Jump to content

Comedy and offense


Chris B

Recommended Posts

  • Paid Members

It's not "dictatorship" or even "censorship". These haven't been top down decisions, or caving to pressure or anything of the sort. No one in BLM was out on the streets marching for the Mighty Boosh to get taken off Netflix.

It's a cynical, commercial decision by a corporation to make it look like they were doing something. In days gone by, if a TV station decided they weren't going to show something any more, they'd just stop showing repeats, they wouldn't make a big press package about it. Any fault here lies with Netflix and the BBC, no one else.

 

Some of my favourite things to have ever been on TV were never repeated, some never released on DVD. Some released and then withdrawn from sale. None of those were examples of censorship, just commercial decision making. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
6 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

It's not "dictatorship" or even "censorship". These haven't been top down decisions, or caving to pressure or anything of the sort. No one in BLM was out on the streets marching for the Mighty Boosh to get taken off Netflix.

It's a cynical, commercial decision by a corporation to make it look like they were doing something. In days gone by, if a TV station decided they weren't going to show something any more, they'd just stop showing repeats, they wouldn't make a big press package about it. Any fault here lies with Netflix and the BBC, no one else.

Whilst this is true it doesn't really matter as the public perception is now that this is exactly what the BLM movement is about (they're just not saying it). My social timelines this morning read like an angry 'Points of View' letterbag.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, The Maestro said:

I think going down the road of taking these kinds of things down is quite a dangerous one and sets a precedent for all kinds of censorship. Obviously I don't want to live in a world where hatred and prejudice is spewed out but surely context needs to be taken into account. And where is the line drawn? What about music? There are countless songs I've heard in my life that have questionable lyrics relating to homophobia, advocating drugs, violence, misogyny, etc. I think whilst the intention is honourable with censorship and pulling things, we have to be careful not to get to swept up in the things as all it does is strengthen the argument of the 'PC Gone Mad' brigade.

It's a shame that churlish barstoolers with just enough motor function to thumb their way into online comments have the patent on this shit, because it's a position that I foresee more and more people being buoyed into. At the pace we're currently going - commercial decisions and all - more people will invariably have their own watershed moment where it's their favourite show, their favourite album, their favourite cultural artefact that they've tied nostalgia too. Good ones, too. Not X-Pac doing Mark Henry.

It'll eventually reach the other extreme end of the PC gone mad brigade. Who definitely do also exist and definitely are eligible for equal share of lampooning. Together they form two sides that fail quite a bit to make a whole. Rash decisions of cultural arbitration are being made to appease them whilst the ordinary majority sit in the middle, torn between bemusement and quiet alarm. Sounds dramatic, of course, but this is a thread off the back of a handful of shows being wiped from a handful of streaming services. So there's reason to believe it's a slope we're going down, and I'm not sure anyone has any real idea how or when we're meant to hit the breaks. 

JK Rowling's been an interesting one. And a far more palatable figurehead for 'contentious' trans views than shitty Graham Linehan. What intriguing about Rowling is that she's traditionally been a figure of veneration for a lot of those that are on the opposite end of things to the PC gone mad brigade, so it's almost like the village chieftess is being ousted, here. I try not to follow social media, but it's very telling how vicious some of these folk are being towards what I still suspect is a usually well reasoned, intelligent woman. It's been a rather ugly reflection. That's not me aligning myself with her views, either. All I have on this is my heart, and my heart loves and accepts anyone at any stage of that journey for who they are and who they would like to be. The problem is that from what I can take from it she's raising questions, and they seem to be a genuine no-go area for some people. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

The common link there is that nuanced discourse is completely impossible in Twitter, and that is pretty much by design. As a platform, it has uses that it is well suited for. Most of the stuff on there is not that. It's like how over used PowerPoint is in the business world. 90% of the things it's used for, it is not the best or even an appropriate tool for the job.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
11 minutes ago, Dead Mike said:

Whilst this is true it doesn't really matter as the public perception is now that this is exactly what the BLM movement is about (they're just not saying it). My social timelines this morning read like an angry 'Points of View' letterbag.

I don't deny that, and it's frustrating. I don't know how we - by which I mean any social movement, really - can attempt to control the narrative better given the overwhelming political power of the press.

5 minutes ago, Gay as FOOK said:

The problem is that from what I can take from it she's raising questions, and they seem to be a genuine no-go area for some people. 

She isn't "raising questions", she's stating as fact things that have no basis in reality, and repeating harmful rhetoric to a wide audience. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said:

The common link there is that nuanced discourse is completely impossible in Twitter, and that is pretty much by design. As a platform, it has uses that it is well suited for. Most of the stuff on there is not that. It's like how over used PowerPoint is in the business world. 90% of the things it's used for, it is not the best or even an appropriate tool for the job.

