I hadn’t even heard about the latest BBC Trust complaint until around 11pm last night. Newsnight devoted a section of the show to a discussion on comedy and the barriers of taste, with the centre of the chat focusing on criticism of Boyle’s assertion on Mock The Week that Rebecca Adlington looks like ’someone who’s looking at themselves in the back of a spoon’.
As with the ‘Sachsgate’ affair that finally petered out (leaving symptoms that are still apparent today) it’s just a shame that the target is so undeserving and that the craft of the content is so base. Had it been some idiot politician or even a self-righteous, irritating sports figure, and had the content of the joke been particularly well-structured rather than a simple, unkind comparison, Boyle might have given us something to get behind and support.
Jokes about personal appearance will always be around, so there’s nothing here to get all furious about. We all know comedy relies on cariacature and the absurd – and Frankie Boyle is probably well aware that he himself resembles a ridiculous, flame-headed rodent and has an outrageous, almost impenetrable brogue – and the idea of comedians being robbed of the right to sum up how others sound or appear to them seems a little extreme.
Maybe the real problem rests with production at the BBC. Boyle himself says:
“Our top story was the British team returning home from the Olympics. We’d talked about them for five weeks and yet still had to joke about them getting off a plane.”
He makes the point that, given the material they’re asked to work with, the boundaries have to be pushed further and further because the topic has already been exhausted on a show that is already itself exhausted. If you put a comedian like Boyle – who is probably great live, but in the context of live TV is certain to offend at least a slice of the audience – in a corner with a lack of material, he won’t hesitate to break a taboo or shock simply to provoke laughter. As Boyle says, if they’d been asked to talk about something more central to current affairs, then it wouldn’t have happened.
Similarly, as has been roundly agreed, production is to blame for the Sachsgate affair, but the blame publically lay with the front of house, recognisable faces of Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross.
That’s not to excuse a particularly unfunny joke by Boyle and an endlessly dull routine from JR and RB, but context is key, and the decision to go to air – thus humiliating the subject of any mickey-taking routine to an infinitely greater degree than they would have been otherwise – is the one that should be criticised. Isn’t it?
*end of football comment*
144 Comments
Did someone really complain about that?! Grow the fuck up. Just grow up or avoid all comedy*.
*except the Chuckle Brothers
Indeed.
I think the point is that Frankie Boyle is just looking to publicise Frankie Boyle and will do by any means.
I would suggest that he is all in favour of “boundaries”. If it wasn’t for the beebs sensitivity and perceived public scrutiny this would be a non story “comedian tries to make joke about celebrities appearance ” .
I think she’s quite tasty…
“I say I say I say, my dogs got no nose”
” You heartless bastard!”
I nearly made sense there, nearly….
Frankie has an “outrageous, almost impenetrable brogue.” Really? Not so impenetrable you couldn’t understand and report on the joke then? This is getting very boring. The comedians on Mock the Week improvise on the spot . There’s no malice in Frankie, he’s a great comedian and a very genial bloke. If tv is made pc there’ll be absolutely no point in watching it anymore.
The Everton boss refused to speak to a Five Live reporter the other night in protest over the fact his team had to play three games over three consecutive days.
Three games over three days? Well I reckon that puts getting up at 4:00 a.m. to spend all day in a field picking sprouts into perspective. An hour and a half’s work a night? Out-fucking-rageous!
“The comedians on Mock the Week improvise on the spot”
Erm…..
Tracey – that comment about Boyle’s accent was clearly flippant and in tribute to the man’s own style, don’t get upset.
And Nick’s right – they clearly don’t improvise on the spot, Boyle himself says they get their topics days in advance.
I agree with electroweb. And you’d have thought with all the bombs going off in the middle east and the EU summit and young ladies being brutally murdered and all that, that there would be no space for such a poor story.
Good morning
My point (badly made) is that in my view, Frankie Boyle just isn’t that funny. He’s only in the news because he’s “pushing boundaries”.
They are pretty lame boundaries, Nick. I used to tell people they were ugly and they smelled when i was in infant school in the playground. Does that mean that I am ahead of my time, or rather that these ‘boundaries’ are completely made up?
Comedians and comedy, by nature, must poke fun at someone. It happens that Frankie Boyle often chooses the rude path rather than the gentle one. I am not saying whether i think tthis is good or bad, but it is a standard part of how humour works.
Agreed, they are lame boundaries in this case and flexible too. All designed to take our eyes off the ball ie all the fish has been eaten, Blaire to become president of eu, eroding of civil liberties etc . (bit of politics)
I think you were ahead of your time too.
*hides*
Just had an unhappy tweet about the ‘brogue’ thing in the article. People are very sensitive about accents. I clearly didn’t mean it any more than Boyle means half the shit he says.
Twitter is fast becoming the most irritating thing in the world.
I’m in a bad mood.
