Censoring the Classics

[PaulD]

edit :dooooble post.

[PaulD]

Originally Posted by Boo Radley

When my son was 4 he came home singing, "Baa baa rainbow sheep, " from school. True! We are not allowed to call a blackboard a blackboard any more. Does anyone actually believe that anyone really "felt offended" by hearing Baa baa black sheep or to look at the blackboard? What a load of PC twaddle!! Whenever you hear someone say, "You can't say this or that." it normally says far more about the person saying it......

That blackboard thing is a load of bollocks though; it never happened. It was one of the things made up by the anti-PC brigade to further this cause. No one ever cancelled Christmas either. I'm calling bullshit on that 'baa baa rainbow sheep'' story too

I think Political Correctness *is* a good thing by and large but I do think this BBC move misses the point of it slightly. Times and opinions change but these shows should be kept as they are, as relics of their time.


Now have some of this:

[Rik]

Originally Posted by PaulD

I'm calling bullshit on that 'baa baa rainbow sheep'' story too

Never heard rainbow sheep, but when my kids were at nursery they used to sing woolly sheep instead of black

[PaulD]

Actually after a bit of googling I stand corrected.

[Slippery Jack]

Originally Posted by Rik

Never heard rainbow sheep, but when my kids were at nursery they used to sing woolly sheep instead of black

That sounds racist towards black sheep to me . . .

[Demoncrat]

Ahem. After hearing this, I despair.

But comparing utter drivel like It aint half hot mum etc to FT is an insult in itself. There's a reason they don't show antiquated crap on the tv anymore, and it has nothing to do with PC.

This is only my opinion.
I hated most of that mainstream shit at the time, still do in fact, re: my full blown hatred for the lazy lazy On The Buses.
But then I AM a Crass fan, so legally I have no sense of humor

And yet again, Stephen using Alf Garnett as "evidence" is barking up the wrong tree imo.

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Ahem. After hearing this, I despair.

But comparing utter drivel like It aint half hot mum etc to FT is an insult in itself. There's a reason they don't show antiquated crap on the tv anymore, and it has nothing to do with PC.

This is only my opinion.
I hated most of that mainstream shit at the time, still do in fact, re: my full blown hatred for the lazy lazy On The Buses.
But then I AM a Crass fan, so legally I have no sense of humor

And yet again, Stephen using Alf Garnett as "evidence" is barking up the wrong tree imo.

"evidence"? Am I on trial here or something? I think he's funny, as are all these old shows. The racism, homophobia, mysoginism doesn't bother me in the slightest, I still find them funny, doesn't make me any of these things before anyone pipes up. If others don't find them funny, them fine, if others think they should never be seen again, then fine. And btw, On The Buses, is a classic, and funny. imo.

[Daemonia]

I hate all this revisionist history kind of thing. What people need to understand is that humour such as this was acceptable at the time, even if it's not so much now. Why rewrite history? These programmes (and films) should be preserved for the sake of historical accuracy. Rightly or wrongly, viewers of the day did laugh at stuff like this. We might find it unpalatable, but at the same time it does show how we've matured as a culture since then and cheap, racist humour is a thing of the past (hopefully). Well, sort of....a lot of American black comedians use the 'n' word quite frequently and often for laughs. So I'm not sure how that fits in with all the PC stuff.

But I'm not some knee-jerk, reactionary politically correct person either. I'm just saying that if old TV programmes contain material you find offensive, then don't tune in. There's no need for the BBC to make these programmes 'safe'. And since when was Fawlty Towers family viewing anyway? As I recall it was originally broadcast after the 9pm watershed, indicating that its humour was more adult-orientated.

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

The BBC have been saying that FT was cut because it was on before the watershed. The question is, has it been shown before 9pm in the past, without being censored?

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Stephen@Cult Labs

"evidence"? Am I on trial here or something? I think he's funny, as are all these old shows. The racism, homophobia, mysoginism doesn't bother me in the slightest, I still find them funny, doesn't make me any of these things before anyone pipes up. If others don't find them funny, them fine, if others think they should never be seen again, then fine. And btw, On The Buses, is a classic, and funny. imo.

I never said anyone here was racist did I? No, I didn't. Funny how the only people on this thread who expressed a minority view (that shitty old tv programmes are anachronistic in the 21st century) were shouted down. The racism, sexism whatever that was expressed in ISAIH, FT, Rising Damp et al all came from the mouths of characters that are proven wrong in the context of those episodes. Hence the difference between these as satires of prejudice and the boneidle hatred of women that shines through dogshit like OTB.

Just my opinion though.