Shannon Matthews musical. Sorry but I’m laughing

"The messed up family" are also not funny. It was a bloody sad situation all round. It's breathtakingly arrogant to assume that of course we'd all find it funny if we watched this show. Are you 15?

Trouble is Barrygw, if you have to explain a joke it usually means it's not funny. You can bang on all you like about how we just don't get it and need to watch it, but it just makes me less likely to.

Is it funny because they are common?

Your contempt and enjoyment of someone else's trauma is breathtaking.

Well.... It would literally be the only way you could give a valid informed opinion.

I fully take your points.
Pretty sure the movie backer's legal team would have looked into all this tho?
Any true crime drama, humourous or not, would be subject to the same scrutiny? I could be wrong.

Lol, why on earth would I watch it 😂

I didn’t say it was libellous. I used libel as an example of how freedom of expression doesn’t include illegality. Adult or not, she’s a high profile victim of crime and very likely has other vulnerabilities. There are probably grounds for an injunction due to those factors alone.

Never mentioned "lady brains". Despite the name Mumsnet, I assume that there is a cross section on here. So, for the record, I was in no way being sexist and was not intending to patronise. Surely, attempting to paraphrase me is more patronising?
Just saying, it's based on facts and 90% of people on here will be voicing an opinion on something they haven't seen. But that's the way of the internet these days. This morning's feature on Loose Women sums it up perfectly, each one had an opinion, and each one pointed out they hadn't seen it.
Take a gamble, watch it, if you hate it afterwards then fine. You never know, you might even smile at some of the jokes 😀

Goodness, could you possibly be more patronising?

"Pat on the head, there there, nothing to worry your pretty little heads about, over-reacting again dearies? Here I am with my sensible explanation that'll help your little lady brains understand the COMPLEX issues here......don't worry about it, it's aaaaaall fine."

Interesting post....
Not libelous as it is factual, just told with humour.
Shannon was a child in 2008! It's now 16 years later, she's in her mid 20's. That's how age works.

I figured I'd find a thread on here.
While I can understand people's initial outrage (let's look at the title, but not do any further research), the piece itself actually spends it's entire running time mocking Karen Matthews and her barmy scheme to attempt to make £50,000. Shannon is referenced, but is not portrayed. And she is certainly not mocked.
While, certain aspects may have been slightly exaggerated for effect, the movie is based on hard facts:
Karen Matthews DID these things.
Craig Meehan WAS convicted of having child porn on his laptop.
Shannon WAS kept at Michael Donovan's place.
Probably best to just take it all with a pinch of salt if it's not your thing. Musical mockery is nothing new. From Weird Al Yankovic to the Barron Knights.
Yes, Shannon is a real person and she did nothing wrong. But there are numerous documentaries and portrayals of so many innocent people, and not all are flattering. Some are downright evil, but some have a sense of humour.
At the end of the day, there are probably more important things to be concerned with out there.

Free speech doesn’t include illegality and never has. If I write things online about someone that are libellous, then I can expect to be sued. If I make a Facebook post instructing people to go and kill a politician, for example, then I will find myself facing criminal charges.
I’d say that they’re treading on thin ice here legally as Shannon Matthews is likely to be classed as vulnerable because she is a child and is a victim of a serious crime. If she suffers harm (physical or psychological) as a result of this then they could definitely find themselves facing legal action. I’d say that there are probably adequate grounds for an injunction at the very least. It wouldn’t be difficult to prove that this could cause significant psychological harm.

I figured I'd find a thread on here.
While I can understand people's initial outrage (let's look at the title, but not do any further research), the piece itself actually spends it's entire running time mocking Karen Matthews and her barmy scheme to attempt to make £50,000. Shannon is referenced, but is not portrayed. And she is certainly not mocked.
While, certain aspects may have been slightly exaggerated for effect, the movie is based on hard facts:
Karen Matthews DID these things.
Craig Meehan WAS convicted of having child porn on his laptop.
Shannon WAS kept at Michael Donovan's place.
Probably best to just take it all with a pinch of salt if it's not your thing. Musical mockery is nothing new. From Weird Al Yankovic to the Barron Knights.
Yes, Shannon is a real person and she did nothing wrong. But there are numerous documentaries and portrayals of so many innocent people, and not all are flattering. Some are downright evil, but some have a sense of humour.
At the end of the day, there are probably more important things to be concerned with out there.

I think it’s ’funny’ because the family in question were extremely deprived, uneducated and working-class which goes to show how classist we still are in this country.

I feel for Shannon above all else. She will have spent her life trying to forget about this, now some jumped up private school twats have decided to make a comedy sketch about her.

Well, don’t be too snobby about it because it’s sold out at four week run at the Edinburgh festival

I think this whole thing is much more likely an exercise on the ethics of Free Speech.

ITV make a Shannon Mathews Drama.. and this is ok, but a musical is not - you have to question
why. ITV make the drama to make money .. is that ok? Is it laughing that’s the problem, or the subject matter ? I doubt it’s the subject matter, as that has been covered hundreds of times. Which means there must be a list of thing that are not to be laughed at .. not sure what that is, or who decides.

Alan Carr made a joke about Shannon Mathews, he seems to be doing ok. Frankie Boyle ditto

TBH .. none of us even know what the musical is about, could be a critique of the sensationalist media .. who knows