I was slightly too young to remember Til Death Do Us Part and Love Thy Neighbour but wasn't the point of those sitcoms that the racist character was the one being made a fool of? So isn't it a case of the character being un-PC rather than the actual programme, which is in fact more PC than anything else?
Yes, you've got it exactly right. TDUDP was about showing up the ignorant / bigoted / racist character as being just that.
However, PC-igotry is about the words used as much as about the interpretation the PC-ites give to them. So a programme such as TDUDP is considered un-PC simply because of the language it contained, the PC-ites would never look any deeper than their tick-box of words they don't like. (If you would consider that makes them just as ignorant and bigoted, too - well ... :eek: )
... See it's one thing to critically analyse old shows like that to view them as a sign of their times, but quite another to look back fondly at them or desire the return of similar material.
Rising Damp was definitely politically incorrect : Rigsby was racist and homophobic (and yet was surprisingly likeable, as he delivered his predjudiced comments with real humour and his bigotry often backfired on him).
I've been looking for another Spike Milligan show called The Melting Pot. Its supposed to be worse.
My search on the net only found a brief clip of him with a blacked up face with a carrier bag in his hand being shot at by a bloke with a shotgun through a letterbox as he walked up a garden path.
Being called various racist names.
Given that political correctness is the enemy of comedy, every great sitcom must be un-PC.
As a gay man, I'm supposed to be offended by John Inman in Are You Being Served. But, d'you know what?, I love him and the show. I'd never seen Mind Your Language, but recently watched the boxset and found it a hoot. As for Love Thy Neighbour, the po-faced conveniently forget that the white bigot was always depicted as the fool. It might seem crass to us now, 40 years on. But at the time it was considered very bold. Same with Benny Hill. The lazy will always dub him sexist. Never mind that the men were always the idiots. As for the girls stripped down to their titties - I can see more every week in Heat.
Given that political correctness is the enemy of comedy, every great sitcom must be un-PC.
As a gay man, I'm supposed to be offended by John Inman in Are You Being Served. But, d'you know what?, I love him and the show. I'd never seen Mind Your Language, but recently watched the boxset and found it a hoot. As for Love Thy Neighbour, the po-faced conveniently forget that the white bigot was always depicted as the fool. It might seem crass to us now, 40 years on. But at the time it was considered very bold. Same with Benny Hill. The lazy will always dub him sexist. Never mind that the men were always the idiots. As for the girls stripped down to their titties - I can see more every week in Heat.
I'm supposed to feel offended as a white northern working class man by social club comedians by the middle class, mostly white, PC brigade, but I'm not as I don't listen to this bunch of middle class London based Guardian readers who think we should all tow their line of thought. Funny thing is, they never exactly get out of their world.
Til Death Us Do Part has got to be up there amongst the biggest politically incorrect sitcoms. Old Alf was the biggest bigot around, he hated just about everyone except the Queen!!
yes but old alf was a total w*nker and that was the point.
yes but old alf was a total w*nker and that was the point.
Same as Eddie Booth in Love Thy Neighbour was shown up as a bigoted failure while his black neighbours had a higher standard of living and looked more sophisticated.
Police state, give me strength, you need a sense of proportion.
Yes it has become a police state . Just reading today in the paper, a mother of two was hunted by police for four weeks after she joked on Facebook about chucking an egg at David Cameron.
Til Death Us Do Part has got to be up there amongst the biggest politically incorrect sitcoms. Old Alf was the biggest bigot around, he hated just about everyone except the Queen!!
Can't believe it took 15 post's before Alf was mentioned.
If you think about the mainstream social climate in the 1970s it's quite plausible to speculate that perhaps many writers knew that to even get their show aired they'd need to appeal to the masses so needed to get their points across via subversive means and slip things in via the use of subtext.
A few shows could be said to perhaps belong in this category.
I watched an episode of The Good Life recently.
Tom had befriended some hippies who wanted to copy him by being self sufficient. They planned to buy a house in the same street to be near him for his advice.
Neighbourhood snob Margot next door is horrified. At the end Tom informs her that those hippies have decided to move on to another area instead. She is delighted.
But straight after he tells her that some Muslim people will be moving in instead. She is again horrified.
This show was originally on in the seventies and a comedy. :rolleyes:.
Yes it has become a police state . Just reading today in the paper, a mother of two was hunted by police for four weeks after she joked on Facebook about chucking an egg at David Cameron.
and another person was in trouble saying david cameron on blood his hands.
I watched an episode of The Good Life recently.
Tom had befriended some hippies who wanted to copy him by being self sufficient. They planned to buy a house in the same street to be near him for his advice.
Neighbourhood snob Margot next door is horrified. At the end Tom informs her that those hippies have decided to move on to another area instead. She is delighted.
But straight after he tells her that some Muslim people will be moving in instead. She is again horrified.
This show was originally on in the seventies and a comedy. :rolleyes:.
Not quite sure what the 'roll eyes' is for.
Margot was a frightful snob, not a role model.
