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Telly addicts

My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding Channel 4

547 replies

sailorsgal · 18/02/2010 21:04

Anyone watching.

OP posts:
FellatioNelson · 02/02/2011 13:31

I completely completely agree with CaveMum's post of 22.09 last night - Channel 4 are playing this very cleverly - the worst is yet to come.

Also completely agree with SusieDaisy. Individually they all (the women and young children at least) seem humble, decent, innocent and delightful etc, but each episode hints at small behaviour patterns/attitudes that are endemic and which frankly, just seriously piss everyone else off.

I tried to get my 18 year old son insured to drive a very small cheap 1.1 car recently - I couldn't. They wanted £3800. Think it through, people. Hmm

That driving over the pavement thing was appalling on a number of levels. The fact that so many of the men choose to have their faces pixillated is very telling. I'll wager it's more to do with the police or the taxman or their feudal enemies, than any perceived damage to their businesses, but it's an easy to cop-out to say that, because it goes nicely with the Persecution theme.

And the scene at the riverside was very telling also - the way the lad deliberately dive-bombed the canoeist. Of course many teenaged arseholes would do that, but there certainly seems to be an accepted culture of Male Arseholery that must not be questioned on the grounds of Racism.

I'm seeing many parallels with the way young (fundamental) Muslim women are treated, and it raises all the same questions/emotions. It's hard to be enraged on the one hand, yet still be liberal/respectful/accepting of other cultures' beliefs and practices.

I went to school with quite a few Travellers. If my experiences were anything to go by, a culture of bullying them wasn't so much the issue as a very, very defensive stance from their point of view, which led to having huge problems accepting authority, following rules, and integrating. This inevitably led to friction.

And I have observed exactly the same patterns in shops and restaurants too.

I grew up using the word Pikey. (I'm in my 40's) I wouldn't use it now as it has been deemed pejorative, but to us, back then, it was just like saying 'Limey' or 'Yank'. I think it's only been in recent years (since they have been identified as a 'persecuted' race) that it has become unacceptable to say it. I would argue that it actually derives from the word 'turnpike' meaning toll-road. In the days of no designated sites, that's where they stopped. They lived by the turnpike, so became known as Pikeys. The roots of the word are not necessarily pejorative, but the Gypsies and Travellers don't like they word, and therefore it must not be used. Also the meaning of the word has evolved over the years, to encompass all sorts of negative sterotypical behaviours. It is a verb - as in 'he pikeyed my bike'. Wrong, of course, but you do have to ask yourself how this happens...

sakura · 02/02/2011 13:31

missed this thread the first time round!

I just wanted to say that travellers don't do that much damage to the environment at all. It's housework that damages our streams and rivers and wildlife, and consumerism. Those two things are less prevalent in your average traveller community I should imagine.

sakura · 02/02/2011 13:34

what about all the positive connotations of the word Gipsy? Are we not supposed to use the word in any context at all any more?
IN literature, I mean. GIpsy princess descriptions.

FellatioNelson · 02/02/2011 13:34

Less housework Sakura? Confused You clearly haven't been watching!!!

sakura · 02/02/2011 13:38

I mean detergents, bleach, all the environment-wrecking products that people use in their houses: the bigger the house, the more detrimental to the environment.

FellatioNelson · 02/02/2011 13:39

Er, yes, and I'm sure they get through plenty of them!

Gargleswithjelly · 02/02/2011 13:45

Sakura - the women shown do nothing else but clean!!

FellatioNelson · 02/02/2011 13:45

But when people talk about damage to the environment I think they mean in a more localised sense, like this

twirlymum · 02/02/2011 14:26

What do the mothers do all day if their teenage daughters do all the housework?

catsmother · 02/02/2011 14:27

I have a very nasty feeling that the disbelief and anger many of us feel after watching this will get a whole lot worse next week when the so-called men take centre stage ... if the lads last night were anything to go by. Nasty little shits - the way they spoke about women was revolting and the complete lack of respect they showed for the law (or anyone else) was arrogance personnified. Someone could have been fatally injured - so effing what if you're delayed a few minutes. I did wait 5 hours in a traffic queue once only to eventually crawl past a completely burnt out car, when I thanked God it wasn't me or my family and hoped against hope that the occupants were okay. So-oooo disrespectful.

