So Russell Brand has been sacked and Jonathan Ross suspended for their offensive joke played on Andrew Sachs (I wonder where the sacked/suspended line intersects with the audience figures). Quite right too - this was a no-no in a number of ways, not least that it was broadcast despite a request not to from Sachs.
OK, so for an up to date measure of what does and does not cross the line marked 'Too Offensive', we can now say publicly offending and upsetting a 78 year old man is clearly on the wrong side and there will be punishment.
How about a 68 year old man who fairly regularly has his sexuality questioned (because he happens to be single) and beliefs ridiculed (but only because he's a Christian - they wouldn't dare if he was a Muslim)? That does not appear to be a problem to the Guardians of PC.*
Or how about the glee with which some 'edgy' right-on people greeted the news that an 82 year old woman was suffering with dementia? All because they didn't like what she did when she was Prime Minister. Too far? Apparently not.
And nether, it seems, is the constant use of the name 'Jesus (and/or) Christ' as an exclamation on radio, TV and in print, either side of the watershed. I've blogged before about when Lenny Henry expressed how his heart still skipped a beat when he heard the 'n' word... which is what mine did a few minutes later when he used 'Jesus Christ' as a comic swear word. One is not OK, one is. Why are both not OK?
I remember the aforementioned Jonathan Ross apologising to the TV audience for a pre-watershed 'F' word from the stage during Live 8. But no notice was taken of a number of exclamatory mentions of You Know Who. One is not OK, one is. Why are both not OK?
It's all a matter of taste. But whose?
(*Cliff Richard. I was going to add 'not that I'm a fan', but that would be pandering to the Laws of Cool. So I'll leave you guessing.)
OK, so for an up to date measure of what does and does not cross the line marked 'Too Offensive', we can now say publicly offending and upsetting a 78 year old man is clearly on the wrong side and there will be punishment.
How about a 68 year old man who fairly regularly has his sexuality questioned (because he happens to be single) and beliefs ridiculed (but only because he's a Christian - they wouldn't dare if he was a Muslim)? That does not appear to be a problem to the Guardians of PC.*
Or how about the glee with which some 'edgy' right-on people greeted the news that an 82 year old woman was suffering with dementia? All because they didn't like what she did when she was Prime Minister. Too far? Apparently not.
And nether, it seems, is the constant use of the name 'Jesus (and/or) Christ' as an exclamation on radio, TV and in print, either side of the watershed. I've blogged before about when Lenny Henry expressed how his heart still skipped a beat when he heard the 'n' word... which is what mine did a few minutes later when he used 'Jesus Christ' as a comic swear word. One is not OK, one is. Why are both not OK?
I remember the aforementioned Jonathan Ross apologising to the TV audience for a pre-watershed 'F' word from the stage during Live 8. But no notice was taken of a number of exclamatory mentions of You Know Who. One is not OK, one is. Why are both not OK?
It's all a matter of taste. But whose?
(*Cliff Richard. I was going to add 'not that I'm a fan', but that would be pandering to the Laws of Cool. So I'll leave you guessing.)
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