So now Netflix has removed The Mighty Boosh and League of Gentlemen

[Doyoumind]

Should they be cancelled or is it going too far? They weren't like Little Britain, imho. Perhaps they were offensive. How far does it go though? Will there be anything left to watch pre 2020?

I do think that programming should stand on its merits. Yes we may look at a program and think "you couldn't make that today" but perhaps that is an opportunity to reflect on the changes in society.
I expect we'll see some weeks of knee jerk reactions yet.

@Bleepbloopblarp

There will. Just not racist ones

Gone with the wind for 8nstance isn’t “racist”. It’s a representation of the civil war in America and how things were in the American south (re black slaves) at that time. So now are we erasing history?
Should we ban schindlers list or films/programmes about the war or holocaust because it’s offensive to Jewish people?
Isn’t it important to educate people about the past to make a better future?

Gone with the wind is not an accurate representation of ‘how things were’ for slaves

Should we ban Schindlers List
I haven’t seen it for a while - do the Jews willingly choose to go to the internment camps/gas chambers, confidently criticising the soldiers uniforms on their way without fear of physical punishment? Are you left with the impression any Jew would have not been able to cope were it not for the generous actions of the kind nazis taking care of them?

Isn’t it important to educate people about the past
Absolutely, which is why romanticised versions of history should not be left to stand alone without any explanation of the reality.

LB is an unkind show. Full stop. But it's not about choosing between Vicky or the blackface. It's not either / or. It's both but Vicky isn't the BLM's fight to fight. Be angry for both but don't detract from BLM. Fucking whataboutery gets my goat.
Like arguing with a 9 year old. "Yes, but... what about meeee "

Banning LoG is daft. The concept of Papa Lazarou is to take piss out of black face. What next? Black Mirror?

And of course we should also ban drag shows or comedies where a man dresses up as a woman to make people laugh at exaggerated female features.

@Scarletoharaseyebrows

LB is an unkind show. Full stop. But it's not about choosing between Vicky or the blackface. It's not either / or. It's both but Vicky isn't the BLM's fight to fight. Be angry for both but don't detract from BLM. Fucking whataboutery gets my goat. Like arguing with a 9 year old. "Yes, but... what about meeee "

I agree, except it’s even worse than that - it’s ‘I only give a shit about White Chicks and Vikki Pollard because thats what ‘equality’ means to me, we can’t have BAME complaining about something without showing who the REAL victims are’. It’s so wearing.

@SarahAndQuack

Oh, FFS, why is it an issue?

A streaming platform has decided to remove some things you like. On the grounds that many, many other people don't like them. Those other people even find the offensive and upsetting.

You can still, you know, buy these things. You can still find them elsewhere. And you certainly have had the chance to watch them, many times, since they were first aired.

FFS, just grow up. Accept that other people have feelings and those feelings matter.

So what about the things I find offensive and upsetting? I don’t really like depictions of extreme violence but I’m not about to demand that Top Boy or Gangs of London or Django Unchained or suchlike is erased from mainstream sources because my feelings matter (too)...

The wonderful thing about living in a free world (for how much longer) is the ability to choose the media you consume.

I'm wondering if Netflix will also remove The Nutty Professor and Coming to America, films in which Eddie Murphy 'whitefaced'.

@southeastdweller

I'm wondering if Netflix will also remove The Nutty Professor and Coming to America, films in which Eddie Murphy 'whitefaced'.

What about White Chicks?

Pumper that if blackfacing to play or imitate a stereotype of a race or ethnicity is unacceptable (it is) then it has to be unacceptable full stop.

@itsgettingweird

Pumper that if blackfacing to play or imitate a stereotype of a race or ethnicity is unacceptable (it is) then it has to be unacceptable full stop.

But blackface comes with an entire history of oppression and mockery that whitefacing doesn’t. You’re not comparing two equal things, yet still complaining they’re not treated equally.

Yes but... what about me? Why isn’t that a valid question? Why is it only about me if I (identity as) BAME (I could) why isn’t it about me as an individual with very different preferences and beliefs to the next individual? Why is it about one broad brush and not the other?

The answer is that it can’t be. It can’t possibly be. Because in order to meet the demands of one movement you restrict the freedoms of another. Which kind of flies in the face of everything, surely.

You fight against inequality for some by arguing that equality for all is irrelevant.

Murk You have that argument with Netflix separately then. It's not mutually exclusive. If black lives don't matter to you then leave the BLM movement alone and fight your own fight against (the showcase of some superb black talent) Top Boy.
Ask Netflix why they aren't thinking about you specifically whilst people die of police brutality.
Whataboutery at it its finest. The greatest sign of ignorance and privilege

Netflix has taken porridge off (just checked) so censorship is clearly on the rise. Youd think that efforts would be better spent actually addressing racism and prejudice particularly within institutions, rather than erasing tv shows from almost 50yrs ago.

You fight against inequality for some by arguing that equality for all is irrelevant.

But equality doesn’t mean ‘everyone being treated exactly the same’, it means ‘fairness’.

I don’t really understand the point of individuality - in the case of LB, it’s not mocking the individual, it’s mocking entire races. If only one person was offended I doubt much would change.

Nah, it will be that Rudi character from Mighty Boosh...

@Scarletoharaseyebrows I don’t think I said black lives don’t matter to me. Half my family was (they’re all dead now) black. My point is that you can’t take something off air because it offends of the moment, because everything has the potential to offend someone.

As I said the depiction of a rich black woman in a spa doesn’t offend me in the slightest. Blackface doesn’t bother me either - if it should then as a woman, Mrs Browns, Mrs Doubtfire and bloody Tootsie should also technically offend me for the same reasons but imagine the UPROAR if that was suggested by women?

Snow piercer is good

Things are removed all the time for various reasons. Stream it if you want to watch it, it's not hard

Pumper woman have been oppressed for centuries. So it's ok for woman to dress as men for comedy and humour purposes but not ok for men to do the same about woman?

Problem is if we allow actions one way and not as a 2 way street you begin to oppress one group with the belief it releases the oppression of another.

Nobody anywhere regardless of anything other than being a member of the human race should be oppressed or have disadvantaged placed upon them.

Papa Lazarou isn't intended to be a black character.

Problem is if we allow actions one way and not as a 2 way street you begin to oppress one group with the belief it releases the oppression of another.

Only if you believe the other group deserve to be oppressed.

I’d take the streaming subscription services a lot more seriously as trying to make a genuine difference, if they spent a small part of their billions of profits on commissioning high quality programming of any kind- factual, comedy, drama, children’s programming- that explored issues around race rather than simply taking down some comedy programmes.
So for example, creating new content rooted in black British people’s experience and history rather than solely relying on content based on US narratives and history and experience would be a great start.
When these companies create original programmes they could also make sure that their production and commissioning teams are as diverse as the content they will be making, too.

So why wait for the BLM movement to gain some traction before you decide VPs life matters too?
What is it you object to? The removal of racist content going unchecked on streaming sites?
Why can't it be about one thing today?
It's interesting to choose those shows as ones you object to.
Why is BLM bothering you so much?

Oh for actual fuck sake. There are 100s of other things to watch. If you can't cope with losing a mediocre tv programme fuck knows how you would have coped with 100s of years of slavery, lynchings, discrimination and tv shows racially belittling you.