The news that Little Britain was returning to BBC iPlayer was far from a welcome announcement for me.
It was a familiar sense of despair – the memories flooding back and I felt that I was back at school, with my peers making fun of people like me while laughing uncontrollably.
Although the show has been edited to ‘better reflect changes in the cultural landscape’, and their blackface character has been removed, I was saddened to see there doesn’t appear to be an attempt to remove some of the other offensive jokes and characters, such as the ones that make fun of transgender people, or Asian people.
Co-creator Matt Lucas has previously said his own views have changed and it would be very ‘hard’ to do that character now, but that didn’t stop the duo allowing the the same trans characters to stay in re-runs of the original.
Despite Lucas claiming on screen that ‘they shouldn’t be doing this sketch anymore’ – they still allow it to be streamed and fail to fully explain why they shouldn’t be.
Another missed opportunity to have a teaching moment and explain why these types of jokes are cruel and fuel stigma towards the transgender community.
I have been really pleased to see Matt Lucas in particular speak out against groups labelled anti-trans and show himself to be a trans ally, which is why I am more than a little surprised that those characters weren’t removed.
If, as Lucas claims, he is a trans ally, it is even more important to be critical of the message the show sends about trans people and their identities, no matter how difficult that may be for him.
Little Britain was first broadcast on TV 19 years ago, and the comedy in it naturally reflects the cultural norms and understandings of the time.
While there are certainly sketches and jokes in there that have stood the test of time, many more of them simply haven’t, and I sincerely doubt the show would be made today.
Comedy has to be able to move on with the times, because otherwise it will simply be seen as out of touch and outdated.
But, there’s a more serious point – if comedy doesn’t change, it can continue to fuel stigma and prejudice towards minority groups in society.
There are definitely ways to make comedy that involves minority groups without enforcing stereotypes and prejudice – such as making fun of the challenges that these groups face, and the ridiculous situations they get put into simply for being themselves.
There are comedians who have done this – such as Hannah Gadsby who has used her own experiences of discrimination as a part of her shows.
While Little Britain – which was a huge success and spawned a number of spin-offs – will always be a part of Britain’s comedy history, it’s important that we are able to reflect and be critical of content that was produced a long time ago.
When the show was removed from streaming platforms in 2020, Matt Lucas and David Walliams even apologised for their portrayals of characters of other races.
But what remains is still problematic: There’s fatphobia, classism, transphobia and harmful stereotypes about disabled people.
To be honest, it’s a sign that the whole show should be taken off air and relegated to the history books.
For some people, watching shows like Little Britain brings a welcome sense of nostalgia.
Sadly, the show also brings a lot of hurt and prejudice towards people like me.
Little Britain is simply a small part of a larger history of comedy and TV content that has ridiculed and fueled stigma towards my community for decades.
People are welcome to enjoy and watch what they want, but I think it’s a mistake to bring Little Britain back, as it remains sadly littered with offensive and inappropriate jokes throughout despite the editing process.
It would be much more interesting to see new comedy that is innovative, engaging and challenging that we can all enjoy, with minorities and vulnerable people being more than simply the butt of the joke.
Comedy needs to move on and stop recycling old content – especially when that content is as unoriginal, boring and downright offensive as many of the jokes targeting minorities on Little Britain.
Credit: Original article published here.You can read this post on My Celebrity Life.
The news that Little Britain was returning to BBC iPlayer was far from a welcome announcement for me.
It was a familiar sense of despair – the memories flooding back and I felt that I was back at school, with my peers making fun of people like me while laughing uncontrollably.
Although the show has been edited to ‘better reflect changes in the cultural landscape’, and their blackface character has been removed, I was saddened to see there doesn’t appear to be an attempt to remove some of the other offensive jokes and characters, such as the ones that make fun of transgender people, or Asian people.
Co-creator Matt Lucas has previously said his own views have changed and it would be very ‘hard’ to do that character now, but that didn’t stop the duo allowing the the same trans characters to stay in re-runs of the original.
Despite Lucas claiming on screen that ‘they shouldn’t be doing this sketch anymore’ – they still allow it to be streamed and fail to fully explain why they shouldn’t be.
Another missed opportunity to have a teaching moment and explain why these types of jokes are cruel and fuel stigma towards the transgender community.
I have been really pleased to see Matt Lucas in particular speak out against groups labelled anti-trans and show himself to be a trans ally, which is why I am more than a little surprised that those characters weren’t removed.
If, as Lucas claims, he is a trans ally, it is even more important to be critical of the message the show sends about trans people and their identities, no matter how difficult that may be for him.
Little Britain was first broadcast on TV 19 years ago, and the comedy in it naturally reflects the cultural norms and understandings of the time.
While there are certainly sketches and jokes in there that have stood the test of time, many more of them simply haven’t, and I sincerely doubt the show would be made today.
Comedy has to be able to move on with the times, because otherwise it will simply be seen as out of touch and outdated.
But, there’s a more serious point – if comedy doesn’t change, it can continue to fuel stigma and prejudice towards minority groups in society.
There are definitely ways to make comedy that involves minority groups without enforcing stereotypes and prejudice – such as making fun of the challenges that these groups face, and the ridiculous situations they get put into simply for being themselves.
There are comedians who have done this – such as Hannah Gadsby who has used her own experiences of discrimination as a part of her shows.
While Little Britain – which was a huge success and spawned a number of spin-offs – will always be a part of Britain’s comedy history, it’s important that we are able to reflect and be critical of content that was produced a long time ago.
When the show was removed from streaming platforms in 2020, Matt Lucas and David Walliams even apologised for their portrayals of characters of other races.
But what remains is still problematic: There’s fatphobia, classism, transphobia and harmful stereotypes about disabled people.
To be honest, it’s a sign that the whole show should be taken off air and relegated to the history books.
For some people, watching shows like Little Britain brings a welcome sense of nostalgia.
Sadly, the show also brings a lot of hurt and prejudice towards people like me.
Little Britain is simply a small part of a larger history of comedy and TV content that has ridiculed and fueled stigma towards my community for decades.
People are welcome to enjoy and watch what they want, but I think it’s a mistake to bring Little Britain back, as it remains sadly littered with offensive and inappropriate jokes throughout despite the editing process.
It would be much more interesting to see new comedy that is innovative, engaging and challenging that we can all enjoy, with minorities and vulnerable people being more than simply the butt of the joke.
Comedy needs to move on and stop recycling old content – especially when that content is as unoriginal, boring and downright offensive as many of the jokes targeting minorities on Little Britain.
Credit: Original article published here.You can read this post on My Celebrity Life.