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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think that Giles Coren's column about Ukraine is disgusting?

125 replies

chipbutties4ever · 12/03/2022 18:27

I know that it is supposed to be satire, but I can't find any humour in Giles Coren's article about Ukraine today. It makes me want to cancel my Times subscription. A few days ago a maternity hospital was bombed and terrified families are being shelled while they try to escape! The whole world could be dragged into a nuclear conflict.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/giles-coren-in-a-cage-fight-ill-take-mad-vlad-over-truss-cp9vgrl6h

(It is behind a paywall, but the general gist is that he's bored of people talking about the war, no one cares about Ukraine because it's far away, and maybe the Russians aren't so bad, and what if the Ukranians really are Nazis. I've also attached some screengrabs). Maybe I'm not clever enough to appreciate Giles' sophisticated brand of satire. I didn't go to public school or Oxford University like he did, but even The Times' readers who tend to applaud his sneering restaurant reviews in the comments seem to be appalled.

AIBU to think that Giles Coren's column about Ukraine is disgusting?
AIBU to think that Giles Coren's column about Ukraine is disgusting?
AIBU to think that Giles Coren's column about Ukraine is disgusting?
OP posts:
mumboss1984 · 12/03/2022 22:23

He is a disgusting and vile human being.

B0J0ker · 12/03/2022 22:25

@AnyFucker

He’s an attention seeking prick in the realm of Katie Hopkins. Christ knows who is paying him for this drivel.
You beat me to it! He is Katie Hopkins isn't he?!

What a twat.

EmmaH2022 · 12/03/2022 22:27

I really struggle with satire now. Maybe I'm thick but sometimes, especially with an arse like him, it's impossible to know if they're serious or not.

MimosaSunrise · 12/03/2022 22:30

If you’re going to write something satirical about a tragedy that is currently unfolding, it had better be bloody good and make its point with laser-like precision. This is just shit. It’s hard to imagine Coren caring about people in war zones or other awful circumstances based on past evidence, so this seems like a topic he really should stay away from.

DrSbaitso · 12/03/2022 22:30

I haven't read the full piece. From what you quote here, it looks to me as though he's trying to make a point about how quickly we are likely to forget Ukraine since it isn't happening close to us, and how we are prioritising trifles.

He might not have done it well, but that's how it reads to me.

ListeningButNotHearing · 12/03/2022 22:33

He's a shameful embarrassment.

EveryCloudIsGrey · 12/03/2022 22:33

It's not surprising that such a stupid pathetic nasty man writes a stupid pathetic nasty article but it always amazes me that the Times publishes it.

The nepotism in the press is awful.

MFY79 · 12/03/2022 22:37

I am a Pole living in UK, myself and many people I know are actively involved helping Ukrainians running away from war. I attached a photo of the babies rescued from an orphanage, temporarily looked after by volunteers. They are housed at the rail station while suitable accommodation is found. As much as I try I can't find anything funny about the war. I was reduced to tears reading that article.

JuliaSways · 12/03/2022 22:39

He's desperately trying to fill the gap that Katy Hopkins left when she got cancelled.

*Only he's less articulate, less intelligent, less..... human

He really is a twat.

*Katy Hopkins has very little of all that is listed, so his having less is really quite an achievement

EngimaticDisappearance · 12/03/2022 22:40

I think (hope) he is not a bad person, just someone who is not as clever as he thinks he is, and who executes satire badly and misses the mark as often as not. He also comes across as impulsive, though I guess you can't write a whole column impulsively.

I was at university with his wife, and had lots of tutorials with her. I believe the phrase is "the wheel is turning but the hamster is dead". She was not a natural academic, though did write a sometimes-amusing column for the student rag.

CassandrasCastle · 12/03/2022 22:44

Leave his wife out of it, jeez

ohfourfoxache · 12/03/2022 22:45

WHAT

A

CUNT

I’m sorry, but there really isn’t anything else to say. Once again he’s showing his colours

Original poster
chipbutties4ever · 12/03/2022 22:51

@EngimaticDisappearance

I think (hope) he is not a bad person, just someone who is not as clever as he thinks he is, and who executes satire badly and misses the mark as often as not. He also comes across as impulsive, though I guess you can't write a whole column impulsively.

