Shannon Matthews musical. Sorry but I’m laughing

[MaryBerrysEyelashes]

At the song titles 😂😂

How anyone could consider this funny is beyond me. That child went through severe trauma that will follow her into adult life and then some sicko decides to turn that into a musical? How will she ever move on with something like this in the public domain? They should be forced to donate all proceeds of this to the NSPCC (because there are bound to be people sad enough to actually go and watch it). Welcome to 21st century Britain; selfish, amoral and brain dead.

Err, no. Completely different kettle of fish. For a start, one is fiction, and one is fact.

Okay then I’m not going to anything showing paedophiles or abusers of children or the music of paedophiles and abusers? Is that better, pedant?

None of those things involve living survivors of serious abuse who are likely to be traumatised by having the story of their abuse turned into a money spinner by some opportunist who has no moral compass.

Les Mis is not about the French Revolution.

This.

Absolutely disgusting.

…but it’s a joke, it’s ok to laugh at Trauma, or abuse, or disability .. because it’s comedy.

You’ll find plenty of people on here who will defend that, in particular when it comes to the king of “punch down” humour Ricky Gervais.

If he had come up with it, it would be on a Netflix Special, as a shining endorsement of Comedy and Free Speech

… remember, even Rape Jokes are funny if you are Jimmy Carr.

It's really not. I can't say I'm a big fan of MBB but we went to the live show with a group of disabled young adults. He and the rest of the cast were absolutely amazing and respectful with the young people. They really ensured they had a brilliant afternoon and took time for photos and autographs etc.

The major difference with other musicals is that this is a complete piss take, Les Mis and Miss Saigon and such like look at the subject matter very seriously, it would never be acceptable to make a programme taking the piss out of it, even serious documentaries are considered in bad taste.

Half wit mysogynist has to raise the profile of some doggerel set to music by insulting MN users? If that's considered necessary to drum up interest in the show its probably not the best recommendation for its quality, whatever your thoughts on the subject matter.

Laughing at those things in a general context is a completely different issue. It’s questionable why anyone would make jokes about such things but they’re directly harming anyone by doing so. The issue is that the subject of this “comedy” is a real person who suffered horrendous abuse. To turn that into a musical is a gross invasion of that girl’s privacy and dignity and could potentially cause significant psychological harm. Abused children have the right to be protected from further harm and I’m amazed that the human rights lawyers haven’t gotten involved in this.

@Lookslikemeemaw

Okay then I’m not going to anything showing paedophiles or abusers of children or the music of paedophiles and abusers? Is that better, pedant?

Not sure what you are annoyed about here?

I was saying this musical is worse becsue it is specifically about the abused person, not about an abusers music.

If you choose to get defensive and call me pedantic for pointing out the non comparative nature here, that's definitely your issue.

I'm not a supporter of any of the above, but I can see a very clear difference in a show about the music of Michael Jackson and a show about the literal abuse of a child, containing songs as detailed in the OP.

There is an underlying feeling of laughing at people from council estates, on benefits type of people here.

I think this whole thing is much more likely an exercise on the ethics of Free Speech.

ITV make a Shannon Mathews Drama.. and this is ok, but a musical is not - you have to question
why. ITV make the drama to make money .. is that ok? Is it laughing that’s the problem, or the subject matter ? I doubt it’s the subject matter, as that has been covered hundreds of times. Which means there must be a list of thing that are not to be laughed at .. not sure what that is, or who decides.

Alan Carr made a joke about Shannon Mathews, he seems to be doing ok. Frankie Boyle ditto

TBH .. none of us even know what the musical is about, could be a critique of the sensationalist media .. who knows

Let me get this straight:

Shannon Mathews was abused and used as part of a plot to try and make money for her abusers.

Now this musical is also trying to make money from Shannon Mathews by making a show about what happened to her. According to the writer anyone who objects to this is a ‘Karen’? But presumably anyone watching the show is supposed to laugh at the stupidity of the people abusing Shannon and using her in a plot to make money??

..Yeah, call me Karen on this one.

Free speech doesn’t include illegality and never has. If I write things online about someone that are libellous, then I can expect to be sued. If I make a Facebook post instructing people to go and kill a politician, for example, then I will find myself facing criminal charges.
I’d say that they’re treading on thin ice here legally as Shannon Matthews is likely to be classed as vulnerable because she is a child and is a victim of a serious crime. If she suffers harm (physical or psychological) as a result of this then they could definitely find themselves facing legal action. I’d say that there are probably adequate grounds for an injunction at the very least. It wouldn’t be difficult to prove that this could cause significant psychological harm.

I know. I find it amazing that the people who mostly do this claim to be left leaning “progressives”.

I think it’s ’funny’ because the family in question were extremely deprived, uneducated and working-class which goes to show how classist we still are in this country.

I feel for Shannon above all else. She will have spent her life trying to forget about this, now some jumped up private school twats have decided to make a comedy sketch about her.

ITV made a serious drama which I haven’t seen but I’m assuming it largely followed the facts.

This musical is a comedy sketch taking the piss out of her and the abuse and neglect she experienced as a child.

Take it you're going?

Hold firm, Karens of Mumsnet. Producer was clearly trying to drum up publicity with that quote.

I figured I'd find a thread on here.
While I can understand people's initial outrage (let's look at the title, but not do any further research), the piece itself actually spends it's entire running time mocking Karen Matthews and her barmy scheme to attempt to make £50,000. Shannon is referenced, but is not portrayed. And she is certainly not mocked.
While, certain aspects may have been slightly exaggerated for effect, the movie is based on hard facts:
Karen Matthews DID these things.
Craig Meehan WAS convicted of having child porn on his laptop.
Shannon WAS kept at Michael Donovan's place.
Probably best to just take it all with a pinch of salt if it's not your thing. Musical mockery is nothing new. From Weird Al Yankovic to the Barron Knights.
Yes, Shannon is a real person and she did nothing wrong. But there are numerous documentaries and portrayals of so many innocent people, and not all are flattering. Some are downright evil, but some have a sense of humour.
At the end of the day, there are probably more important things to be concerned with out there.

Those are the people who are the most despised in today’s society. And the saddest thing is that the people who despise them the most tend to be those who identify as “left wing” and “progressive”. Just look at the grooming gang scandal in Greater Manchester. Nobody gave a damn because the girls involved were from poor, dysfunctional backgrounds.

Think we need to have a long hard look about true crime as entertainment and where this has taken us.

Goodness, could you possibly be more patronising?

"Pat on the head, there there, nothing to worry your pretty little heads about, over-reacting again dearies? Here I am with my sensible explanation that'll help your little lady brains understand the COMPLEX issues here......don't worry about it, it's aaaaaall fine."

Interesting post....
Not libelous as it is factual, just told with humour.
Shannon was a child in 2008! It's now 16 years later, she's in her mid 20's. That's how age works.