Little Britain and Come Fly with Me

Discussion in 'Bulletin Board' started by BarnsleyReds, Jun 9, 2020.

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  1. ryc

    rycalshaw Well-Known Member

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    really?
     
    rycalshaw, Jun 12, 2020
    #201
  2. man

    mansfield_red Well-Known Member

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    Doesn't look to be any racial element to me:

    Screenshot_20200612-151848_Chrome.jpg
     
    mansfield_red, Jun 12, 2020
    #202
  3. ryc

    rycalshaw Well-Known Member

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    ok you win, sorry trisha, ive enjoyed our little sparring session Mansfield red, we,ll have to do it again sometime..cheers
     
    rycalshaw, Jun 12, 2020
    #203
  4. Farnham_Red

    Farnham_Red Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    The sad thing is its actually educational comedy. How many of us watching that could actually see that was exactly how some English people behaved in an Indian Restaurant. The very first Goodness Gracious Me sketch was about Indians having trouble with a silly English name - Jonathan
    Of course it shouldnt be banned its funny and makes a great point.
    Just like the Major in Fawlty Towers is lampooning the attitudes of some English people, not being pro racist

    Meanwhile whilst we are all getting distracted by some silliness about TV programs the government is getting on with trying to do a fast trade deal with the USA which will almost certainly involve us accepting their terms on food safety and labelling, whilst at the same time looking set to have us leave the EU with no deal at the end of the year. And their compromise -we wont bother checking imports because its to difficult to do it in time - to which the EU has said - fine you go ahead we we will export to you tariff free but we will be putting the required controls and tarifs on everything you send to us

    Thats the real purpose of a lot of this stuff - hope they wont notice just how desperate they are to leave the EU and embrace the USA instead - and its working
     
    Farnham_Red, Jun 12, 2020
    #204
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  5. Kno

    Knowlesy Well-Known Member

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    The thing about the Trisha sketch is why some of the stuff in Little Britain is also, I think, over the line re. racism.

    Some of their sketches are definitely lampooning racists, the best example being the old woman who gets sick every time she touches something made by a black person. She's the joke, they're pointing out how ridiculous she is, which actually I think John Cleese was also doing with the Major on Fawlty Towers. He was the old, out of touch character. That's not to say the scene should be left in, as there has probably come a point where calling Indians and West Indians w*gs and n*ggers is no longer OK, even if the Major being so out of touch is the butt of the joke. Cleese is apparently OK with that scene being edited out.

    However, as has been pointed out above, the Trisha sketch is deliberately asking you to laugh at her because she's black and plays up to black stereotypes. We're not being asked to laugh at someone who finds that funny, and so is a racist, we're being asked to find it funny. The same goes for the black coffee shop woman in Come Fly With Me. We are being asked to find it funnier because she's black and talks like a stereotypical black person. Same for the Japanese schoolgirls who love Martin Clunes.

    Interestingly, also in CFWM, there is a sketch of a border agent. Again, in that sketch HE is the subject of the joke. He's OTT racist and invents a board game called Keep Em Out. We are asked to laugh at him, not the people he wants to keep out. But let's not pretend that's the same as blacking up and asking the audience to laugh because you're closing the coffee shop going 'Mi got no caffee.'

    I'm not saying that means the programmes shouldn't be available, if you want to watch it then fine but I think there needs to be honesty about who and what is meant to be the joke.
     
    Knowlesy, Jun 12, 2020
    #205
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  6. Farnham_Red

    Farnham_Red Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    Here is one for the racist police - guessing this should be banned as well
     
    Farnham_Red, Jun 12, 2020
    #206
  7. Kno

    Knowlesy Well-Known Member

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    It's really clear in that sketch that the policeman is the subject of the joke. He's made up loads of charges to arrest the unseen black man. We're not being asked to laugh at the black man, we're laughing at the idea a policeman could behave in such a way. He looks the fool.

    Unless I'm missing something?
     
    Knowlesy, Jun 12, 2020
    #207
  8. Farnham_Red

    Farnham_Red Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    of course you arent missing something. But in for example Fawlty Towers we are laughing at the racist major not at the unseen people he is insulting.

    By the way I am not laughing at the idea that a policeman could behave in such a racist way - some of them pretty much did in those days with the way stop and search was implemented. Even now its not gone - there was a video this week of a policeman admitting that the only reason he had stopped a perfectly law abiding citizen was that there were some black drug dealers in the area and he was black
     
    Farnham_Red, Jun 12, 2020
    #208
  9. Kno

    Knowlesy Well-Known Member

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    I think you'd probably find most reasonable people would accept these 3 things:

    i) If the racist is the butt of the joke, then it's OK.
    ii) If the black person is the butt of the joke, because they have stereotypically black characteristics, then it's not OK.

    iii) There are a small number of sketches / programmes where even though the racist is the butt of the joke, it might be best not to broadcast the language they use on TV. This is the most controversial point but, as I said above, when was the last time you heard someone say 'n*gger' or 'w*g' on a BBC1 sitcom? It's probably for the best.

    I don't think holding those fairly mainstream views should offend anyone on either side of the debate.
     
    Knowlesy, Jun 12, 2020
    #209
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