Privilege

National Television, Steve Shorter, slate one, take one.

I would just like to say to you all

how happy I am to be back in Britain

after my American tour.

(CHANTING) We want Steve! We want Steve!

The name of this young man is Steven Shorter.

He is being given the first ticker-tape welcome

in the history of Britain.

But Steven Shorter is not a president or a politician,

he is a pop singer.

The reason given for the extreme violence

of the stage act that you are about to see,

is that it provides the public with a necessary release

from all the nervous tension caused

by the state of the world outside.

The performance for which Steven Shorter is now being prepared

is based on the sentence he once served in prison.

And so successful has this violent act become,

that Steven Shorter now finds himself

the most desperately loved entertainer in the world.

Britain. In the near future.

Free! Free! Free!

Free! Free! Free!

Free! Free!

Free! Free! Free! Free!

Free! Free!

Free! Free! Free! Free!

Free! Free! Free!

Free! Free! Free! Free!

Free! Free!

Free! Free! Free!

Free!

Bastard!

There is now a coalition government in Britain,

which has recently asked all entertainment agencies

to usefully divert the violence of youth.

"Keep them happy, off the streets and out of politics."

But I think, uh…

A very good show tonight, I thought.

The basic thing is that, uh,

we get this European thing settled down.

By the way, Martin I'd like you to uh…

I'd like to look over some of the press releases I've got.

This should be the greatest European tour he's done yet.

I'm glad to hear that. By the way,

as I mentioned before, the uh, the Far Eastern thing.

You know the potential there is tremendous

and we haven't been there in 18 months…

You should probably give him a drink.

Yes, I've offered him… Steve, do you want a drink?

Okay, Superintendent, you can let them in now, please.

Come in, ladies and gentleman.

Ah! Ah! Ah! Take your time.

There will shortly be 61 people in this room,

of whom 54 have nothing whatever to do Steven Shorter.

They're what you might call professional leaners.

Come on, yes.

That's fine.

All right, take it easy, that's it. Have a drink, that's on us.

Vanessa Ritchie, commissioned by the Ministry of Culture

to paint Steven Shorter.

I first saw Steven Shorter at a press reception

given for him about three months ago.

I couldn't get very close to him

because of the usual crowd of people around him.

There was just something about him…

I don't know, it was the way he stood and looked

in the midst of all those people.

I found a strange sort of

emptiness and… I just wanted to paint him.

Uh, what was your name? Kitty, wasn't it?

It's Betty. It's Betty.

And this is our American friend visiting,

- John B. Marshall. - Yeah, I'd like to say howdy, folks…

Right, cool it, John, we'll hear from you later. Isn't he wild?

All right. Have a good time. Enjoy it! Have a ball.

All right, hold it! Hold it, everybody, hold it!

Hold it. Present time, Uncle Julie. Right now, it's present time.

- Yeah. - It's your birthday, Uncle Julie. 65.

Look, my accountant, do me a favour, count backwards from there.

On the left is Alvin Kirsch, press officer to Steven Shorter

and on the right is Jules Jordan, music publisher to Steve Shorter,

and grossing £250,000 per year.

Just beautiful. Thank you, Steve. You're so good to me.

You want me to do it again?

A retake of the kiss, is that too much?

The evening of August 8th.

We are in one of 300 Steven Shorter discotheques

specially built within the last few years to spread happiness

throughout Britain.

Not in a million, million years. Look after this, will you?

No, this is not business with us.

We're just one big happy family.

Look at this kid, a doll, a prince. I love this boy. Beautiful!

We didn't frame it, Uncle Julie,

because we didn't know where you'd like to put it.

Martin, you're too much!

Vanessa? Vanessa?

Martin Crossley, personal manager to Steven Shorter.

Squit, do you find, um, Miss Ritchie's painting exciting?

Well, I don't really know much about art.

I, um… Ask me about birds…

- Yeah, I wasn't suggesting… - … and I'll, I'll…

… that you should know about art, I just wondered if you had an opinion.

- Freddie, what do you think? - Oh, well, I don't much about art,

ask me about bees and I'll tell ya.

This adolescent display is not really called for, you know,

I'm just asking for an opinion.

- About her work? On the right

is Freddie K, musical director to Steven Shorter

and self-confessed anarchist.

It's not what it's about any more, is it? Not really, you know?

I mean, if you really go seriously into it.

And you go in, now what you wanna do is you wanna go into a place

where something's hanging that's got a bit of something in it!

You know, not all this nansy pansy stuff. I mean, somewhere that's…

Yeah, she knows what I mean that

when you just see it and there's a bit of somebody young in there

and there's a bit of… A bit of everything that he's ever done.

A bit, you know, everything like bed and, excuse me, going to the toilet,

you know everything's in it, a bit of a man's life.

A bit of his soul, a bit of everything.

That's what it's all about, it's not this… Isn't it?

I'm sure you'll agree with that. She'll agree with me when she gets it.

Steven, can we help you?

I was… I'd like to dance.

We were trying to have a conversation about paintings.

Yeah…

You might ask Miss Ritchie… Steven?

They're all watching you.

Yeah, well, they always are, aren't they?

I was watching you last night on television.

I mean, obviously I've seen your act before, but

this time I was looking at it much more clearly.

Oh, yeah, I know.

Quite a phenomenon, aren't I?

How does it go?

"His act is nauseating, it's sadistic…"

There was one girl they were interviewing.

She was sobbing.

She was saying she'd kill herself for you.

Yeah, I saw her.

And?

I thought she was lovely.

Step aside, please. Uh, Alvin's coming through.

Would you please excuse me. Hey, kids, uh, everything all right?

Listen, I hate to break in at this time, do you think we could possibly

like, just cool it, like, for a couple of minutes?

Steve, I'd like to talk to you and uh, I'd like to uh,

tell you about the agreement I was…

Why don't you… You'd like this, too.

Yeah, although I think I've got some…

Wildly different decor which I had a hand in myself…