Bernard Manning Bites the Dust

[dealerFROMhell]

Listen up big boy, the only thing to come out of me in the past couple of hours was this mornings Jalfrezi.

I've got an arse like the Japanese flag.

[phatomch]

and i am sure a few kamakaze boys have kissed both

[dealerFROMhell]

Too right mate. That's the good thing about them Japs, so feminine...

[phatomch]

we could be looking at the flushy treatment if we insult a whole nation..

[phatomch]

i have the pleasure of knowing dealer (not the way he would like) for some years now

[dealerFROMhell]

Ever since you spiked me with GBH and made me dance like a monkey in my Tazmanian Devil thong.

[phatomch]

you must have been on something it was clearly a elephant trunk posing pouch... the young today.

[dealerFROMhell]

Get that carrot-top down here from the Gutshot.

I want to give him a piece of my mind again

[Muahahahaha]

At the risk of returning, ( even remotely ) to the general topic of this thread.

Was Manning racist ?  Is is comedy weakened / strengthened dependant to your ( individual ) answer to those questions.

I saw Manning live in a small, back of a pub, hall, about 10 years ago.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  He came out on stage with a pint, and immediately picked on a 'paki' at the front of the audience.  Maybe I'm a cynic, but I instantly thought this guy must be a plant - why else come to a gig like this, sit that close to the front?  Do people like being laughed at by 150 strangers ?

He then proceeded to rattle off classic '70s style jokes for about 10 minutes.  In the environment we were in I too found him funny & felt no guilt in laughing along.  But then the booze seemed to reel Manning in, His  speech became more slurred, the comedy dried up, & Manning started floundering around the stage.  He repeated gag after gag, forgot jokes, changed subject mid sentance.  He totally lost it.

Basically he looked like a fat, stupid, sad old git. 

My opinion, for what it's worth.  Manning reflected the views of his society.  As society has evolved, so has comedy.

I mean, imagine the uproar if Matt Lucas & David Walliams dressed up as middle class women who violently threw up if they'd eaten something made by a coloured person.  Would that be called racist ?

[AdamM]

I think it's fairly obvious that's poking fun at the racists, rather than the races, in the same way in the fat fighters sketches Marjorie Doors is the one we're laughing at, rather than the club members

[AndrewT]

I think it's fairly obvious that's poking fun at the racists, rather than the races, in the same way in the fat fighters sketches Marjorie Doors is the one we're laughing at, rather than the club members

But what if someone watching it doesn't get the joke and sits there laughing 'Ha ha - fat people.' or 'Look at the stupid fat gay'?

[Colchester Kev]

What if it encourages peolple to abuse fat people by copying the character ... or GOD FORBID that anyone is driven to go out and mock the indian accent because they have seen a person on main stream television doing it.

[The Baron]

A point brought up in this thread a few times is "Why is it ok to mock the overweight and old but not certain races/religiongs?"

It's a good question and tough to answer but I do think there is an answer. Why are races/religions more easily offended than other "different" groups?

It comes down to past persecution I think. Fat people and old people, to my knowledge, haven't been persecuted on a national or global level like say Black/Jewish/Asian people have in various parts of the world.

Taking the piss out of someone overweight or old wont ever make them feel that "their people" are/were oppressed like it can with the race or religion issue.

These issues of the past create a higher sensitivity level. Sometimes far too high.

I know many friends who are fine with piss taking about our ethnic backgrounds personally. However the minute someone feels their entire culture or identity is being attacked it's not ok.

I don't ever remember someone seriously having a pop at the collectively overweight population or the collectively older masses. To me anyway, there is a distinction.

[booder]

quote author=The Baron link=topic=24741.msg504626#msg504626 date=1182540267]
A point brought up in this thread a few times is "Why is it ok to mock the overweight and old but not certain races/religiongs?"

It's a good question and tough to answer but I do think there is an answer. Why are races/religions more easily offended than other "different" groups?

It comes down to past persecution I think. Fat people and old people, to my knowledge, haven't been persecuted on a national or global level like say Black/Jewish/Asian people have in various parts of the world.

Taking the piss out of someone overweight or old wont ever make them feel that "their people" are/were oppressed like it can with the race or religion issue.

These issues of the past create a higher sensitivity level. Sometimes far too high.


[/quote]

more people commit suicide due to being mocked about their weight than about their race, so not strictly true.

[The Baron]

quote author=The Baron link=topic=24741.msg504626#msg504626 date=1182540267]
A point brought up in this thread a few times is "Why is it ok to mock the overweight and old but not certain races/religiongs?"

It's a good question and tough to answer but I do think there is an answer. Why are races/religions more easily offended than other "different" groups?

It comes down to past persecution I think. Fat people and old people, to my knowledge, haven't been persecuted on a national or global level like say Black/Jewish/Asian people have in various parts of the world.

Taking the piss out of someone overweight or old wont ever make them feel that "their people" are/were oppressed like it can with the race or religion issue.

These issues of the past create a higher sensitivity level. Sometimes far too high.

more people commit suicide due to being mocked about their weight than about their race, so not strictly true.
[/quote]

True.

But would 12 cartoons in a Danish news paper cause half the overweight world to start a terror campaign?