Purity signalling - musical authors withdraw from Graham Norton's show to promote their musical, because JK Rowling was also being interviewed about her new children's book

[StandWitch]

twitter.com/marlowandmoss/status/1327594966814748673

theversion.co/2020/11/03/j-k-rowling-to-discuss-the-ickabog-with-graham-norton-on-radio-2/

J.K. Rowling is to guest on Graham Norton’s Radio 2 show, to talk about her new book The Ickabog, a new fairy tale about a mythical monster, a kingdom in peril and an adventure that will test two children’s bravery.

The author will join Graham on this Saturday morning show from 10am on 14 November, 2020.

Also on the programme...

Lastly, Graham talks to the writers of SIX The Musical, Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, which is scheduled to reopen in the West End with a series of socially distanced performances at The Lyric Theatre soon.

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what is wrong with these people?

They get more publicity from flouncing than from being interviewed and it's less work.

Trouble is, as a tactic it's wearing thin. They're not the first to flounce and they now have a name for unreliability and laziness.

They'll soon be forgotten.

I wish she would start suing some of these people for the lies they are perpetuating about her. JKR hasn’t said one thing that is transphobic.

@Duckwit

We don't want to appear on a show where she is promoting her work until she has made significant efforts to make amends with the trans community

As if she gives a fuck 😂

I guess the theory behind this is..if enough righteous people cancel because JK is on shows, people might stop asking JK onto shows?

I don't think that will work quite as they may think though.

I suspect what instead will happen, is simply less woke nonsense on radio shows and such, which is not a bad thing.

I was responding to a specific point Dido, that the GN show would not be useful to them, I'm aware of its success, but marketing teams bite the hand off producers on shows like GN's to place their people/products. Marketing/Advertising is an ongoing necessity even for successful ventures. Of course it would be useful. It's just a bit of a no brainier to make the most of that sort of opportunity - plus if they genuinely want to make a point or believed they had something useful to say that would help trans people they'd have gone on and said something about it on air (to millions of people) then they'd really have caused a stir. More likely they took the easy route out to avoid any flack.

Not to mention the fact that the Theatre & Arts sector has been so badly hit by COVID that I can't imagine anyone can rest on their laurels. Their tour was supposed to be underway by now, atm it's not clear when it will start again or if audiences will want to turn up.

@Lordamighty

I wish she would start suing some of these people for the lies they are perpetuating about her. JKR hasn’t said one thing that is transphobic.

Didn't that newspaper that gets sent to many schools retract it's article and study questions about JKR after a nudge from her legal team?

I think she does pursue legal action but carefully chooses which.

Six the Musical is great. The songs are catchy, funny, modern, and it puts a completely different spin on Henry VIII and his wives. The atmosphere in the theatre was electric - more like a cabaret than a musical. Most of the audience seemed to know all the lyrics, and by the end we were all standing up and whooping. The all-female cast and band, and the female-centred plot, make it a great show for teenage/ pre-teenage girls.

Whether I agree with the views of its creators or not, I wholeheartedly recommend this show and salute their talent and ingenuity.

Think I'll be giving it a miss in solidarity with JKR who has done nothing to deserve the mealy mouthed, shallow virtue signalling happening repeatedly in response to a well thought out essay in support of women's rights.

"If you’ve ever thought about going to the West End to see a Musical, you will have heard of Six."

I've mainly heard of it because I've studied Tudor history and am a member of lots of Tudor history Facebook groups. I'm not sure all occasional theatre goers will have heard of it. Yes it has been a surprising success in the last couple of years, but will it stand the test of time, who knows. It's not my cup of tea, I don't think. Even less with the woke gender nonsense attached.

I'd heard of it because it was on our local news for some reason, probably a tour. I generally loathe most modern musical theatre, so it's not like they've lost a potential ticket in me.

