Maureen Lipman: Cancel culture could wipe out comedy

[theclaud]

Who's rattled your gherkin?

To be fair, that's a pleasing phrase.

 

[Mugshot]

Did you ask this fella the same question?

Paul didn't add a "This forum really is dire!" to his post, I'm afraid that does rather suggest that you don't understand the manner in which things are being posted.

 

[Deleted member 28]

In a similar vein, can a one-legged man play Tarzan?

View: https://youtu.be/lbnkY1tBvMU

You do realise no-one is supporting Lipman?

You on the sauce early? You appear to have no idea who you're replying to, again.

You all blend into one another, edited now.

 

[Deleted member 28]

To be fair, that's a pleasing phrase.

Glad you approve. 👍

 

[Mugshot]

You do realise no-one is supporting Lipman?

You all blend into one another, edited now.

Well, deleted which is bit different.
Perhaps you could sort the one from the other day when you muddled your posters up and called me a prick as a result?

 

[glasgowcyclist]

To be fair, that's a pleasing phrase.

Even the PMSL emoji isn’t enough for that.

I almost choked on my rum and coke! (shut it)

 

[Unkraut]

Is the learning and speaking of foreign languages cultural appropriation?

 

[icowden]

Lipman is hardly the first to object to this sort of casting (see numerous examples in the Fab Guardian article); persons of acting talent and colour have been all over it for years, then there are the gay and disabled communities ....
So I guess Lipman's name is on the wall - the NACA un-cool wall. No doubt her PR guy has head-in-hands.

I suppose the difficulty is where you draw the line. For example, it's now seen as a big negative for a white actor to "black up", but as yet Eddie Murphy hasn't been asked to apologise for "whiting up".

There is a situation where the push for equality message is that if there is an actor who could play a role, but who doesn't need to "alter" themselves, then why not use that actor? So, if your script calls for a one legged actor, use a one legged actor rather than a two legged actor pretending to be a one legged actor. But that seems to have morphed into "only a gay actor can play a gay character" etc.

The issue of Jewishness is an interesting one in that Jews consider themselves to be both a religious group and an ethnic group.

David Baddiel has a great explainer, from his perspective as someone who is Jewish but who does not practice Judaism:

View: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Untitled-David-Baddiel/dp/0008399476/

 

[matticus]

Well, deleted which is bit different.
Perhaps you could sort the one from the other day when you muddled your posters up and called me a prick as a result?

IS there someone I can call a prick that will fix all this? I'm being distracted from the other Serious Issues of the Day on NACA :-/

 

[Mugshot]

IS there someone I can call a prick that will fix all this? I'm being distracted from the other Serious Issues of the Day on NACA :-/

Try a scattergun approach, someone will stick their head above the parapet.

 

[matticus]

YUR ALL PRICKS!

(like that?)

 

[Fab Foodie]

YUR ALL PRICKS!

(like that?)

Compliment of the day...so far....

 

[theclaud]

I suppose the difficulty is where you draw the line. For example, it's now seen as a big negative for a white actor to "black up", but as yet Eddie Murphy hasn't been asked to apologise for "whiting up".

There is a situation where the push for equality message is that if there is an actor who could play a role, but who doesn't need to "alter" themselves, then why not use that actor? So, if your script calls for a one legged actor, use a one legged actor rather than a two legged actor pretending to be a one legged actor. But that seems to have morphed into "only a gay actor can play a gay character" etc.
The issue of Jewishness is an interesting one in that Jews consider themselves to be both a religious group and an ethnic group.

David Baddiel has a great explainer, from his perspective as someone who is Jewish but who does not practice Judaism:

View: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Untitled-David-Baddiel/dp/0008399476/

The case for representation, diversity, opportunity and employment isn't really about authenticity. It is about resisting the domination of culture, especially mass culture, bu straight/white/western people and their assumptions and perspectives, and ending the unjust exclusion of swathes of people from roles, platforms, experiences and opportunities which include some of the most influential and high-profile in our society (as well as everyday work opportunities). And the quality/talent case for diversity is as clear in art and culture as it is in football. I do concede that the current focus on 'lived experience' (a formulation which originated in feminism and doesn't transfer wholesale, in my view, to the arena of artistic representation or expression) has given rise to simplistic ideas about casting and portrayal, but I suppose that is the flip side of the era memorably satirised in Norbert Smith.

I think Baddiel is basically a decent sort, and he has certainly been on the receiving end of antisemitic abuse, but he bought into a form of McCarthyism and allied himself with some seriously bad faith actors. He seems convinced that everything is about him, and has become extremely boring as a result. I'm not inclined to give his book a go on the basis of the rest of his recent output.

What on earth is the problem with Eddie Murphy doing a satirical investigation into the way that black and white people are treated differently (assuming it's the SNL thing you are referring to)? Can we just stop with the false equivalence?

 

[Hitchington]

YUR ALL PRICKS!

(like that?)

 

[icowden]

I think Baddiel is basically a decent sort, and he has certainly been on the receiving end of antisemitic abuse, but he bought into a form of McCarthyism and allied himself with some seriously bad faith actors. He seems convinced that everything is about him, and has become extremely boring as a result. I'm not inclined to give his book a go on the basis of the rest of his recent output.

What on earth is the problem with Eddie Murphy doing a satirical investigation into the way that black and white people are treated differently (assuming it's the SNL thing you are referring to)? Can we just stop with the false equivalence?

No false equivalence. I have no problem with Eddie Murphy being made over as a white man. However, my point was that if this was reversed and a white actor decided to be made over as a black man for the purposes of satire or experiment it would still be deemed "wrong" or "racist". Just as Reginald D Hunter was decried as being racist (presumably against himself) for using the N word at a football gig.

We seem to have lost the nuance that racism requires intent, whether passive or active and that without intent, there is no racism.

As for Baddiel, I've always found him both funny, self-deprecating and the opposite of the "me me me" type. But - horses for courses. Regardless - his book is an interesting read.