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Original poster

Benefits: Too Fat To Work. Fucking really???

250 replies

Mountainygirl · 03/01/2015 17:58

I just spotted this in the TV guide. Channel 5 have obviously hit on the perfect formula- bring everyone's two favourite folk devils ('fat people' and 'benefit scroungers') together, for a brand new series, which I am sure will be a balanced and fair portrayal of these people's lives....

TV seems over run with this shit atm. Everyone goes on about how sexist/racist telly was in the 70s, but honestly, in years to come, people will be totally gobsmacked about how in 2015, it was almost universally OK to rip the absolute shit out of poor people.

OP posts:
MrsItsNoworNotatAll · 04/01/2015 10:11

I have never watched any of these programmes but I know plenty that do and believe what they are watching. Really pisses me off.

Icimoi · 04/01/2015 10:12

The comparison with Jews in the 1930s sounds extreme, but there are distinct echoes in terms of the way people on benefits are scapegoated for all the ills of society. Look at the misleading figures constantly put out in relation to the benefits bill, with no reference to the fact that the greatest portion of the benefits bill relates to pensions and that if anything there is serious under claiming. The demonising of benefits claimants in these programmes is directly comparable to cartoons in 1930s Germany depicting Jews as fast and ugly. It's all a very convenient way of diverting attention from the reality of government incompetence in running the economy and their reluctance to rein in their rich friends.

PlummyBrummy · 04/01/2015 10:25

Aermingus has it exactly right. I was involved in a tv programme for work and it was 6 months of hell. As soon as the contract was signed, all concept of the original programme went out of the window. They wanted 'jeopardy' to make the 'story arc' appear more interesting and they did all they could to cause upset and disagreement where they were filming. Certain researchers were assigned to us in order to befriend us and get our confidence - only to get the nasty little out-of-context sound bites they were after. Later I learnt from one of my colleagues who went to their offices that there were photos of us pinned to the wall with their thoughts on our characters below. I couldn't wait for it to be over but the stress of wondering how exactly we were going to be thoroughly shafted in public was tremendous. Moreover, no one dared to challenge them
Because they were scared of being made to look worse so they had almost complete free reign. I'll certainly never do work for telly again.
Just to clarify, I work for a charity with no difficult public agenda. They just wanted a hatchet job which, thanks to the piss-poor effort they eventually produced totally failed to score.

treaclesoda · 04/01/2015 10:25

I watched a couple of episodes of Benefits Street to see what all the fuss was about. I remember saying to DH that I couldn't believe that people thought these people were living the high life at the tax payers expense, because their lives looked pretty miserable to me.

It's pretty clear to me that living on benefits is, for the majority of people, not easy. Although there are individuals for whom it can provide quite a comfortable standard of living. I have a close relative who is one of those people and she is quite honest about how she could never have her standard of life if she was working. But I'm clued in enough to realise that she is the exception, not the rule.

haphazardbystarlight · 04/01/2015 10:33

It's easy when comparing life on benefits to a middle-class lifestyle to say urgh, how awful for them.

The majority of people who get annoyed are those working on a low wage who know their lives don't look much different.

Plarail123 · 04/01/2015 12:42

**The comparison with Jews in the 1930s sounds extreme, but there are distinct echoes in terms of the way people on benefits are scapegoated for all the ills of society. Hmm I can't even.

haphazardbystarlight · 04/01/2015 12:43

I'm with you plarail

ILovePud · 04/01/2015 12:53

I clicked on this thread thinking it was going to be laying into the people claiming benefits because of obesity related problems. Pleasantly surprised, the nice side of MN.

Carrierpenguin · 04/01/2015 12:56

I dislike this type of programme. They are always edited to make everyone look bad, they probably choose people who come across badly too. What hit me was the way that successive governments have failed whole areas (I think this one was in Grimsby) and lost industry to overseas.

I saw as well the destruction caused by drugs and why Ss are correct in removing some children, especially where drink and drugs are involved. I think this was on c4, it was very depressing viewing, it certainly didn't glamourise living on benefits.

EatShitDerek · 04/01/2015 12:57

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Gatheringthoughtstothink · 04/01/2015 13:10

Exploiting the vunerable is standard fayre for channel 4 and 5.
Helps to further rile people who are watching this shit.