That's a very good point, and it would give some peace of mind if you were to argue Twitter is solely the end product of thought, rather than an architect of it. I think we're seeing the effects of it in shaping this lack of discourse that occurs even off the platform, though. Its influence is such that it'll be many peoples point of pick up for complex social issues, and the take away is largely <280 characters. Off with your feed lines and buzz words back into the real world. 

Just now, BomberPat said:

She isn't "raising questions", she's stating as fact things that have no basis in reality, and repeating harmful rhetoric to a wide audience. 

I respect the argument but they're doubtless tough questions. They will inevitably assume the position of harmful rhetoric for some, where others will applaud her courage in doing so. I've not seen any tweets of hers that I myself would take to be destructive sloganeering etc and am basing most of my character assessment of her on her blog post she recently made addressing all of this. But again as respectful as I found that piece of writing, I'll say again that I'll relent at aligning myself with her views. I will freely admit to not having the nous or practice to weigh on in trans issues save for what I've said above based on my gut, my heart. I've just used her to exhibit the extremities of online back and forth, "It's something from your hobby that's fucked now" etc. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
5 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I don't deny that, and it's frustrating. I don't know how we - by which I mean any social movement, really - can attempt to control the narrative better given the overwhelming political power of the press.

She isn't "raising questions", she's stating as fact things that have no basis in reality, and repeating harmful rhetoric to a wide audience. 

Agreed. When you're faced with an opposition who can, and want to control a narrative you need to ensure distractions aren't allowed to happen & focus is maintained. The issue is that there's plenty who will happily conflate a historic joke on a beloved sitcom with murdering an innocent black man. In their mind they're on the 'right side' of the argument, they're just not seeing it from the other side & are either ignorant of, or refusing to accept the current political landscape & size of the challenge ahead of them.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
10 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

She isn't "raising questions", she's stating as fact things that have no basis in reality, and repeating harmful rhetoric to a wide audience. 

Doing things like that can only lead to her becoming Prime Minister then, or President of the United States, because that is the successful formula these days. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
11 minutes ago, Gay as FOOK said:

I will freely admit to not having the nous or practice to weigh on in trans issues save for what I've said above based on my gut, my heart.

As a forum of (mostly) cis men, it's a really difficult conversation to have. We're talking about two groups who are both, effectively, protecting themselves from us. So it feels, on a bunch of levels, like a conversation we're best keeping out of.

I've recently changed my mind on this though and been more outspoken. A trans friend of mine killed himself at the end of last year. Earlier that year, he'd been attacked in the street for being trans. Because he was a trans man, he's someone who would have been affected by a lot of the conversations around appropriate spaces and safety, and also the menstruation discussion. But people like him are mostly ignored to reduce the conversation down to 'blokes in dresses getting into bathrooms'. At this point, it begins to feel like silence is condoning that.

However, that's probably its own thread.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
7 minutes ago, DCW said:

?

ISAIP - Dennis is implied to be both a rapist and a serial killer, and those episodes are fine but the episode where they black up for their Lethal Weapon remake, or when Dee pretends to be Latina (also doesn't she do an Asian stereotype at some point too?) seem to be too far, I think, is his argument.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Nexus said:

ISAIP - Dennis is implied to be both a rapist and a serial killer, and those episodes are fine but the episode where they black up for their Lethal Weapon remake, or when Dee pretends to be Latina (also doesn't she do an Asian stereotype at some point too?) seem to be too far, I think, is his argument.

Yep 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
3 hours ago, Abe_Knuckleball_Schwartz said:

Good point and there is a fair few rap songs that has the 'N' word mentiond, in some cases frequently. Will they be removed from Spotify and iTunes etc.

If I don't like something, disagree or are offended with something, I don't watch it or pay any attention to it. I don't go all in and demand it to be banned, removed etc.  

Just another form of dictatorship as far as I am concerned or at the very least kowtowing to the offended by everything/everyone society.

It's political correctness gone mad, Stew! You can't even rap along to all the lyrics to Fuck Tha Police without upsetting a black!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The issue is these corporations have no actual fucking clue or intention of tackling racial inequality or representation. This is all lip service to take away from the actual issues and changes needed to be made. Its so fucking tiresome how its been dragged into this culture war or the 'PC BRIGADE' Vs 'ITS A LAFF' its nonsense.

 It really is one big distraction because its a public example of them 'doing something' rather than actually commisioning, promoting and engaging with people of colour or you know, hire someone who isn't white or a man.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Chris B said:

As a forum of (mostly) cis men, it's a really difficult conversation to have. We're talking about two groups who are both, effectively, protecting themselves from us. So it feels, on a bunch of levels, like a conversation we're best keeping out of

Agreed on this. I am very uncomfortable with a lot of cis men telling cis women how they should feel on this.

Edited by Factotum
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...