But that’s what it’s called isn’t it?
How can that be an insult?
You wait till the swimming fraternity read this, they’ll all swim to Rebecca’s defence, yes?
Well, Boyle also plays on his accent sometimes. All of us have an accent of one sort or another. I am always fascinated by the range and number of them in such a small island. Saying that he has a brougue is not insensitive. Some people do have inpenetrable accents, although admittedly, people on TV less so. At least his accent is not always misused to portray idiots on TV, unlike my natural accent.
So people, no need to be sensitive about accents. We all have one, whether we like it or not! You may not be able to understand me, or someone from Liverpool or whatever. It is not exclusively about Boyle’s accent. It is all subjective, innit!
Mine has been likened to a cockerney Mel!
Me?
I have a piano!!!
In short, swines, you can tell your twit friends that Fiona Mayhem off of the internet tells them all to wind their thickly accented necks in.
Twitter is the cowards way…
*puts up dukes*
Has Rebecca Adlington actrually complained? Bet she hasn’t. Because the only thing worse than having the mickey gently taken out of you is NOT having the mickey gently taken out of you. He didn’t exactly call her a pox-ridden whore. And now the interfering do-gooders will be coming on here and defending piqued against Napoleon soon and then where will we be. Eh?
*throws whelk*
Exactly, fourstar – and Boyle’s probably capable of self-deprecation in the extreme, it’s just his act doesn’t accommodate it. (Lovely win last night btw)
And thanks for sticking up for me Mel!
I wish I had an accent sometimes. I sound like a potato.
Somebody moaned about how you described the way this Scotch get talked, did they? They should learn to be less thin-skinned, I reckon. ‘Brogue’ ain’t nothing compared to the ways I’ve described how those blue-arsed cannibal monkeys talk.
If you can call it talking.
Nick – I am shocked and appalled that you would choose to threaten us with sea snails. I shall be setting Twitter upon you forthwith. This is way worse than calling Frankie Boyle’s accent an impenetrable brogue.
My nickname at school was “English poof”.
GOOD MORNING.
I’m sorry Mel, I can’t understand a word you said…
pilchard – you are a bit of an English poof.
That’s allright Nick, I am a yokel.
Didn’t the makers of South Park once say that either everything is funny or nothing is funny?
You can’t pick and choose, different strokes and all that.
I think you can pick and choose.
I’m off to Newbury
Byes
I didn’t say I was complaining, Swines. There were worse things to be called.
It’s still summertime in here.
*enjoys summertime*
Morningz everyone.
*ruffles SH’s hair*
Glaswegian is definitely impenetrable. I used to know this Glaswegian fella, Tony. I could get what he was saying most of the time, but if he was drunk or talking about football it was just a string of noises. Funny though, because when back to Glasgow his friends used to tease him for having a poncy southern accent.
morning.
you don’t look like a potato, swineshead.
my first housemate upon moving to this great island was a glaswegian named louise who (i) spoke really fast as well as being glaswegian and i understood nothing for a good 6 weeks, and (ii) had the most immense amount of hair i’ve ever seen on a person’s head and much of which made its way onto various house surfaces.
MORNING.
All this talk of impenetrable brogues has made me want to buy hand-tooled mens shoes. That’s the power of advertising!
I understand Glaswegians well enough, but I’m from Aberdeen where we speak a whole other language called the Doric. (Well, I don’t because I’m English.)
“Hello” in Aberdeen is “fit like?” There are two acceptable answers: “nay bad, fit like’s yersel?” and “chauffin awa”. After that, the conversation normally gets less exciting.
I have a bloody ridiculous quasi-westcontry/transatlantic accent, and I still can’t understand Scotch that well.I reckon, right, if you don’t want people taking the piss, then you shouldn’t look/sound/act in any way outside the norms proscribed y GAP’s international marketing department. You’ve only got yourselves to blame, you bloody weirdies!
Swines tastes like a potato, though.
I’ve never plugged anything in here before, so can I mention that after writing as many as 17 posts in 2003, I have suddenly today restarted my blog of VI Lenin’s posthumous world tour?
*awaits indifference*
Beautiful looking blog, Pilchard.
I put a lot of effort into the design, Naps.
I can see that. I like the way it looks like somebody’s sawn off the right-hand side.
Swines – here in Holland, if you sound like you have a ‘potato in your mouth’ when you speak, you are considered very posh.
Naps, I thought Lenin would appreciate being “justified right”. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Pilchard, that is terrible. I think you are really Stalin.
Thanks Mel! I’ll take that as a compliment.
Mel, the Dutch are “bot”.
i’m a bit hunged over.
I meant the awful pun, not the blog BTW. I haven’t read enough of that to judge.
Something on the radio’s made me think. We all get cantankerous as we age, so d’ye think Elvis Costello has gone from being disgusted, to trying to be amused, to back to being disgusted again?