Dwerf · 04/01/2015 13:22

Did any of you watch 'These Four Walls'? An accurate portrayal of life on benefits. It was heartrending. From the mother who scrimped to send her dd to private school (who then dropped out because of the bullying she recieved) to the family of four living in a mouldy one bed flat. Their baby died. It was probably one of the most upsetting things I've watched in months.

After separating from my ex, I was on benefits for four years before finding a job. I'm still on in-work benefits, they aren't much less than I was getting before. Still, I'm grateful to be in any sort of work.

Derek you live in Leeds don't you? We should meet up some time and have a good bitch about the state of it all, i think we'd get on well.

Pipbin · 04/01/2015 13:24

The majority of people who get annoyed are those working on a low wage who know their lives don't look much different.
I quite agree.

Anyway, ratings. People are talking about ratings. Do you know how they get the ratings? They put boxes in the houses of people selected at random. What that family is watching is taken as the overnight ratings for a program multiplied up. So when they say 9 million people watched the Queen, they didn't. Just the percentage of people who have a box watched it. And that percentage is taken to be 9 million people.
Every year they change the people who have a box. A friend of mine worked for a rather niche tv channel (not porn) they got fairly good ratings for the year but when they boxes were changed to different people there was no one who was interested in the niche hobby therefore the station had no ratings and had to lay people off.

So, unless you have a box in your house what you watch won't count towards ratings. They are starting to take downloads into account though.

EatShitDerek · 04/01/2015 13:25

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ilovesooty · 04/01/2015 13:27

income support is only until your child turns 5. Of course JSA and its conditionality is the real difficulty but ESA and the hoops associated with it especially in the WRG isn't a walk in the park either.
Reliance on food banks, access to food banks restricted, struggling for bus fare, living in the cold, facing sanctions - I know that this is the reality for a lot of people.

Infinity8 · 04/01/2015 13:28

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ilovesooty · 04/01/2015 13:30

And of course people working and on low incomes are struggling too but pitting one disadvantaged group against another is what this government wants

Dwerf · 04/01/2015 13:32

Only 35 hours Derek? I take it that does not include the CV leafleting of businesses that aren't taking on new staff and the ringing back of numerous firms to ask for feedback when they didn't even send you a no thanks email? And have you signed up for all the job centres 'skillz' courses so you can be absolutely sure that you can send emails, and understand why it is important to be on time and in the correct uniform for work? Because us benefits people obviously struggle with getting up and doing anything more strenuous than watching Jeremy Kyle and working out how many scratchcards we can afford after buying our special brew and dodgy tobacco.

ilovesooty · 04/01/2015 13:34

Dwerf I'm in Leeds too. Even getting my clients on courses is often a struggle.

BIWI · 04/01/2015 13:35

Just think about how the meaning of the word 'welfare' has changed. That's largely due to the way it's been used by politicians and reported in the media. It's no longer a positive word but one overladen with negative associations.

The sad thing is that there are plenty of people on MN who are so stupid that they believe all this scaremongering to be true. I'm amazed none of them has turned up on this thread yet!

haphazardbystarlight · 04/01/2015 13:39

It's difficult as I have two friends who both had babies at about the same time as I did and one is really struggling for money (0 hours!!) and one is fine. Not rich but certainly not reliant on food banks either. And the one who is just fine is on benefits.

So I get the irritation - sorry.

I think the benefits system is reasonably okay which will make me popular - but I do think things need to be worked through faster and for the system to have less hold ups and tripping points but unfortunately I think the gist is that it's better to work. Is that a bad thing?

Re nazi Germany - I think comparing David Cameron to hitler is bonkers. I don't agree with all his policies but even so ...

haphazardbystarlight · 04/01/2015 13:39

And here we go again with the 'you do not agree with me so you are so impossibly thick and stupid.'

I don't have the same opinion as you but I am certainly not stupid.

Dwerf · 04/01/2015 13:41

sooty Do you work for the job centre then? I would have been happy to do any course that may have benefitted me, but the ones they put me on were patronising in the extreme. A whole unit on 'why is it important to be on time'. Really? I've been a parent for twenty years, who do they think was getting up for the school run?

EatShitDerek · 04/01/2015 13:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Dwerf · 04/01/2015 13:47

They did that to me too Derek, changed my sign-on time to 3pm, I told them that either they or the school were going to be very unhappy because I can only be in one place at once. Fortunately the advisor changed it. Some of the advisors were lovely although some were complete bellends I don't blame the staff, I blame the system there.