Anarchic Conceptions
07-03-2005, 01:02
For non-Brits (and maybe a few Brits too), Paul Daniels is a fairly famous stage magician in the UK.
Anyway, there was a program on Channel 4 that just finished about contriversial stuff on the telly. Normally I avoid these types of programs (mainly because it is the same talking heads and the same 'landmarks' in TV history). Although I watched this one since in the TV guide it said Brass Eye would be featured (a TV series that was axed and which I personally loved).
Anyway, amoung the talking heads it featured were quite a few self styled "Complainers" (that is people who actively call in and complain about TV programs). However the odd thing that struck me was their whole lives seemed to revolve around watching TV with the intent to find things to complain about (does this count as masochism? Or just bloodymindedness to change the channel or turn the TV off?). I reached this conclusion by the fact that there seemed to be a core three (four if you include the guy from Mediawatch UK (http://www.mediawatchuk.org/mainsite.htm), although the fact that he in charge of such a group speaks volumes imo), that had an opinion of just about everything featured.
To bring this back to the thread title, Paul Daniels was one of the complainers (although not part of the hard core) and he was refering to the Brass Eye Special on pedophilia (evidently missing the point of the program). Where he said that anyone that found the program funny needs to see a psychiatrist. As I have said before, I love Brass Eye, and the Special was no exception. Of course he failed to see the point of it. (As a side note, it is the second most complained about program in British TV history, it got c.992 complaints)
For those of you that have never seen/heard about it. Brass Eye was taking the piss out of how the media was handelling the pedophile scandal that rocked the UK a few years ago, rather then taking the piss out of pedophilia and its victims.
(If you've read this far into my meaningless whitterings I'm impressed.) However, it got me thinking. What is your view on TV that intentionally sets out to be contriversial? (Bear in mind all these programs were well after the 9:00pm watershed.)
Another part that interested me was when (I forget exactly who it was) was going through the words that were traditionally deemed offensive. These were swear words that we all know (and love), with the worst being ****, which relegated fuck and its permutations a bit further down the list (since it is apparently really uber-offensive). But what interested me more was when the guy held up a board with more modern offensive words, words deemed more offensive the **** at any rate. On the whole, these were understandable. They were racial slurs such as ******, wop et al (admit it, you all know them). But what surpised me were the other words on this list that included Jesus, Christ and Jew (the more obvious racial slurs against Jews were curiously absent) amoung others. Just found it odd.
And no, you cannot have the time you wasted reading this rambling back.
Anyway, there was a program on Channel 4 that just finished about contriversial stuff on the telly. Normally I avoid these types of programs (mainly because it is the same talking heads and the same 'landmarks' in TV history). Although I watched this one since in the TV guide it said Brass Eye would be featured (a TV series that was axed and which I personally loved).
Anyway, amoung the talking heads it featured were quite a few self styled "Complainers" (that is people who actively call in and complain about TV programs). However the odd thing that struck me was their whole lives seemed to revolve around watching TV with the intent to find things to complain about (does this count as masochism? Or just bloodymindedness to change the channel or turn the TV off?). I reached this conclusion by the fact that there seemed to be a core three (four if you include the guy from Mediawatch UK (http://www.mediawatchuk.org/mainsite.htm), although the fact that he in charge of such a group speaks volumes imo), that had an opinion of just about everything featured.
To bring this back to the thread title, Paul Daniels was one of the complainers (although not part of the hard core) and he was refering to the Brass Eye Special on pedophilia (evidently missing the point of the program). Where he said that anyone that found the program funny needs to see a psychiatrist. As I have said before, I love Brass Eye, and the Special was no exception. Of course he failed to see the point of it. (As a side note, it is the second most complained about program in British TV history, it got c.992 complaints)
For those of you that have never seen/heard about it. Brass Eye was taking the piss out of how the media was handelling the pedophile scandal that rocked the UK a few years ago, rather then taking the piss out of pedophilia and its victims.
(If you've read this far into my meaningless whitterings I'm impressed.) However, it got me thinking. What is your view on TV that intentionally sets out to be contriversial? (Bear in mind all these programs were well after the 9:00pm watershed.)
Another part that interested me was when (I forget exactly who it was) was going through the words that were traditionally deemed offensive. These were swear words that we all know (and love), with the worst being ****, which relegated fuck and its permutations a bit further down the list (since it is apparently really uber-offensive). But what interested me more was when the guy held up a board with more modern offensive words, words deemed more offensive the **** at any rate. On the whole, these were understandable. They were racial slurs such as ******, wop et al (admit it, you all know them). But what surpised me were the other words on this list that included Jesus, Christ and Jew (the more obvious racial slurs against Jews were curiously absent) amoung others. Just found it odd.
And no, you cannot have the time you wasted reading this rambling back.