BORN TO BE DIFFERENT is back on.

[TheOriginalFAB]

This Thursday at 9pm on channel four.

I had to take a peek at the Channel 4 website to see if Shelbie was still with us. I don't think I could have watched it otherwise. What a fighter! I can't wait to see what she's been up to. Great programme and lovely children.

it's gone - finally

sol - given that that was the 2nd comment, I assumed this thread was a thread to complain about this programme for those reasons. Now I know it is a 'normal' show and this is actually a thread about watching it :)

Comment has now gone.

apols - "OP" should read "catsmilk" - though I hope folk would understand that.

I reported Catmilk's post this morning soon after it appeared and got a reply from MN saying they wouldn't remove it. Glad to see they've seen sense.

I think more complaints have helped MNHQ to see sense - finally!

Wow. Let me explain, sorry if my post wasn't clear.

Channel Four, who once could be trusted to be on the side of the marginalised or different are now an entirely different channel that fill up their schedules with programmes purporting to be something other than what I called them -'freakshows' - and if you think that means I personally am calling the people involved freaks you must be trying very hard to miss my point.

Perhaps this show is less offensive than the way the other shows - Freak Like Me, Katy My Beautiful Face/Friends, Freak Like Me, Bodyshock, even Supersize/Superskinny - dress up the primitive urge to gawp at the strange with faux sympathetic or 'aren't they brave/normal' narratives. All this was evident in my succinct post, which shouldn't have been removed, and reflects an opinion not confined to myself, and I don't know why it should be censored from Mumsnet. However this longer explanation should leave no doubt as to my considered view of these types of shows.

For the record I have worked extensively with disabled people and while I applaud their being included on tv, the way it is done often leaves much to be desired.

Here's Mike Leigh
bigthink.com/ideas/37700

when's this back on??

sorry op, oops forgot you said when

I love it. Shelbie goes to the same hospice as my dd. I think BtBD finally shows ordinary families living with heir kids. Just that they happen to have sn

Well in that case Catsmilk your post was a spectacular fail and you upset a lot of people a great deal.

BTBD isnt exploitative at all.

It uses the same format as 7up. It manages to avoid the triumph/tragedy model which is rare.

If you work extensively with disabled people surely you would have realised that the use of the word Freak in this context would upset people?

catmilk, well, apolgies to you then. But your 1st post even now with the benefit of hindsight does not read like that.

No it doesnt. I read it several times.

I actually feel that Born to be Different is a very high quality programme so even if your feelings behind your attempt to make a valid point were misunderstood, I disagree with your view in relation to this particular programme. For many of us parents who have children with life limiting/ disabling conditions it is a relief to see our lives portrayed in such a sensitive and human way.. I always feel that BTBD captures what my life is like on a day to day basis and would encourage those interested to watch it.. I was really offended by your original comment catsmilk and hope you can see that your point could have been interpreted differently and that you might post more carefully in future on such sensitive issues or expect further complaints from people like myself who probably have an inevitable degree of defensiveness in these matters.. it comes with the territory I'm afraid..

The word freakshow when used to condemn a modern televisual version of same should offend no one - it's pulling back the fake-respectable veneer to expose the ugly reality. But I do take on board that this show is not in the same league as Freak Like Me (hey, they used that word! Ban them!) and this thread appeared just as my partner and I were getting angry - as angry as I seem to have made others here - at the trend for these type of under-the-radar gawp-and-feel-thankful-it's-not-you-fests. Hey maybe some people can twist that last sentence against what I obviously - obviously - mean too.

culture.bitchbuzz.com/reality-tv-modern-day-freak-shows.html

"Some argue that shows like Extraordinary People or Bodyshock on UK television - which presented the real-life stories of ?remarkable? and ?extraordinary? people with deformities or disabilities - were just ?freak shows? offering a sympathetic angle. They were fascinating, and sometimes inspiring documentaries, yes, but even Chris Shaw, Senior Programme Controller of the Guardian took some issue with them, when he said of Extraordinary People," I suspect your typical twenty-something watched this show with their jaw on the floor rather than a tear in their eye".

catmilk, you chose the wrong programme to have a go at there.

If it really wan't obvious what my original point was to anyone, and they were genuinely upset, then I apologise.

Catmilk. Have you actually watched any of the Born To Be Different series over the last 10 years?

it wasn't obvious because you are wrong about this particular programme. i suggest you watch it.

Catmilk, your first post definitely did not read like that.

If you have ever watched BTBD, you would know that it is not like that you are describing.

And using the word "freak" when refering to children/people with SN is just wrong, whatever context it is used in.

5inthebed,

1 Would you find this sentence offensive - 'I find some modern TV shows that purport to be sympathetic looks at disability more like Victorian freakshows than genuine documentaries'?

1. I assume you think it is wrong for the 'Freak Like Me' series to use the word?

(I may not like the series but can understand how the word can be re-appropriated or used to confront prejudices).

I stand by my reporting of the comment and for my other thread. I am proud that i made a stand!!!! You should think about your choice of words more carefully Catmilk................

You're proud of this assumption lottie?

"She MEANT it to be offensive......... I have no doubt about it!!!"

Good for you.

I dont regret it at all.

Did I mean it to be offensive?