Fawlty Towers “Don’t mention the war” removed.

[boredtotears11]

Aibu to say I think that is a ridiculous decision by the BBC.Theyve removed it from its streaming service because of its “racist slurs”. It was a classic piece of comedy. I mean if they start picking apart old classic comedy how far are they going to go. Dads Army next?

Surely the best way to deal with this would be to add a disclaimer like they do with old cartoons then the easily offended can decide to switch off before watching.

I understand that this is going to happen now.

Simply editing, beeping or removing content that was very much of its time (and the scene itself was poking fun of attitudes that were outdated even in the 70s) is just plain sinister.

Who decides?

I don't think Spitting Image would be acceptable these days. Whereas, back in the day, politicians all thought they had made it if they were mocked on Spitting Image. Not just politician, but sports stars and film and pop stars. I think these days, we've really forgotten what satire means and its purpose.

I found it offensive when I watched it on it's first showing. Nothing lost by removing this and whilst they are at it they can get rid of a Fish Called Wanda which has one joke for the whole film, mocking a man with a stutter. We spent years normalising this mocking of difference, so to address this we need some drastic action. The FT episode is offencive and there is no context for it to be available to be watched. Anyone saying it should not be removed. Have you actually watched it recently?

Have you actually watched it recently?

Yes. On Friday. I think it’s fine to let people watch it if they want to.

@Alsohuman

Have you actually watched it recently?

Yes. On Friday. I think it’s fine to let people watch it if they want to.

It is! That’s exactly why it’s stupid to call it censorship.

Well if you think it is fine to let people watch that, then there is a problem. The subtly around it is the Major that is the butt of the joke is a non starter. There is a place to remove offensive racist scenes retrospectively and if ever there is one that fits this criteria, this is it.

Yes, I have watched it recently. it is funny. We should be alowe to mock things and have humour and if people don't like a particular thing they can simply not watch it.

The idea cop shows (which I like) should be banned because the police are the god guys is bad too although I support the right of any film maker to make an opposite show portraying police as wicked people who always do wrong and kill others. Let freedom prevail.

Je suis Charlie.

I also support the right of people to wear Jesus and Mo T shirts for example and the portrayal mocking Christians in Life of Brian which I think in its day was subject to blasphemy proceedings.

it is not consistent to support censoring of TV shows if you don't also go into libraries and on line ebooks and start ripping out pages of books that you didn't like which were written i the 1700s and 1800s never mind the Bible and Koran which are jammed packed wijh sexism, homophobia and all sorts. If you ban FT presumably people think the Bible should changed or censored too?

As a Christian, I wasn't offended by Life of Brian, I found it hilarious as did a lot of other Christians I know. It didn't actually mock Jesus at all, so it can hardly be called blasphemous. It's got some really memorable lines like 'What have the Romans ever given us?'

I do think there's a tendency to take ourselves too seriously. But then, as a Christian, I'm used to the mockery of my faith, and I can accept that there actually is a lot of truth in some of the satire, as the church had been by no means guiltless over the centuries.

Where FT is concerned, I agree that the racial slurs are offensive, and I think a fair solution has been found, with a disclaimer at the start of the episode warning that there is offensive language.

@ClareBlue

Well if you think it is fine to let people watch that, then there is a problem. The subtly around it is the Major that is the butt of the joke is a non starter. There is a place to remove offensive racist scenes retrospectively and if ever there is one that fits this criteria, this is it.

What’s the problem you perceive?

I really think it's worth stressing, again, that when the episode of FT was removed it was made clear that it was only being removed on a temporary basis, while they decided how to deal with the offensive/racist language in it.

The episode was then reinstated, in full, with a warning about offensive language.

What's the problem?

@ClareBlue

This is a free country where people have the right to watch what they want.

They should be given an informed choice (such as a warning that the programme contains language they may find offensive).

They can then choose whether to watch it or not.

There is a wider issue. With streaming becoming more popular than the old fashioned method of buying DVDs or
Videos, there is a risk that censorship is made much easier.

It’s the digital equivalent of the BBC knocking on the doors of everyone who bought the Fawlty Towers box set to collect the disc with the offending episode so that it can’t be watched any more.

The wider point is that this sort of behaviour is bloody sinister!

Fortunately in this case it looks like common sense prevailed.

Warnings are given so those who might be offended can choose not to watch it, and providing those who do choose to watch it with a bit of education about the historical context and an acknowledgment that the views expressed were objectively wrong.

Simple!

Fortunately in this case it looks like common sense prevailed.
It was common sense throughout. It was always made clear that the removal was temporary while they decided how best to address the racist language. People lost their shit unnecessarily.

Does the BBC box set have that scene in it, or was it already removed? I haven’t watched it in a few years but I don’t remember such awful language

I watched the episode in question last night. There was a warning about discrimination at the beginning. The Major uses the ‘n’ word and the ‘w’ word, but it is in the context of the Major being seen as an out of date and ridiculous figure who has cognitive issues anyway. In no way is his language presented as representative of the general view. The black Doctor isn’t seen as unusual either.

Did I hallucinate the warnings that have already been broadcast at the start of that episode of FT every time it's been repeated on Dave/whatever channel it was for at least the last year?

@FloutMyArse

Does the BBC box set have that scene in it, or was it already removed? I haven’t watched it in a few years but I don’t remember such awful language

Do you mean physical dvds? I’m pretty sure the scene was there but I can’t check because ours is in storage. The dvds were released years ago so it seems almost certain that scene wasn’t edited out.

Society in those days, it was different.
Sexism, homophobia, racism etc. It was rife.

A lot of programmes and films had derogatory comments on. Am I offended by it now? No.
I take it for what it is. If all broadcasters took all comedy programmes off the air for that sort of stuff then there would be nothing left to watch.

Judging anything in the past by 2020 standards is stupidity at it's best.