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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Not to let my children watch Britain's Got Talent...

27 replies

seeker · 21/04/2009 12:20

..because it shows the absolute worst side of human nature and represents practically EVERYTHING I don't want them to grow up thinking and believing?

OP posts:

gardeningmum05 · 21/04/2009 12:24

lighten up, its just abit of fun

knickers0nmahead · 21/04/2009 12:24

I personally think yabu but it is obviously your choice.

Most of it is just funny anyway.

jack99 · 21/04/2009 12:32

I'm not keen on it because they can be very cruel to people just to make good TV - including several youngish children (about 8 I think) who have been mercilessly ridiculed.

duchesse · 21/04/2009 12:34

I agree with you seeker- I think it's foul. A parade of people handpicked for their entertainment value (and not necessarily in a good way). If BGT gets your goat, I suggest never ever ever watching Paris Hilton British Best Friend. It is neat sewage.

nametaken · 21/04/2009 12:37

Just be doing something else or watching something else at the time BGT comes on. That's what I do, It's easier than banning it.

branflake81 · 21/04/2009 12:37

I think you should not let them watch it because it's shite. never mind anything else.

Bucharest · 21/04/2009 12:38

What's wrong with women like Susan Boyle wanting to show the world that the outer packaging can mislead? That's exactly what I do want my child to grow up thinking- not to judge a book by its cover.

Of course, the dreadful child artists' parents should all be left in a room alone with Piers Morgan for a Very Long Time.

tearinghairout · 21/04/2009 12:43

Maybe it depends on the age of the child? Although yes, some of it is truly awful, such as the bloke in the yellow dress, at least learn to dance properly, mate. Also Amanda Holden made a couple of remarks in the last series which IMHO were not suitable for children (swearing, mentioned gymnasts' sex life). So from that point of view, I agree with the OP.

Original poster

seeker · 21/04/2009 12:45

So if it had tuned out that Susan Boyle couldn't sing, it would have been OK that she was ridiculed and mocked by the audience and the judges?

One of the judges said "Before you sang everyone was against you" Against her because she didn't fit their ideas of what a woman should look like or the lifestyle they thought a woman should have. But it was OK in the end because eshe can sing. But if she couldn't, she would just have been a figure of fun.

OP posts:

nametaken · 21/04/2009 12:48

So you obviously watched it then, Seeker

Go out - that's what Saturday nights are for.

Gorionine · 21/04/2009 12:49

Yanbu, the juges are mercilees and the actual acts are not always child friendly anyway. I have watched some of last year's one with the DCs but when I saw the "previews" of this year I decided against.

I agree wrt the comment about Susan Boyle,great voice.

Kathyis6incheshigh · 21/04/2009 12:52

They should be allowed to watch it once they're old enough to understand how it is faked & set up & once they can sit there and comment on what horrible attitudes it shows.
(Whilst glued to the screen. Like me. [hypocritical emoticon])

reach4sky · 21/04/2009 12:58

Seeker, don't you think the "against you " comment related to the fact that Susan Boyle stood there and proclaimed that her ambition was to be like Elaine Paige. Before she opened her mouth, that did indeed seem extremely unlikely.

5Foot5 · 21/04/2009 13:03

Perhaps depends on the age of the children.

If they are at school it might be a good idea to ensure that they DO watch it so that they will not be left out of conversations in the classroom.

It can be bad to be out of touch with popular culture.

I remember one girl in my class at school who had parents who disapproved of TV completely so they didn't have one. She was regularly excluded from discussions about the previous night's viewing and sat on the edge of the group finding it hard to fit in.

hedgiemum · 21/04/2009 13:05

YANBU
I haven't let my DC watch that or X factor; DD1 has watched the BBC Maria/Joseph/Nancy shows with me though, but only once they've got to top 10 stage. Possibly once bGT gets to final live rounds I'd let her watch if she showed interest. But first auditions contain too much bullying.

Bucharest · 21/04/2009 13:06

I did read somewhere that all of these X-factory/BGT things are so staged that by the time the televised auditions are shown, the real howlers have been told they are bad, but have agreed to have their bad-ness televised nonetheless for their 5 mins of fame....(like the meringue-frocked teen girl on the X factor, if anyone can remember her)
at being able to remember them all....

Kathyis6incheshigh · 21/04/2009 13:12

By the time they get to the bit where they perform in front of Simon et al, they will already have been lied to by countless researchers and assistant producers and hence have a reason for thinking they are good.
And then they are laughed at for being deluded.

LolaTheShowgirl · 21/04/2009 13:12

It's awful to hear the audience shouting 'off, off, off!', especially at the older auditionees

DiamondHead · 21/04/2009 13:12

I can believe that Bucharest.
We were outside the theatre in Manchester when they did the initial auditions and I know Ant and Dec weren't there, they were in Australia.
They must choose the 'best' auditions.

It was so staged on Saturday when that kid came on to sing Valerie and Simon Cowell just 'knew' immediately that it was wrong and got him to change. The backing music for his second song was available immediately. Just a nice bit of Simon Cowell PR.

Original poster

seeker · 21/04/2009 13:18

I watched it so that I could make an informed decision about whether it was "appropriate" family viewing.

I thought it was disgusting - vile, cruel, bullying and sexist. And insulting to the intelligence of the viewers.

OP posts:

nametaken · 21/04/2009 13:20

If you don't approve of any TV programme then don't let them watch it, it's as simple as that,

So no YANBU to not let your dc watch a programme that think isn't suitable.

GetOrfMoiLand · 21/04/2009 13:23

Seeker - you're right, it's crap. However banning it will just turn it into the Holy Grail to your kids (I remember when I was about12 a friend was banned from watching Grange Hill, Eastenders and Neighbours, well of course to her they were like TV crack, and she spent half the time round my house furtively watching them).

You should let your kids watch My Super Sweet Sixteen (or whatever the hell it's called) Girls of the Playboy Mansion to give them a strong sense of ethics

duchesse · 21/04/2009 13:24

seeker- "insulting to the intelligence of the viewers" really? I have my doubts sometimes. What's that quote? "No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."

saint2shoes · 21/04/2009 13:24

yanbu
I watch it and enjoy, but I did say to dh that imo it is not suitable for children to watch(or be in)

OrmIrian · 21/04/2009 13:28

Not a question that has ever arisen in our house. But no, as I wouldn't want to, I wouldn't want them to either.

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