Her attitude to the Muslim/black/Indian neighbours was there to be mocked, not admired.
i.e. "You see the sort of person who is mindlessly horrified by anything she doesn't understand?"
Times move on, thank goodness. The people who complain about "it's all PC now innit?" are usually middle aged able-bodied white English men, who were rarely if ever the target of the bigotry expressed in "un-PC" material, and when they were, it was usually something mild in comparison like being too car/house/garden proud etc....and nowhere near as offensive as racial stereotypes for example. Of course online, said men will usually say "nah, I'm a black guy and I wasn't offended by that kind of stuff, it was a good laugh when me white mates in the pub or at work called me a black (1970's era racist term)" or some other predictable bollocks.
See it's one thing to critically analyse old shows like that to view them as a sign of their times, but quite another to look back fondly at them or desire the return of similar material.
are you saying that white men are pretending to be black just to make that sort of comment ?
Same as Eddie Booth in Love Thy Neighbour was shown up as a bigoted failure while his black neighbours had a higher standard of living and looked more sophisticated.
yes i always thought that the point. watched a feature film of tdudp not long ago. alf was dreadful at daughters wedding and racist towards a black guest ....but..she was gracious,good looking and abviously a lot better educated and classier than him.
but i dont deny racism in our society is not still a hurdle..in hospital this week i listened to another patient being foul to black nurse..sadly as we discussed later..some dumb cases are hopeless cases...... excuse lack of punc 1 hand typing....
I'm confused. Are people saying this is a real sitcom? It's clearly a spoof of old-fashioned American sitcoms with implausible set-ups, unfunny jokes and canned laughter.
Comments
However, PC-igotry is about the words used as much as about the interpretation the PC-ites give to them. So a programme such as TDUDP is considered un-PC simply because of the language it contained, the PC-ites would never look any deeper than their tick-box of words they don't like. (If you would consider that makes them just as ignorant and bigoted, too - well ... :eek: )
Thank goodness for DVD box sets.
family guy
american dad
cleveland show
simpsons
I've been looking for another Spike Milligan show called The Melting Pot. Its supposed to be worse.
My search on the net only found a brief clip of him with a blacked up face with a carrier bag in his hand being shot at by a bloke with a shotgun through a letterbox as he walked up a garden path.
Being called various racist names.
As a gay man, I'm supposed to be offended by John Inman in Are You Being Served. But, d'you know what?, I love him and the show. I'd never seen Mind Your Language, but recently watched the boxset and found it a hoot. As for Love Thy Neighbour, the po-faced conveniently forget that the white bigot was always depicted as the fool. It might seem crass to us now, 40 years on. But at the time it was considered very bold. Same with Benny Hill. The lazy will always dub him sexist. Never mind that the men were always the idiots. As for the girls stripped down to their titties - I can see more every week in Heat.
yes but old alf was a total w*nker and that was the point.
Same as Eddie Booth in Love Thy Neighbour was shown up as a bigoted failure while his black neighbours had a higher standard of living and looked more sophisticated.
Yes it has become a police state . Just reading today in the paper, a mother of two was hunted by police for four weeks after she joked on Facebook about chucking an egg at David Cameron.
Can't believe it took 15 post's before Alf was mentioned.
Wow... thanks for this gem of awfulness... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWjCkcAmzDc.
Forget un-PC... just plain unfunny!!
A few shows could be said to perhaps belong in this category.
Tom had befriended some hippies who wanted to copy him by being self sufficient. They planned to buy a house in the same street to be near him for his advice.
Neighbourhood snob Margot next door is horrified. At the end Tom informs her that those hippies have decided to move on to another area instead. She is delighted.
But straight after he tells her that some Muslim people will be moving in instead. She is again horrified.
This show was originally on in the seventies and a comedy. :rolleyes:.
and another person was in trouble saying david cameron on blood his hands.
Not quite sure what the 'roll eyes' is for.
Margot was a frightful snob, not a role model.
Her attitude to the Muslim/black/Indian neighbours was there to be mocked, not admired.
i.e. "You see the sort of person who is mindlessly horrified by anything she doesn't understand?"
It's still the same. I know a few middle class affluent people who want to move as "we're becoming the only white faces in our street".
yes i always thought that the point. watched a feature film of tdudp not long ago. alf was dreadful at daughters wedding and racist towards a black guest ....but..she was gracious,good looking and abviously a lot better educated and classier than him.
but i dont deny racism in our society is not still a hurdle..in hospital this week i listened to another patient being foul to black nurse..sadly as we discussed later..some dumb cases are hopeless cases...... excuse lack of punc 1 hand typing....
I'm confused. Are people saying this is a real sitcom? It's clearly a spoof of old-fashioned American sitcoms with implausible set-ups, unfunny jokes and canned laughter.
I don't find anything offensive about it. Seemed a lot of nations loved this too - as I recall from an old Granada Plus fan page.
As for love they neighbour though - I was not allowed to watch it, although I'm not sure i would do - even today.