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Tin Monkey · 02-06-2007, 19:32

Whether in type form or in pictorial form, the message was obvious. I find it very difficult to believe that anyone would think that I was being serious in saying that being ginger wasn't enough to attract derision, but adding pale skin and freckles would make that derision justified. It is ridiculous beyond belief!

I also take issue with your comparison to Love Thy Neighbour. The issue isn't that the sitcom promoted racist attitudes in audiences, but that it reinforced existing stereotypes. I think you do audiences an injustice by assuming that they are too stupid to realise that Eddie Booth was the butt of the humour and if you were to watch it again now, you would realise that the majority of the jokes were at Eddie's bigotted expense. Audiences got that, mainly because it was made obvious.
The issue today with Love Thy Neighbour lies more in the negative stereotypes it reinforced. For example, Bill Reynolds is better than white people at limbo dancing in one episode, which in turn reinforces the stereotype that black people are better at physical 'past-times' than 'academic' ones (the primitive man vs the sophisticated being).
The language used in the sitcom is also not acceptable in 21st Century Britain, which is another reason for it not being repeated on TV today.

Using stereotypes in humour is nothing new and I would think that they form the basis of 99.9% of comedy produced today. Just look at Little Britain, a programme based on nothing but stereotypes. On another thread a number of people expressed their support for Basil Fawlty and his encounter wth the Germans, as the most memorable thing on British TV. What's that about?

We are bombarded with stereotypes on a daily basis and I find it very difficult to believe that you, Willow, could not detect the satire in my original post. Perhaps we now live in an age where hyper-sensitivity has undermined the basis of satire and replaced it with a sanitised simulacrum where people are afraid to laugh, for fear of how they will perceived by others?
As I said before, it's a shame.

02-06-2007, 19:32	#23
Tin Monkey Senior Member+ Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 4,769 Liked: 160 times Rep Power: 1140	Re: Gingerism Whether in type form or in pictorial form, the message was obvious. I find it very difficult to believe that anyone would think that I was being serious in saying that being ginger wasn't enough to attract derision, but adding pale skin and freckles would make that derision justified. It is ridiculous beyond belief! I also take issue with your comparison to Love Thy Neighbour. The issue isn't that the sitcom promoted racist attitudes in audiences, but that it reinforced existing stereotypes. I think you do audiences an injustice by assuming that they are too stupid to realise that Eddie Booth was the butt of the humour and if you were to watch it again now, you would realise that the majority of the jokes were at Eddie's bigotted expense. Audiences got that, mainly because it was made obvious. The issue today with Love Thy Neighbour lies more in the negative stereotypes it reinforced. For example, Bill Reynolds is better than white people at limbo dancing in one episode, which in turn reinforces the stereotype that black people are better at physical 'past-times' than 'academic' ones (the primitive man vs the sophisticated being). The language used in the sitcom is also not acceptable in 21st Century Britain, which is another reason for it not being repeated on TV today. Using stereotypes in humour is nothing new and I would think that they form the basis of 99.9% of comedy produced today. Just look at Little Britain, a programme based on nothing but stereotypes. On another thread a number of people expressed their support for Basil Fawlty and his encounter wth the Germans, as the most memorable thing on British TV. What's that about? We are bombarded with stereotypes on a daily basis and I find it very difficult to believe that you, Willow, could not detect the satire in my original post. Perhaps we now live in an age where hyper-sensitivity has undermined the basis of satire and replaced it with a sanitised simulacrum where people are afraid to laugh, for fear of how they will perceived by others? As I said before, it's a shame. __________________ T.M.