I can't help feeling the powers-that-be are missing a trick .... whoever would have thought that tarmacking and scrap metal could be so lucrative, especially for 16 year olds straight out of school (or not straight out as the case may be). Why on earth these rewarding careers aren't being suggested to the rest of us I don't know if you can apparently earn big money with no qualifications. Makes you think doesn't it. Hmm

And sorry to be trivial, when there are so many big concerns raised by this series, but am I the only one to wonder why, when the vast majority of women (make-up and clothes aside) are naturally and genuinely very pretty, so many of the men look like ... well, I hesitate to say for fear of offending anyone .... but basically in a completely different league and not in a good way ?? There seems to be a real "gap" between the two sexes in terms of looks that I don't understand.

Normantebbit · 02/02/2011 15:45

Wiki says there's alot of money in scrap - perhaps that's how money is made.

slartybartfast · 02/02/2011 15:52

interesting point about the gene pool, but i doubt that the families would conform to genetics invesetigations, in the name of research - unless they were paid for it

slartybartfast · 02/02/2011 15:53

you may say the girls of 17 are pretty but fast foward 20 years and they are not pretty.

OhForBoonessSake · 02/02/2011 15:56

yeah 20 years of oppression, skivvying after a man, no choice in where you go or whether you work, up to your elbows in bleach everyday, possible DV and marital rape certainly takes it's toll on you.

slartybartfast · 02/02/2011 15:57

precisely

Hullygully · 02/02/2011 16:00

But the cakes! Aren't the cakes fab? I want a giant castle with fairy pumpkin coach cake.

Gargleswithjelly · 02/02/2011 16:12

Hullygully - I want a unicorn cake for my LO's b'day!

OhForBoonessSake · 02/02/2011 16:13

i want the value of the cakes deposited in my account! Grin

Hullygully · 02/02/2011 16:15

That poor poor 13 yr old taken out of school to polish cupboards and get the kids to school. Ahh.

Of course it's all wrong. It's not fucking "culture" it's primeval practises that need moving on. Clitoridectomy anyone?

conculainey · 02/02/2011 17:25

Norm, there is a lot of money in scrap. A couple of years ago it was at a high of 100 gbp per ton so something like a scrap volvo car could fetch almost 200 gbp, if you recycled 5-7 cars per day which is easy to do theres 1000 gbp per day turnover. 5000-6000 gbp per week is common place. Recycling wood is a high value scrap business as well and can earn a single operator 500-600 gbp per day. Its hard work but so too are the rewards, downside is that you work in all weather conditions which leads to ill health and a short life.

pooka · 02/02/2011 17:34

Agree that scrap is big money. DH's firm (central heating and plumbing) were targeted 5 times in 2 years by copper/scrap thieves who were after their scrap stores (they build it up until have large quantity of mostly copper piping to sell on).

Hugely expensive, place a complete mess, pain in the neck. Until he installed a monitored cctv system, which stopped the thefts (fingers crossed). ONly the thieves have moved onto the actual scrappers now I hear. Shock

katiestar · 02/02/2011 19:18

Gargleswithjelly-'they only have to attend 200 1/2 days a year in school to count as 'at school.' This is shocking....

200 days is 40 weeks and state schools normally only operate for 39 weeks!

Think you need to improve your own education level,gargle! WinkSmile

FellatioNelson · 02/02/2011 19:42

Yes but she said 200 half days....

Gargleswithjelly · 02/02/2011 19:50

200 half days is 100 full school days!

PenelopePitstops · 02/02/2011 19:51

katiestar
200 half days is equivalent to 100 full days, which is far less than 39 weeks