to be impressed by Frankie Boyle's hunger strike?

[Isabeller]

grauniad link here

getagoldtoof, any special reason you bought tickets, if shock humour is not your thing

I think he knows he needs to do something drastic to change his image if he wants to work again.

what do you think should be off limits, Branleuse, because I can't think of many things worse than naming a specific child, one with severe lifelong learning disabilities and then joking about them fucking their mother.

Can you really not see what is wrong with a room full of people rolling around with laughter that mocks and demeans people with disabilities who cannot defend themselves?

Can you not see how it contributes to a society where kids taunt people with learning disabilities, and make similar jokes about their classmates? He talked about people with Down's syndrome as if they were less than human, some collective mass that it was acceptable to demean and mock - can you really not see what is wrong with that?

How do you think you would feel about it if you had a child with learning difficulties, who potentially had to face life growing up with people thinking they are fair game for this sort of humour, and bullying.

Only a certain type of person would find that joke funny.

And that's not a compliment.

I wonder how the "fans' of FB would react to a deeply offensive joke being made about their own family.

hazeyjane, of course Branleuse can't see the problem, and that is why people like her/him are part of the constant challenge we face.
Because they try and make the issue one of having a sense of humour rather than a lack of humanity.
Saw some hideous footage of gays being necklaced, the crowds there were entertained and laughing too. The extreme consequence of attitudes like FB's.

Hazeyjane I suspect that the only saving grace of threads with this type of breathtaking stupidity on them are that we can update those infamous spreadsheets and add names under the "unbelievably stupid" and "happy to laugh at disabled people" columns.

This isn't the first time particular posters have displayed this level of ignorance.

I went to 'give it up for comic relief' and it was full of comedians who built their reputations on edgy humour including Jimmy Carr and Russell Brand. There were some really shock based jokes and a huge crowd happy to laugh at most things.
Within 30 seconds of Frankie Boyle coming on he had spat out some unfunny piece of vitriol and the whole crowd just collectively cringed. It was awkward.
I was in one of the front rows. All the entertainers were chatting as they waited to go on and as they came off. He cut a miserable figure as everyone studiously ignored him.

He could give the rest of his life to charitable works and that would be great.. He would still be nasty cunt though.

One way to think about could be if a despicable person can recognise that the situation in Guantanamo is totally unacceptable and respond, then others of different disposition could also add their voices to the disapproval.

Anyway what he is doing is clearly working, as people are now debating the issue,

So he has used his public profile to get attention to the situation, so him being intently disliked is a massive bonus, as it means people who revile him will pay attention, and those who enjoy his provocation will be on board, win win.

Another way of thinking of it would be he's deliberately chosen a cause so that he isn't going to get much opposition, and that he does get is easily shot down on Twitter. This is an obvious and cynical attempt to curry favour from the British public.

I'd like him to go and spend some time with children and adults with Down's Syndrome, and their parents. That would be a brave and honourable thing to do at this stage in his career.

Also, don't insult me by saying I only think of Guantanamo Bay because of the actions of this no mark.

Also, don't insult me by saying I only think of Guantanamo Bay because of the actions of this no mark

was that aimed at me?

I don't think I did say that.

I think the article in the Times last week raised awareness about Guantanamo in a better way than FB's self publicity stunt

Anyway what he is doing is clearly working, as people are now debating the issue

No it was being debated well before he jumped on the bandwagon.

he's vile and had said some horrific things.

he's a publicity seeking idiot on a oar with the Katie Price he seems to sneer at.

I really hope the posters who think he is clever and edgy grow up soon.

there really isn't anything funny about disability.

ask my dd and her friends.

I hope he feels physical pain this week which of course is a pin prick compared to the daily pain and struggle if many disabled people and those with learning difficulties and their families.

back away slowly from growlithe

No it was being debated well before he jumped on the bandwagon

no one said it wasn't, I was pointing out his "bandwagon jumping" attached a wider audience.

if you would like to point out where I have said, You only think of Guantanamo Bay because of the actions of this no mark it would be really helpful, I seem to be having problems finding it.

because If I am being accused of insulting people, I would like to review my words,

It has been debated for a rather long time, but mostly only between those with a specific interest in this subject,

you seem to be annoyed a person you dislike has caused the issue to become more widely noticed.

If by widely noticed you mean FB fans have got on to it yes well congratulations, you have caught up with the rest of the world.

Mock The Week is the type of programme that I like to watch, but FB being on it put me of. They other guests laughed at his jokes as if they were scared of him, bizarre. I thought he was totally unfunny and now I know he's just a cunt.

I've been involved with amnesty international for over thirty years, my mother worked for them in 70s, my childhood was spent in war zones, I have been writing support letters on this subject for quite some time,

but thanks for the congratulations,

not sure what FB fans have to do with it, not sure why think I may or may not be one,

I carefully selected my words, as I am well aware of the issues surrounding the down's syndrome, (looks over glasses at red haired down's girl(named after a place, so we are well aware of disability bashing ) playing with lego, dogs and marbles three feet away(not mine but here most days)

but ask yourself do more people know about this issue since Frankie Boyle involvement?

Oh and if I insult people I tend to be very direct.

Well with that history I should imagine you realise that it doesn't take a stunt by someone like Frankie Boyle to raise awareness for anything serious, except within his circle of twitter followers.

it takes everything and anything to get awareness going, hence stunts like shard climbing, and other such stunts, this is another stunt, if it is just die hards that take notice nothing gets done.

I dont think you can really rationalise or pick apart what makes some people laugh, and makes others recoil in horror. I thought the harvey joke was funny, but I find a lot of terribly offensive things funny, if theyre done by people who you understand wouldnt actually stand for discrimination in real life, but its part of their act, and its the very fact that it is SO outrageously bat taste and awful that its part of why I personally laugh.

I dont think anything should be off limits. A one off joke against a famous indvidual, however distasteful you may find it, is not bullying.
Jokes about disabled people, well why not? Theyre only people. Its not like theyre the only ones he makes jokes about. Im sure the daily mail are much more concerned with the odd frankie boyle joke than they are about the disability living allowance being slashed by the tories.
Frankie Boyles gigs are strictly 18+ as are his DVDs. They are very easy to avoid watching if shock humour is not your thing, and if people hadnt gone looking in the daily mail, that joke would have been heard by its intended audience only, and just because i think that was funny, bears no relation to how i feel about disabled people in general.
If you think you can tell what im like as a person just because I like frankie boyle, then thats quite interesting

'I thought the Harvey joke was funny'???? really??

begs the question what wouldn't you laugh at then.

sorry that's as sick as fuck.. my teens thought that was vile.

'jokes about disabled people why not?'

go to Stoke Mandovilke and laugh at dd and her friends.

I seriously want to slap you poster I really do.

Branleuse.

I have two questions for you.

1. Do you think jokes about a named disabled child are acceptable?

2. What about a joke about a named disabled child saying they are unwanted by their parents and that they may use force to 'fuck' their mother. Is that acceptable?

I do believe some jokes are 'off limits' , not many, but the 'joke' about Harvey is one of them. If you hadn't noticed, no one else is actually debating whether the 'joke' was funny or not. It's irrelevent. What matters is that Frankie Boyle made fun of a disabled child in a extremely nasty way for his own personal gain and he hasn't even apologised.

he's a vile vile cunt.

I think because the joke was really aimed at jordan etc and because its a famous person, it makes it different.

When you pick the joke apart, and look for its deeper meaning, its very different to just laughing at a joke and enjoying the shock factor at someone saying something deeply taboo, as though it was no big deal.

Im not exACTLY SURE OF THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HUMOUR