Mad Men

The contagion sweeping north Africa has also obviously had its effects elsewhere. If the ‘jasmine revolutions’ have left many a nation heady with freedom, the irrepressible perorations of the unrepentant leader of the Libyan Arab Jamahirya seems to have had a strange knock-on effect on several western personalities. Intriguingly, the virus of Muammar Gaddafi’s unguarded eloquence seems to have spread on its own — without the benefit of pecuniary prodding as seems to have been the case in London School of Economics awarding his son Seif a doctorate. Similarities have been gauged between the tenor of the dictator’s delusional pronouncements and the American actor Charlie Sheen’s self-obsessed twittering upsurge.

Since the latter has reportedly gained a million followers in 24 hours for his rants, there may be some reason to deduce that the world does indeed love mad men, even those who are not in the eponymous TV serial set in the sexist 1960s. Then there is the curious story of the fallen fashion icon John Galliano, whose anti-Jewish outburst has cost him his career at Dior, and cost Dior a near no-show on the Oscar red carpet last weekend. With best actress awardee Natalie Portman calling his act ‘disgusting’ and a cellphone video surfacing of a previous Galliano outburst in a similar vein at the same café , there is presumably no point in the British designer declaring his misdemeanour to be the result of a Charlie Sheenesque addiction to a drug called himself. Nor can he confess to a sudden liking for the Gaddafi School of Self-Destructive Ravings at this stage of Libya’s strife. In another time, though, the designer known for his often outlandish creations may have perhaps confessed to admiring the eclectic personal style of the Libyan leader.