Acceptable in the 60's

[margeys]

Anyone watching this? Some shocking stuff.

Should be compulsory viewing to show how much things have improved, although there is still a long way to go with many areas of life.
In a similar vein, I'm finding some of the so-called Classic comedy on Radio 4 extra impossible to listen too, very mysoginistic and crude casual racism and sexism. One of the worst IMO is The Goodies (which I think was seventies). Seriously thinking of complaining to the BBC in a "disgusted from Tunbridge Wells" style.

'Too' should be 'to'.

Yes - I watch all of these. Car crash TV!

Have recorded this, but not watched it. Is it worth watching??

Yes it is worth watching. Better than I thought it would be. I wasn't surprised at the sexism and racism, but the experiment with the child shocked me. I was amazed that the child was just ignored.

I would have loved to have been around during the sixties. I'm not watching this tv show so not sure what its about though ha.

It is about shocking TV coverage that would not be allowed now. From John Lennon doing a mocking impression of someone with cerebral palsy, to a hidden camera stunt where a child is chained to a railing in public, and people walk by her, ignoring her.

Ok. Sounds like a weird programme lol

It's horrendously uncomfortable but very much worth a watch...

It was repeated last night i love watching their faces the 70s 1 is actually worse i turned inside out with the cringe watching it.

I was a teenager throughout most of the 60s. Certain aspects of the programme shocked me, but others didn't. One shocker was the report on the BBC2 news of a racist insult against a bus conductor or something. I can't remember the exact context, but it was the fact that the newsreader quoted the actual remark when these days it would be left to the imagination.

One thing I have never understood is the controversy around the Black and White Minstrel Show. I believe the objection is that people think that it is representative of black people in general. Even as a teenager I could see that it wasn't. It is a style of singing and entertainment that was popular in the early 20th century in the southern United States. The make-up was all part of the art form. I wish I could think of a Caucasian equivalent. Perhaps circus clowns - they do silly things, wear silly clothes and silly make-up, but nobody thinks they are representative of white people.

The conductor called somebody "a wog" was suspended and got their job back i was

The black and white minstrels are controversial because of the treatment and sterotying of black people blacking up was and still is racist. Clowns are not the same

In America when minstrel shows were popular slavery was still legal then abolished so the blackface was like a buffer of happy singy africans iyswim

I can see that there is a possible link with slavery, although in the early 20th century the racial issue was segregation rather than slavery, wasn't it? Slavery had been abolished a long time before the early 20th century. As for blacking up, if minstrel singing was a particular art form, what is wrong with wearing the appropriate make-up for authenticity? Why do Morris dancers wear odd clothes? Because that is the style that went with their particular art form. I wish I could think of a more relevant example, but the principle is the same, isn't it?

In trying to understand this better, would it be right to argue as follows:
Blues music originated with black people in the southern US. Eric Clapton is a leading exponent of blues music and made it popular in tbe UK by performing songs and adopting a style of guitar playing he learned from Buddy Guy, Robert Johnson, BB King etc. Eric Clapton does not feel the need to black up to play authentic southern states blues music.

Is that the kind of reasoning?

By the way, I have never been a student of history, so my assertion about the timing of the abolition of slavery in the US may be incorrect.

We watched and winced a bit. I have read other responses (elsewhere ) and have had to come away.

I mean, getting so very upset and asking why those people can't be dealt with. I was even more amused as we had switched over from the Beeb which had just been advertising The Go Between - first line of the book? The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there

I think being shocked or upset it pointless. A more healthy way of looking at it is that we have come such a long way in the last 50 years.

That and to spare a moment wondering what thing, that we all think of as normal today, will be in a similar programme in 2065

I saw this last night. Certain aspects did not surprise me at all - although Roger Moore's spanking session went on a tad long . But the Lennon footage shocked me. Having said that, I went to a primary school in the 70s where we had a special unit on site where disabled people were educated. And they were referred to by pupils and teachers alike as "the units" . It really just makes me cringe with shame. But, the Lennon footage was shocking - what a jerk.