Little Britain

[tallulahhula33]

Just seen an interesting discussion on Twitter regarding Little Britain and how damaging it was to minority groups in the UK. I must admit I liked it at the time (I was a teenager) but can't understand how they got away with it now. And I don't think I've ever seen them apologise for it?

There was the disabled guy pretending to be disabled.
The old lady who threw up when she found out anyone foreign had baked the cake and she was eating.
The university secretary who used blatant racist language.
Also transphobic/homophobic issues.

Were they perhaps double bluffing by poking fun at the views of people who for example think all disabled people are fakers? Or was it really that offensive? It definitely wouldn't be aired now but it wasn't really all that long ago. And Walliams and Lucas are still very much in the public eye.

So blackface isn’t racist if it’s in the pursuit of character development?

No I don’t see the difference, at all.

I feel a bit off at Game On. I know they were taking the piss out of the lead character and his narrow mindedness, but there was some pretty shit homophobic language and I didn't like how they portrayed Mandy. We all liked it as kids though.

It was just different humour and also, people weren’t so easily offended.

They were taking the piss out of the 'Little Britainers', racists, disabilists, transphonics etc....just as Warren Mitchell, a staunch socialist, did 40 odd years ago. Thick racist people held him in high esteem and he was just laughing at them.
Probably its not the brightest that find these shows offensive.
People nowadays hate on Al Jolson for his blackface, but the idea of it was to give black actors and musicians equal rights and pay in the industry, he started unions for them. Probably the wrong way to go about things now, but different eras have different attitudes.

I liked it.
but attitudes have changed and I feel everything has to be very woke at the moment.

I suspect it will calm down in a few years.

No, that’s because you don’t understand satire. It’s still racist, but it’s racism for a purpose of showing that character’s discomfort. Not just shouting ‘curry’ or Ting Tong.

Bite what? Why did Matt Lucas wear strings to pull his eyes back?

This is an interesting take on a show I thought long gone and truly past it. Does anyone remember 'Mind Your Language!'? I thought it was far too racist to be shown now, but apparently it has an appreciative audience elsewhere.

www.deccanherald.com/content/344612/like-old-times.html

No, that’s because you don’t understand satire. It’s still racist, but it’s racism for a purpose of showing that character’s discomfort. Not just shouting ‘curry’ or Ting Tong.

It's don't know about ting tong but the Weight Watchers curry sketch was the definition of satire. It was poking fun at the WW lady's ignorance. Everyone in the room was looking sympathetic towards the Asian lady and thought WW lady was a dick.

I don't understand how you can't see that it wasn't making racism the butt of the joke. sure some like Ting tong are more questionable but the weight watchers one? I'm not sure what you were watching

Little Britain left me cold. There's not a single bit of it that I found funny but I accept that I don't appreciate the same programme as everybody else. I don't see the point in declaring it 'shit' nor as a 'work of satire'.

I still enjoy watching On The Buses and never miss the repeats. Some of the sexism makes me wince but, to me, it's glorious and I love Sixties TV.

Each to their own, no need for the insults and worthiness declarations.

So when did anyone call out the racism stuff? Or did she just get to be racist on tv week in week out, with the odd sympathetic look to the minority character?

Yes it definitely was.

I'm mixed race. I found the programme hilarious. Sigh-that kind of raw, British TV programmes don't seem to exist anymore.

You can at least admit On the Buses was sexist though. People are claiming Little Britain wasn’t racist.

So when did anyone call out the racism stuff? Or did she just get to be racist on tv week in week out, with the odd sympathetic look to the minority character?

They are characters. In real life, people are often too afraid to speak up. The lady herself didn't. This doesn't disprove it's satire at all

LB was meant to poke fun at everyone.
That was the joke, that nothing was off limits, as comedy was meant to make you laugh, even if you had second thoughts afterwards.
Now we are not even supposed to see funny things in case it offends people.

I wonder when it was people started having no sense of humour at all? It's going to make for a very dull and boring world.

Because if the racist character never gets her comeuppance, it’s just punching down.

Thick racist people held him in high esteem and he was just laughing at them.

Rinse and repeat eith Jacob Reese Moggs

Why did anyone need to call it out? It would kind of take away from the satire if a character pointed out what the irony was

Ah see, I think you do see the difference, which is why you have to insult me. Sorry to ruin your rose-tinted view of that racist programme you thought was so hysterical because someone…lost something in a shop.

The blackface scene in peep show is nothing like little Britain. I’m not a fan of peep show either, but I can see the difference between them.

Why would it?? Why not have all the characters speaking the same language as the minority character so Marjorie is left out?

Anyway im pretty sure that some of the other Fat Fighters people did call Marjorie out and pissed her off when they started dating each other etc. we’ve been through the comeuppance question . Twice.

Im actually beginning to wonder @Pumperthepumper if you think these characters are real? Why would they need to get their commupence?