FWIW, I hope for the sake of the theatre industry, which remains close to my heart, and is in dire, dire straits right now, that they don't face any backlash for deciding to stand on their principles. I might consider it an ill advised and petty decision, and wholly disagree with their perspective, but they, and indeed the people whose livelihoods depend on theatre remaining viable, are entitled to be open about their views and to make whichever decisions sit with their conscience.

I dislike all the self interested and cynical attention seeking on the back of JKR standing up for women and children and getting the abuse that she has had. I think it's nasty and calculating. Not just them, many others.

Eresh, I completely concur, and I will criticize them for it.

But I am not down with boycotting people for expressing their opinions or making conscience decisions, however stupid. And sure, it might equally be a cynical move to get wokey kudos, but even so, there will be other people relying on the income from those shows. It's no skin off my nose, and Rowling's output is much more my speed.

As far as I'm concerned, boycotts and that sort of move should be about actual nefarious deeds, like Nestle.

I disagree with these people doing this bizarre shunning ritual, but I won't be encouraging shunning them or their work in retaliation if someone actually likes what they do.

How disappointing especially as SIX is a brilliant musical (in my opinion) specifically about women who were silenced and labelled by men finally being given a voice and telling their own story. That's literally the premise of the show.

And now the creators themselves want to actively silence the voice of a woman who is passionate about safeguarding women.

Proving that however many hundreds of years pass, it's a tale as old as time - burn the witches / bloody women / know your place / be nice because you have a vagina.

Fuck me. So sick of it.

@BettyDuKeiraBellisMyShero

Ooh... talking of sitcoms based in the Tudor period...

I’ve recently started watching Ben Elton’s Upstart Crow (4 years late to that party) and it is absolutely riddled with terven/anti woke jokes.

Not sure how I missed it completely (3 seasons, 2 Xmas specials) it even began a stage run, cut short by Covid.

www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/feb/23/upstart-crow-review-david-mitchell-ben-elton

It’s all on iplayer and the first 2 seasons are on Netflix.

Oooh, off to go and have a look. Thanks.

Yeah youvgotten. Nailed it

Dd and I love Six, we've seen it 3 times and regularly listen to the soundtrack. We love the fact that's it's 6 women plus an all female band on stage, and is a very funny and engaging show about female empowerment.

So I was bitterly disappointed to see the idiocy and jaw-dropping hypocrisy of these 2 idiots refusing to be interviewed beside JKR. The world has gone mad.

I disagree with these people doing this bizarre shunning ritual, but I won't be encouraging shunning them or their work in retaliation if someone actually likes what they do.

Fair point, Floral. I do think it's easy to get sucked into a cancel culture spiral.

Utter twats.

I bought 3 today on Amazon too. Beautiful books

Eresh, I do sometimes think it would be so easy to just go along with tit for tat, and become every bit as vindictive and hateful as they keep saying I am, as a wicked white feminist over 40 who posts on Mumsnet.

Trouble is, I just too fucking reasonable for my own good.

Im not spoiling my fun just because someone else is being a twat

Rufus, and bloody good for you too.

Just no one make me watch The Greatest Showman and we will muddle along fine.

My heart is heavy as I can neither cancel Six nor make a principled stance about not cancelling Six, because I don't go to musical theatre shows anyway.

Please think of me during this difficult time.

However, I did like the Upstart Crow tv series, so there's that.

Didn't that newspaper that gets sent to many schools retract it's article and study questions about JKR after a nudge from her legal team?

Is that the ridiculous one which wittered on about "Wagner’s Fifth Symphony"?

If it is, I emailed them about that specific and frankly appalling error but never got a reply.

@Vargas

Dd and I love Six, we've seen it 3 times and regularly listen to the soundtrack. We love the fact that's it's 6 women plus an all female band on stage, and is a very funny and engaging show about female empowerment.

So I was bitterly disappointed to see the idiocy and jaw-dropping hypocrisy of these 2 idiots refusing to be interviewed beside JKR. The world has gone mad.

How are the histories of the six wives "empowering"?

Fine if you like the music and not everything has to have a message but how can this be empowering?

I was wondering this too Dido... happy very happy to girlcott this.