Chav bashing...

[max_tranmere]

Lots of interesting comments there. I broadly agree with what people say.

Attitudes have certainly changed in recent decades, do you remember 'Mind Your Language' in the 1970's? I was a kid then but I do remember it. For those who don't remember it was about an evening class where immigrants learnt English (in London I think, or in some English city) and their varying degress of success. It was very much in the tradition of being able to laugh at ones-self, and the main star was (I think) the guy who now plays Patrcik Trueman on Eastenders. He was also in a series about how he, as a black man, got on with his white neighbour. I can't remember the name of that one. All harmless fun really, but nowdays you would never get away with it.

Those middle-class Guardian reading latte-sipping lefties in their Victorian conversions in Hackney would go bananas. These people, most of whom are white, would be getting as offended as they possibly could on behalf of the people who are apparently being 'belittled' in the show. They would bang on and on about it and try to find as many black and Asian people as they could who would agree with them. Then that violent communist outfit known as the UAF (Unite Against Fascism) would turn up and attack executives as they left the studios of the production company. Unite Against Freedom, sorry Fascism, 's boss Ken Livingstone would be there with a megafone calling the exec's "vile scum" and so on.

So you see, there would be no chance of getting away with programmes now that were fine in the 1970s. Unite Against Fascism is one of the ugliest parts of Labour's legacy.

I recall a few years ago Eastenders went to Ireland. Pauline discovered she had a half brother (or something) and the show relocated there for a week. Que lots of shots of old men in pubs in donkey jackets smoking rolly's, a gormless hotel manager who had to have everything repeated to him slowly, and even a scene where a donkey inexplicably walked down a road as two characters were talking. The tsunami of complaints the BBC got meant they had to devote an entire Points Of View programme to just this, and an Irish Government minister even made an official complaint to the BBC about it.

I suppose a lot of this comes down to who wrote the thing. If it was an Englishman who wrote Rab C Newbitt (I assume, from the lack of complaints, that it was a Scot) many people would have complained. If someone is of the same background as the person/people being ribbed it seems to be ok. I do think people get worked up about nothing a lot of the time though.

[Arginald Valleywater]

Sorry Max but these shows are far too close for comfort. I work for a social housing provider and these progs are treated as an extension of many tenants lives. Jeremy Kyle is their hero and they believe everything on his shows is how the majority of us live.

[RoddersUK]

Spot on.

[RoddersUK]

You're spot on as well.