Poor breeks. I had a delightfull evening drinking whiskey last night, yet I am as fresh as a daisy *rubs it in*
Pilch – i am not sure what you bean about the bot thing. I may not have a hangover, but i do appear to have killed a few brain cells.
Pilchard’s an Englishman from Aberdeen?!? He kept that quiet.
I don’t know what Pilchard beans about the bot thing neither.
shutup, bappers, I have a cold.
*doesn’t really have a cold,but hopes it will detract from her mistake*
Mel, ask some Dutchpersons if the Dutch tend to be “bot”.
I had a cold and I’m pleased to report the missus has it now. Just one of the simple pleasures a man can enjoy when he’s in a long-term relationship …
Please, please, pretty please will everyone do one of these, either of yourself or how you think another WWM regular might look and then post it?
http://flashface.ctapt.de/
Morning
Boyle was the only reason to watch Mock The Week, which I’ve not for a while anyway, as SH cited, it’s tired. This is because of the rest of the ‘team’ are by and large shit, O Briain is consistently awful and that Andy Parson is about as amusing as piles.
Instead of moaning about what was probably the only funny quip on the whole show, albeit mocking (geddit) there is more of a case to complain about my license fee winding up in Parson’s pocket.
Afternoon.
I had that cold, NC. You caught it off me via the interswebb
Thumper, I don’t keep it quiet. I sing this every time I post to WWM. Listen harder.
Clarry, that is ace, but I am having trouble with my nose.
Pilch – I am nit going to ask my Dutch colleague if he is unrefined or raw. That would be a bit weird.
That’s an excellent Simon Bates, Naps. I’ve imagined you as “Napoleonnn”.
Pilchard, shouldn’t you be called Herring7 or Haddie7?
That’s right, Mel. (Some) Dutch people like to think of themselves as unrefined or raw. Plain-speaking, no-frills, etc. But some of them might be bot enough to hit you if you suggest that they might be bot. If you see what I mean. (God knows I don’t.)
No, Thumps, I’ve always been called Pilchard.
It’s a long story.
That’s ok Pilch, I respect your privacy.
*bets it’s a really mucky story*
I have no idea where that Simon Bates I made went, Pilchard.
Naps, you do “load face”, scroll down, select, then do “load”.
You’ve really captured the creepiness of his glasses.
It must be the thin sliver of artistic ‘talent’ I have, Pilchard. It allows me to make half-decent images of a 1980s radio DJ with ease.
What about Simon Mayo?
Good lord, Pilchard! I’ve just looked at your picture of me and it’s sent shivers down my spine! Have we met? I can only assume we have because that was like looking in a mirror.
I’ve done my version of Piqued too.
Now I’m going to lie down.
I’m still doing one – how do I see yours?
Pilch, that is beautiful.
Clarry – go to load face, then scroll down the nammes and you will see them near the end.
I just done Ollie Reed as he would have appeared on Parkinson in 1972.
Mine’s up there
http://watchwithmothers.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Picture-43.png
How to I get to view these fellows?
Nappers, your ollie read appears to be blank.
Piqued – go to load face, scroll down to face you wish to see (ours are near the end) click on name, then click on load (above the detail of the author etc). The face you want will appear there
I second Mel – Naps, I think you must have erased Ollie.
Phwwoooooaaaaarrrrrrrr!
My Ollie’s gone, has it? Bugger.
I’d buy THAT for a dollar!
Slightly unsavoury for an open office of a right on working establishment though chaps.
Nappers is up there now, it’s bloody spot on
That’s not Nappers, Piqued – it’s Darwin.
That is pretty close to what I imagine the not-seen-very-often Mr H looks like, Piqued.
Those pictures of me are uncanny.
On the subject of Mr. H, Mel, I thought he’d had another heart attack and died. Sadly, his awful blog was updated recently, so that was that dream shattered.
Don’t say the word ‘uncanny’ around Piqued, he drifts into scholar mode…
That Keith1234 looks like a Californian car thief and no mistake. I’ll keep an eye out for him, in case he decides to come over here and “nick” any of the “motors” in my “manor”.
What a wonderful tool this is, Clarry.
…or ‘unheimlich,’ ‘uncanny’ a poor translation
Pardon? oh…
Anyhoo, I was the last person to see SH in the flesh, and have done a likeness under ‘Swines’
Right, I’m off on holiday. If I’m not back in 3 weeks, I’ve been nicked at the airport or exchanged for a dozen camels by my wife & family.
Stay lucky, WWM-ers.
I done a serious one of me, but I’m not posting that. I have seen pictures of most of the other regulars, and had a beer with a few of them in That London, so that would also be cheating, really. But it is fantastic.
By FS, wuv oo
NOT MORNING.
