Not Only a Movie

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As things stand today, petrol (standard unleaded) at the garage in Bewdley is £1.47 a litre, which is about 10p more than it was at the start of the Iran war – but diesel has rocketed by about 30p to £1.72. That 25p/litre gap is huge, bigger even than it was during the peak of the Ukraine-related rises in 2022. And small tradespeople overwhelmingly drive diesel vans. We can't do without them. They generally don't drive new ones, and there isn't much of a second-hand market in electric vans yet.

Watch this political space. It's quiet now. If diesel goes up much more, it won't stay that way. From 2022 experience, and common sense, I suspect the £2.00/litre barrier is crucial.

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It's been rather lost among all the other things going on recently, but the UK government has been making it progressively harder for criminal misbehaviour to be covered up by non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) over the last couple of years. As things stand, we have:

1. The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024. This is now in full operation and Section 17 expands the protection for victims who speak about being subjected to criminal mistreatment. Now, they can talk to not only the police but lawyers, support services, close relatives (child, parent or partner) and several other categories. Any clause in an NDA which prohibits these things is automatically void.
2. The Employment Rights Act 2025. This is being phased into force. On 6 April, sexual harassment becomes an explicit "protected disclosure" under the existing Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, instead of having to rely on vaguer "health and safety" protections. As the new law creates a statutory right, it cannot be overridden by NDA provisions.
3. The Employment Rights Act 2025. Yes, again. At a later date, currently predicted to be late this year, the existing Employment Rights Act 1996 will be updated to explicitly protects "relevant harassment or discrimination" under the Equalities Act 2020, so race, disability and age are in there too. As with the Victims and Prisoners Act provision, an NDA (or other contract) which tries to prevent this will be automatically void.
4. The Victims and Courts Bill is currently nearing the end of its passage through Parliament, and is expected to enter into force late this year. This will expand the protections in the Victims and Prisoners Act, and will allow any victim of crime to report it to anyone. Most obviously, this will mean an NDA that prevents a victim speaking to the media about the crime will be automatically void.

There will be a few exemptions, notably those connected with the Official Secrets Act, and more generally in cases where both parties genuinely wish, for example, that the financial terms of a settlement be kept confidential. NDAs that cover other details will remain in force. For example, if someone is assaulted by a person who holds a secret recipe, they can tell Victim Support about the crime and be protected but can't disclose the recipe with the same protections.

The laws are not retroactive, so they only apply to NDAs signed from the date the appropriate laws enter into force. However, the Solicitors Regulation Authority takes a very dim view of its members threatening someone if the disclosure is about a crime. The classic "public interest" defence also applies. In short, however much you may believe your 2022 NDA prevents a disclosure, you're going to have trouble finding a solicitor to send the cease and desist letter if there's a crime involved.

I expect there'll be issues to be ironed out and irritations people haven't thought of, since there always are. But overall, this set of laws will bring a big change. As far as I can see, a very good one.

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The story of Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery to become an abolitionist and activist, is far less well known in the UK than in the US, and that creates problems here. Harriet feels a little too much like a "greatest hits" TV movie for people who already know what they're going to find. Interestingly, the title role is played by a British actress, and Cynthia Erivo's performance may be the best thing about the film. The cinematography and songs were great too, though the incidental music was used too bluntly, almost telling you when to sweat or cheer.

The accents (of both black and white characters) were sometimes difficult for me as I'm not used to them, and vital details like the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 were covered in about four lines – again, fine for an American who's learned about the law in high school, somewhat less easy on this side of the Atlantic. Gideon Brodess (Joe Olwyn) was too one-dimensional a villain; he lacks the terrifying humanity Ralph Fiennes somehow brought to Amon Goeth in Schindler's List. It's a pity. Harriet Tubman deserved a movie better than "quite good". ★★★

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Some of my British readers may be amused at the subject line, since it's a long-running slogan used by the Lib Dems! But that's not what this post is about. I'm actually cheerful because, just for once, I actually won something on one of those "spin the wheel" prize draws Vodafone has about every 15 minutes. Nothing huge, but a £10 Argos voucher certainly won't go amiss! I've got until 29th April to spend it, too, so I can muse for a while on what I might do with it. :)

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Note: All my posts on this subject carry the "Sandra Peabody" tag. If you wish to avoid it, then please feel free to ignore posts with that tag.

As you'll know if you've been following my posts for a few months, I have unexpectedly found myself with a deep interest in the abusive production conditions of Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left (1972). In 1997 with a second edition in 2000 (the one I own), David Szulkin's book Wes Craven's Last House on the Left: The Making of a Cult Classic appeared from British publisher FAB Press. It is the only place star Sandra Peabody (also known here as Sandra Cassell) has ever spoken on the record about the movie.

During the chronological chapter following how the film was made, inevitably one segment focused on the pivotal scene where Krug (the lead villain) rapes Mari (a kidnapped young woman). Szulkin asked four people involved for their thoughts. Their quotes were presented without editorial framing. I have added each person's position on set after their name, but otherwise they are verbatim. The square brackets are in the original. "Lucy" is Lucy Grantham, not in this scene but playing Phyllis, another kidnapped young woman in the story.

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Wes Craven, director: "You know, the character of Mari took an enormous amount of abuse. I liked Sandra Peabody a lot; I thought she was very pretty, and very plucky... because she was a very young actress, she wasn't nearly as confident and easygoing as Lucy was, and she had become involved in something that was very, very rough. And she hung in there. When the character was raped, she was treated very roughly, and I know Sandra said to me afterwards, 'My God... I had the feeling they really hated me.'"

Sandra Cassell, Mari: "No comment."

David Hess, Krug: "That was a difficult scene, because my style of acting is to go over the edge during rehearsal... to push it as far as I can possibly push it, just to see how far I can go. And then I set my parameters. Once I draw that box, once I have those boundaries, then I'm free to do whatever I want within my character. I think I frightened her a few times... I actually got pretty physical with her. She may have been a little bit intimidated, because she couldn't back off when the camera was running."

Yvonne Hannemann, assistant director: "That one scene was really quite upsetting. I know Sandra had to be consoled; it really got very rough. And I think they [the actors] all got very emotional. Of course, David Hess was just so frightening, that a lot of the acting was sort of method acting."

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At least, if you're in the UK. The really interesting low-budget horror from 1962, Carnival of Souls, which you may remember I really liked when I watched it a month ago, is being shown on Rewind TV (Freeview 81) on Tuesday. Note that this channel does not have a catch-up service, so you'll need to record it via your own hardware or use Freeview Play if you want to watch it at a different time.