James Corden's 'jokes' about Harry Weinstein...

[ordinarywalls]

I'm horrified. Anyone else seen the footage? I genuinely like James Corden, or at least I did when he did Gavin and Stacey. What on earth was he thinking?!

Ruth Jones, Larry Lamb, Alison Steadman and Sheridan Smith made Gavin and Stacey, not Cordon

Yeah, all he did was co-write it.

I think trying to turn Weinstein into a punchline is the right idea - the problem is that the jokes weren't very good. Remember that last week's Saturday Night Live was criticised for not having any sketches about him.

I liked jc until I read his autobiography in the summer and saw him in a whole new light. Odious little man.

Kate, what does he say about himself that put you off? It's quite something when his own words put off someone who liked him!

What Papa said at 9.41

Exactly. It looked to me like Patrick Stewarts patience simply ran out and i dont blame him.

I'm appalled by all of them. Those that went mysteriously quiet Kimmel, Ellen, Fallon, Russell Crowe even though he has been accused of stifling a story. To those denying they knew anything Meryl, Damon, Clooney, Blanchett, JLaw, Affleck - twat in his own right.

Then the ones coming out now but were happy to leave Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd in the wilderness while they profited Gwyneth, Jolie. They had more clout than most actresses they could have said something.

What a cess pit. I also have issues with those work with and support the likes of Allen and Polanski.

I won't be paying money to watch their films any time soon.

It was a bit ill-judged because rape and sexual assault aren't really funny

"Aren't really funny"?

Did you honestly mean to write that, @hackmum?

I also have issues with those work with and support the likes of Allen and Polanski

Definitely. It makes me laugh when people say that rape and sexual assault allegations destroy lives to the point that suspects should have anonymity. Here are two men accused of rape, incest and pedophilia and they are super-rich and have the backing of loads of famous and influential people. Their lives have not been destroyed in the slightest and these days a rape accusation is likely to lead to people jumping to your defence and assuming you have been the victim of some nasty lying woman.

Donna Karan should also be ashamed of herself and thankfully I own nothing by DKNY.

I think the very reason he’s been so successful in the US is his friendships with people like HW. All those celebs in his Car karaoke shite. I had to sit through it when it first came out as it was described to me as “you have to see this....it’s amazing”. Needless to say, it wasn’t my idea of amazing. And what was Michelle Obama thinking?

YY Papa the only man who springs to mind who doesnt appear on in the limelight anymore is Justin Lee Collins and that is here in the UK and that was for domestic abuse.

'All those celebs in his Car karaoke shite.'

Yes I don't get it either, is it just the chubby cheeky chappy persona they all fall for. Those car karaokes all seem a right sycophantic fawn fest. The George Micheal one for comic relief was funny though.

No way has JC had affairs. Who the hell would shag him??

I think Americans like JC because, to them, his Britishness is exotic. I liked him in Doctor Who, but I haven't seen him in much else.

I agree with a PP that he probably felt obliged to refer to HW because other comedians had steered clear, with Jimmy Kimmel being the most deafening in his silence.

Carpool jaraoke was really good, but only because of the celebs, not Corden.

Ive nevrr liked and always thought he was just an unfunny bellend so am glad he has shown his true colours.

Its not the reference to Weinstein thats necessarily the problem, its the fact that he turned specific experiences of victims into a joke. Like he thought 'lol, he wanked into a pot plant, thats actually quite funny' whereas for the woman involved that would have been a really horrible experience and he has completely disregarded that. He, like so many others, has shown that he just doesnt get it - its only a grab of a tit, or a quick opportunity to pinch an arse, or a 'harmless' comment, whats the problem ladies, god blokes cant do anything inappropriate these days without a woman getting upset about it.

Fuck him.

No way has JC had affairs. Who the hell would shag him??

Someone who wants to accelerate their career?

That "pome" madam cry *Montacute.

I particularly like the way the poet rhymed "soul" with "soul".

Inspired!

*made me, not madam

But makes as much sense as the poem

Wasn't Piers Morgan part of the Madonna trade deal and we had to take him back when she returned stateside?

Ah. She's now in Lisbon. I wonder who we could send to the states.

Can we send them Jim Davidson!!

There’s a lot of sanctimony around all this though isn’t there. The HW stuff was an open secret for decades yet now everyone is furiously virtue signalling. Everyone has 26 daughters and is horrified - or their PRs are carrying out some damage limitation.

SuburbanRhonda: "Did you honestly mean to write that, @hackmum?"

I certainly did. I think that practically any subject can be funny in the appropriate context, even rape and murder. Largely, it's about whether you punch up or down - I think Corden was trying to punch up.

But what I was trying to get at was that, if Weinstein had just been accused of sexual harassment, a joke that took the piss out of Weinstein might have been acceptable, but given that he's accused of rape, a joke that is still clearly aimed at Weinstein - not his victims - is harder to laugh at, because these are real people who have been victims of real violence, so it's still too raw.

Look, it's fine to dislike someone or not find them funny. It's just the level of vitriol that surprises me. The c word has been used several times, he's been called vile, smug, a twat, odious, a bellend...the list goes on.

I did put some thought into that list because those are three people (Klass, Knightly, Hamilton) who seem perfectly inoffensive to me but yet inspire real frothing-at-the-mouth almost-hatred on here. It's so out of proportion.

I did read the post about the plane story but it's an anonymous story on the internet. Could have been written by anyone at any time for any reason. Hardly a credible source.

I don't have much of an opinion of James Corden. My point was that people seemed to be revelling in his mistake because they don't like him anyway. A much desired shot at an easy target.

Whereas, to continue to explain the subtleties, a joke that works in the abstract - ie not about real people - can still be funny while being offensive. So there's a joke that goes:

A man walks into a crowded bar. He casts his eye around the room and says to the barman: I could have any woman in this room. The barman says: How come? The man says: I'm a rapist.

That's quite funny, in my view, because like most good jokes it sets up your expectations and subverts them. It's deliberately shocking, and funny precisely because it's shocking. It's not saying that raping women is funny.

I agree completely, herbcake. People sit in moral judgement about someone they don't even know, and yet they feel the right to say the most vile things about that person. And yet they think they're morally superior! How does that work?

I saw Frankie Boyle in Edinburgh this year. He made a joke that went: "People think that if you make jokes about rape, you must be in favour of it. That's not true." (Pause.) "I'm completely neutral."

For a hardened feminist like me, that's a bit much, but it's still possible to see that the joke is in the setup and then the subversion of expectations, not because Boyle is actually neutral on the subject of rape.