While I was offline for a month, I kept a note of any links and news stories worth commenting on. Now that I’m back, I’m aiming to post two short items a day here, about stuff that happened during my online absence, until I’ve cleared the backlog. This is one of those.
At the start of December, Christina Martin wrote a blog post in which she got uppity and moaned about some so-called offensive comedy on Channel 4, and decided to be all over-sensitive about Frankie Boyle and someone called Morgana. This whole big fuss kicked off, just because these comedians made a few jokes about how shit the mentally handicapped are, and invited millions of viewers to join them in laughing at disabled people’s comical inability to conform to more familiar patterns of behaviour.
Honestly, the political correctness these days is out of control. It’s getting so you can’t even pull someone out of their wheelchair and punch them in the face before stoning a few gay people to death and raping your wife any more without offending somebody. People are so touchy.
I forgot what my point was.
Oh, yes. The point of the above entirely unfair characterisation was that, whenever there are complaints of offense being caused in the name of humour, there’ll always be a crowd who refuse to accept any kind of compromise. They’re adamantly decided ahead of time that any decision not to make a particular joke at the expense of someone who can’t defend themselves is nothing more than pandering and over-sensitivity by woolly liberals, not to mention that utmost of horrors, censorship of their free speech.
The point was that some people fail to differentiate between “over-sensitivity” and, y’know, “sensitivity”.
And if someone from a minority demographic who have it pretty tough at the best of times (or someone not unreasonably speaking for them) says that these jokes are hurtful, and damaging, and perpetuate an unjust social disparity amounting to discrimination and bullying, then the least you can do is shut up and listen long enough to honestly consider whether they might be right.
I know a lot of people whine about being offended just because they’re thin-skinned and don’t know how to change the channel. But that’s not the only reason people complain that something’s offensive. Sometimes things really are unkind and unnecessary.
If you believe that people should have freedom to speak their views why are you so angered by Christina Martin? Her brother has learning difficulties. She loves him. Why not let her have her say and then argue your case with civility, wit and grace?
You see the problem with these barbed personal attacks on Christina – a lovely lady by the way – is that you are polarising the issue to an absurd degree. You attribute all sorts of qualities to Christina that she does not actually have. In fact your excess sounds funny to a good many disability campaigners. You sound like a caricature of yourself. Did you mean to send yourself up? I rather doubt you did.
I suspect you are using laughter to cover up the embarrassment and discomfort you feel when you come across a person with a disability. I would not blame you at all for that. Disability can make people feel awkward.
May I make a suggestion? Why not try getting to know some people with disabilities? Put yourself in their shoes. You may discover you like or even admire some of your new acquaintences.
I have a disability myself. The last thing I want to do is deny you fun, entertainment and freedom of speech but I cannot pretend to find abuse funny. You would not do so were you in my shoes. A bit of empathy both ways never goes amiss.
I could be wrong, Beatrice, but I don’t think the original article was meant quite in the spirit you’ve taken it :)
To anyone else joining in this particular thread, Beatrice did tweet at me earlier after posting this to let me know she’d since realised what I was aiming for. Your very patient approach to spiteful opposition which certainly does exist, if not on this blog, does you credit.
I’d hoped that my tone in the opening two paragraphs would be too obviously parodical for anyone to take seriously, and I think by the end of the piece the actual point being made is fairly clear, but I’m sorry if some of the faux mean-spiritedness seemed genuine. I don’t really want to get all gay people stoned. I can’t afford that much gear. (Oh yes, a little drug abuse levity to lighten the mood.)
What do you think of Jordan’s response to what Frankie Boyle said about her son?
I don’t know what was said so I can’t judge for myself, but attacking disabled children who can’t fight back does smack of bullying to me, or opportunism at the very least. What do you think?