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?

In Spain I think they made Manuel into Mario and said he was Italian.

And coming from Barthelona, he would have been Catalan and not Spanish.

...And Andrew Sachs family were jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution.

"It'll be Father Ted next. 'I hear you're a racist now, Father'"

Careful now, down with that kind of thing!

FruitPastillesaregood

My wife lived through the Iranian revolution and said exactly the same thing today.
This is fundamentalism at work and it will not end well.

The whole point about that episode of FT with the ‘don’t mention the war’ stuff is that it’s supposed to expose Basil’s ridiculously small minded thinking. Like many other episodes. He is portrayed as a ridiculous figure, symptomatic of many British people at the time. The censors obviously completely fail to get the point.

Also, it's not as though deleting a few tv programmes from 40 years ago does anything at all to address the casual and targeted racism that goes on every single day.

It will die down. It always does. It was the same in the 1970s or 80s when some local authorities nurseries banned traditional nursery rhyme Baa baa black sheep. The UK has these silly periods and then goes back to normal. Once we are in the thick of the new recession and people have a lot less time they will be concentrating on getting food on the table for their families again instead of at home on furlough with their feet up on-line.

One episode of a show being taken off because it used the n word heavily isn't the end of the world, not to mention its a historical show in the sense that it isn't being made anymore or shown on TV anymore, it's just a relic from the past with insignificant impact on cultural history, unlike in America where school text books erased the trail of tears, that is pure historical censorship. We asked the natives nicely to move we even paid then to, instead of the barbaric truth, can you imagine if history books started saying that when the vikings came to England they politely asked everyone to leave to other areas so that they could live here, you know instead of all the raping and pillaging.

Is the fact that Ba Ba Black Sheep is a black sheep significant in any way? Or is it really just a nursery rhyme about a black faced sheep?

The lunatics are running the asylum at the moment.

I was going to say that we are supposed to think the Major is a racist idiot and laugh at how stupid he is and that the episode has been removed because many people don't understand this. But I have to admit that @ravenmum's comment about watching it with a black grandchild made me think. Yes, I can laugh at the Major's casual racism, but only provided there are no black people around to make me feel uncomfortable. So, looking at it in that context, it suddenly isn't funny anymore.

All episodes of Fawlty Towers, including the German episode, are still on Netflix. I’m watching it right now!

It's the best episode of FT and I will continue to watch it.
Good comedy often offends, if people choose to take it that way.

All episodes of Fawlty Towers, including the German episode, are still on Netflix. I’m watching it right now!

I was looking on the Netflix site using my phone browser (safari) earlier when I couldn't find it! Came downstairs and used the app on the iPad and also just watched 'The Germans'

The n-word has been taken out every time I’ve seen that episode on TV in my country for a couple of decades now.

I gather the BBC isn’t as free to make decisions like that so it’s probably easier for them to just remove it for now.

[quote FruitPastillesaregood]@pudcat
This is exactly what happened in China during the cultural revolution. I find it terrifying that things are going that way here.[/quote]
Ridiculous and offensive comparison, IMHO.

Maybe they should remove the episode where he mistakes Raylene's nipple for a light switch.

Tired, sexist trope

and always took that scene to show how out of touch and doddery the Major was, not that it was condoning the language he uses.

That was clearly the case but unfortunately no-one seems to understand nuance any more. I feel like giving up on the world at the moment it is so depressing. I feel sorry for what my kids are going to grow up into.

I expect fools & horses will be next!

Oh please God yes, on the grounds of taste even if it gets through the thought police.

Censorship is happening and it’s scary

Yes.

It's crazy to interfere with the old comedy shows ,they are a reflection of the times in which they were made, although we my not choose to make them now.
Surely we are laughing at the major's attitude in Fawlty Towers and any normal person would see that this should not be taken seriously.
If we can't laugh at ourselves , just because some of us are black, this is a sad reflection on society.

I think these decisions are being made by people who don't understand comedy.

There's a big difference between using racism in comedy to highlight and mock it (Fawlty Towers) and using racism in comedy to advocate and perpetuate it (Jim Davidson and Bernard Manning).

The episode with the rat is better. ducks

@StephTheProgmatist
Absolutely agree. When you join the dots, it's an extension of Marxism. Cloaked in seemingly righteous ideology. Stoking division, mob rule, and resentments via the right think of identity politics which gathers as many victim groups as possible. It's driven by ideology. The Cold War hasn't been won, it's evolved into civil war.