I commend all of your excellent faces. I was gonna try and do me but none of the models have enough hair. I assume that means I can now commit any sort of crime and get away with it completely unidentified. *robs all your houses*
Also, I think I once snogged Nappers as imagined by Piqued. Is it Phil Collins after a month in a Swiss sewer, Mark?
I’ve caught the California car thief, “Keith1234″ (which isn’t his real name). It’s this guy.
Expect I’ll get a medal.
*phones LAPD*
Bye bye Fourstar.
*tries to sneak back in to collect coat*
It’s Keith1234,
kill the pig, bash him in
Piqued – ithink you have killed both Keith 1234 and this thread with that comment! Can you tap dance?
*lies dead at foot of stage with Wayne Sleep screaming*
The thread’s not dead,
It’s in the shed.
I can’t get on that drawings site, how annoying…
*imagines faces instead*
*pulls face at Roszs*
Howzat?
Rozszszsz, sorry you can’t just walk in here using your imagination, it’s not on
^
I’m excited about that new ad for Pixie. —
It has been there since the day before yesterday, Pilchard.
My face disappeared.
Naps he was disgusted, then he tried to be amused and you were listening to Radio 2 the same time as I was!
Would you fancy penning a few words for my Wikipedia entry?
Me, Nick? Nobody’s asked me to do such a thing before. I’m touched …
GET FUCKED!
He was disgusted, then he was amused, but then there was something about the angels’ wings getting rusted and them wanting his red shoes. Then they told him about their side of the bargain, and he knew that he could not refuse. He then realised he wouldn’t get any older, because the angels wanted his red shoes.
In a follow-up statement, Mr Costello clarified that he had no interest in going to Chelsea.
Sorry Mel.
*thinks Mel is a bit bot*
right i know i’m late to this make-your-face thing but i did it and ended up making myself look like an enid blyton kid.
i can state for the record that piqued’s is eerily true to life.
Pilchard – Bot off! (joke)
Breeks – that is indeed a work of beauty. I think you look a bit like Rosemary off of Rosemary’s Baby in that one.
thanks mayhem, evil cute.
Can I quote you on that Naps?
Aw, Breeks – you look naaaaas. (Nice.)
Take a look at “MichaelJackson12″ though. Very, very worrying.
ooh eck, Phil Archer died today in real life
I’ve done “Pilchard”. It needs spots though.
cheers pilch.
MJ12 gave me awake-mares. ungood.
Wow Mel!
I thought Jack would go first
you look quite sad, pilchard, and also unsettlingly familiar.
Michael Jackson looks more like Sue Perkins IMHO.
Nick – I know, I wonder how they are going to write that into the script. He is very much alive and kicking in Ambridge.
Pilchard – your impression of yourself really reminds me of someone. Are you a famous?
Jim will be pleased Mel.
I made a great picture but can’t find it.
Jim? Nick?
Aha, I have got it, Pilchard’s own artisctic impression looks like Chris Packham, with less hair, and abit older.
Swines wins the prize for the best hair. Nick yours is creepy.
I will do mine tonight. PROMISE.
I like that someone drew their future husband on there. Fingers crossed it comes true for them…
I started to do a proper one and then I got annoyed with it and added a diguise.
http://i694.photobucket.com/albums/vv307/Clarry_2009/identikit.jpg
i like it clarry. it seems we are related.
Clarry – that one looks like my cousin.
(
She is female
It worked!
Yes a diguise…
Jim, Alistairs dad and grandfather to Daniel?
Oh sorry, of course that Jim. It has been a long day.
Oh man, I keep staring at Pilchard’s face, and it’s on the tip of my tongue… Chris Packham is a good call, but there’s someone else… I like the fact you appear to be wearing a snood, Pilch. Someone should bring the snood back.
I’m gonna do mine now. Thrills!
I’ve made myself look a bit fatter than I really am in that identikit picture. Maybe if you put Chris Packham’s head in a vice, that might come close. (Would also be fun.)
JRME, you’ve got that Bill Bailey thing going there.
Wow – take a look at “Maiquel Llacson”. Genius.
Great disguise, Clarry. With those glasses on, you look nothing like the Clarry I don’t know anyway.
i watched the same discussion on newsnight. i bet i get a female avatar for my sins. it’s all wrong, but i have missed you. that is all.
Frankly Boyle’s just a bit mediocre, surely?
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[...] Just a Thought: Boyle & The BBC Trust | Watch With Mothers I hadn’t even heard about the latest BBC Trust complaint until around 11pm last night. Newsnight devoted a section of the show to a discussion on comedy and the barriers of taste, with the centre of the chat focusing on criticism of Boyle’s assertion on Mock The Week that Rebecca Adlington looks like ’someone who’s looking at themselves in the back of a spoon’. [...]
[...] Watch with Mothers Blogsuggested that "the real problem rests with production at the BBC", eliciting a massive response. [...]