A Point Of View: A Point Of View: Clive James

Clive James reflects on Prince Harry’s time in Afghanistan and delves into the history books to find another warrior prince who found himself in a very similar situation.

Clive James ponders what makes us happy. In his own pursuit of happiness he sits on a bench in Central Park, relives his first slice of watermelon and considers the wise words of Lawrence of Arabia.

Clive James considers the role of the icon – ancient and modern – and focuses on film icons. Who are they? Why do we elevate them to icon status? And what is their reaction to the role?

Clive James considers the environmental impact of plastic bags, hip hop music and shopping trolleys and applies his imagination to devising some unusual technological devices to deal with them.

Clive James explains how he, reluctantly, became a non-smoker. Once an 80-a-day chain smoker, today he just dreams of smoking.

Clive James considers ‘JK Rowling Envy’ – a psychological condition suffered by many writers, he claims, when confronted with the millions of books sold, and the millions of pounds earned, by the author of Harry Potter.

Clive James reflects on the conundrum of living in a technologically advanced world. As life is made easier, with machines doing our thinking for us, will our intellect suffer and eventually slow future advancement as we no longer have the brain power to build new technology?

Clive James enjoys the wisdom of former Wimbledon tennis champions, whose insights as commentators, he says, double as a philosophy for life.

Clive James marvels at the sight of children gliding in shoes with wheels fixed into the heels, and reckons the secret of happiness is to think how much fun you would have had at the same age.

Clive James gives his personal reaction to Damien Hirst’s diamond-encrusted skull and considers its significance as a work of art. It might worth £50m, but, he says, it is nevertheless ‘art for all’. Why? Because it's glittering, hollow and perfectly brainless - so you can talk about it to anyone, just like you can Paris Hilton.

There are lots of reasons to be cheerful about the world - many the result of human creativity. Clive James reminds himself of the need to celebrate the good things in life and to show others – especially the young – that life really is worth living, while remembering at the same time not to be miserable.

The thing with hoaxes is that they work – and that’s a good reason for not liking them, says Clive James. Although, he has himself performed his own convincing hoax in the past – as have writers Virginia Woolf and Evelyn Waugh – Clive says there is a streak of the self-congratulation in every hoaxer, which he finds hard to admire.

Clive James considers the problem of torture and whether television dramas, like the American series 24, encourages its use in the fight against terrorism.

Clive James considers the extra burden we are in danger of placing on the shoulders of outstandingly successful young, black Britons to be representatives for their race.

Clive James criticises the high spending planned for the London 2012 Olympics. It would be much better, he argues, to think in terms of television coverage and forget all the expensive new buildings.

Clive James takes a wry look at the world of the paparazzi after the publicity surrounding the wedding of the actress Elizabeth Hurley. Their antics may be justified when their quarry welcomes the attention but the hounding of others in the public eye is a different matter altogether.

As Helen Mirren carries off her Oscar for sounding like the Queen, Clive James comments on the way we speak English today. Regional accents on radio and television reflect and reinforce the breach of the class divide, but a new noisy voice is less easy on the ear.

From Bruce Lee to Jean-Claude Van Damme to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Clive James reflects on the martial arts movie, and says meaningless violence is still meaningless no matter how you dress it up.

Clive James rails against changes to the names of things we rely on - such as railways and the Royal Mail - as a type of costly and annoying ‘fidgeting’. He points to other disturbing developments in what he sees as a growing misuse of language.

Taking as his cue the reported growth in cosmetic surgery, Clive James applauds the work of surgeons who repair the ravages of disease or damage to faces from accidents, but he wonders what drives people who don’t obviously need to alter their appearance.