I was at university with his wife, and had lots of tutorials with her. I believe the phrase is "the wheel is turning but the hamster is dead". She was not a natural academic, though did write a sometimes-amusing column for the student rag.

Is "the wheel is turning but the hamster is dead", the same as saying "the lights are on, but no one is at home"?
OP posts:
ThreeLocusts · 12/03/2022 22:57

Cancelling your Times subscription is definitely a good idea. Murdoch paper.

FrancescaContini · 13/03/2022 08:17

@MFY79

I am a Pole living in UK, myself and many people I know are actively involved helping Ukrainians running away from war. I attached a photo of the babies rescued from an orphanage, temporarily looked after by volunteers. They are housed at the rail station while suitable accommodation is found. As much as I try I can't find anything funny about the war. I was reduced to tears reading that article.
The photo is really shocking. Thank you for attaching it, I think that GC should take a look at it. He really is loathsome.
EveryCloudIsGrey · 13/03/2022 08:22

I think he is a bad person. I think he knows exactly what he is doing. He's rich and clever enough to not behave like he does but he doesn't care.

He only apologises if he has to

I'd be ashamed of him if he were my son.

Original poster
chipbutties4ever · 13/03/2022 08:32

@EveryCloudIsGrey

I think he is a bad person. I think he knows exactly what he is doing. He's rich and clever enough to not behave like he does but he doesn't care.

He only apologises if he has to

I'd be ashamed of him if he were my son.

I'd also be deeply ashamed if he were my husband. His wife Esther Walker seems to think Giles is absolutely brilliant though; she even egged him on when he was fat shaming their 2 year old son. Their Mr and Mrs podcast on Times Radio which is advertised incessantly is just so smug and self-satisfied. Giles is clearly vile, but together they are even worse.
OP posts:
ChardonnaysPetDragon · 13/03/2022 08:39

I think he was aiming at satire and missed by about a mile.

FrancescaContini · 13/03/2022 08:40

I don’t think he understands the meaning of satire.

Nitgel · 13/03/2022 08:40

He's a tit why was it even printed ? Says nothing.

GeneLovesJezebel · 13/03/2022 08:41

I went right off him when I saw him eating on a programme. Cows chew with more grace than him 🤣

Sammysquiz · 13/03/2022 08:47

I was at university with his wife, and had lots of tutorials with her. I believe the phrase is "the wheel is turning but the hamster is dead". She was not a natural academic, though did write a sometimes-amusing column for the student rag.

What a nasty thing to say. The thread is about Giles’ article, what has your perception of his wife’s intelligence got to do with that? If a man does something wrong it’s not the fault of the wife/partner!

malificent7 · 13/03/2022 08:54

Yabvu to read the Times although i suppose it is better than many rags out there.I had to stop after getting fed up with their ' aspirational' sunday times style section...seemed to be aimed at the elite. Not quite as nasty as the Torygraph but amazingly out of touch. Anyway...i digress!

mrshoho · 13/03/2022 08:57

@GeneLovesJezebel

I went right off him when I saw him eating on a programme. Cows chew with more grace than him 🤣
🤣 so true! He comes across as someone who is so self absorbed that he doesn't consider for a moment that he needs to care about anyone else.
C8H10N4O2 · 13/03/2022 09:10

@LittleGwyneth

You nicked those screenshots off Twitter so very clearly didn't read the full article. If you do it's much more clearly satire.
I have the full article. At best its tone deaf.

Unsurprising since Coren can't judge his "satire" and would be better off avoiding the style. As it is, he veers from inappropriate to creepy to simply unfunny and then whines like a five year old when called out.

The reality is - he is only in that job due to the family name. If he had been James from the local comp nobody in Fleet St would have looked twice at his scribblings.