many people don't get it, and I don't know if it is just because I've worked with disabled adults, so it's less out of the ordinary, but it isn't ugly to me. I wrote this post partially in response to someone saying to me that it's great to have a proper statue of Keith Park on the 4th plinth, rather than "that disgusting Alison Lapper"

This resulted in a massive row, not because I think Kieth Park shouldn't be there, god knows if any of the military figures deserve to be on a plinth, he does. It was because I strongly objected to the description of Alison Lapper as disgusting. I then had the "who would you rather see on page 3 - Jordan or Alison Lapper argument thrown at me.

Well to be honest, I'd rather see neither of those two on page 3 of the Sun. I actually find Jordan repulsive, therefore I'd certainly not want to look at her on page 3 or anywhere else. As to Alison Lapper, why should she even want to be on page 3. She was a model for a classical sculpture and a fine one at that. So the question was rephrased. Who would you rather see on page 3, the person you fancy most in the whole world or Alison Lapper. That's rather easy. I'd rather see Alison Lapper, because I'd be furious if my wife was on page 3. When it comes down to it, I'd actually rather see a picture of a statue of Keith Park on page 3, because he's a role model and we should be reminded of his contribution and the sacrifice of thousands of his RAF colleagues in the defeat of the most ugly regime in history. 

Which brings us back to "what is ugly".Well this picture of a young British Man giving a Hitler salute is probably one of the most ugly and repulsive images I've seen recently. Doesn't this idiot know about the bravery of Keith Park? Doesn't he know about the tens of thousands of British Servicemen who died fighting Nazi's who he seeks to emulate. Does he realise that Alison Lapper would have been off to the gas chamber just for "being different" under the regime he so admires. You would think that someone who sees themselves as part of a "superior master race" would at least bother to read the history books and see what "our finest hour was".

Finally in our little discussion of ugly, I know people who have had massive complexes about their looks and who plastic surgery has given confidence to. I know people who have had restorative plastic surgery following accidents. I know people who didn't need the procedures and looked no better or worse afterwards. I'm not criticising or having a go at any of these people or the procedures they've had, don't get me wrong. I just wish we'd be more concerned with resolving the internal ugliness in our hearts, the things which really make us ugly. It's a shame there is no surgery which can fix that.