British Comedy

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For discussion of stand-up comedy and comedy TV shows/films in the UK.

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Little Britain sketch is ‘explicitly racist and outdated’, Ofcom research finds (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 1 year ago by Emperor to c/britishcomedy

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A controversial Little Britain sketch is “explicitly racist and outdated”, and it is surprising it is still available on BBC iPlayer, according to audience research by Ofcom.

The regulator showed people a number of clips of television as part of a study into audience expectations on potentially offensive content across linear TV and streaming services.

One sketch from Little Britain, originally broadcast in 2002 and available on iPlayer, shows David Walliams as university employee Linda Flint describing an Asian student, Kenneth Lao, over the phone to her manager.

He is described as having “yellowish skin, slight smell of soy sauce … the ching-chong China man.”

The scene is accompanied by a laugh track.

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[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That part was satire. It was mocking racists by depicting an unsavory character engaging in racist behavior. This is like pulling Blazing Saddles because of the colorful language it employs.

[–] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Satire is stone cold dead. Was killed publicly in 2016. RIP.

[–] smeg 4 points 1 year ago

Exactly! Reading beyond the headline, the shocking part is the short-sightedness of the people being polled.

One respondent, a father from Scotland, said: “If I saw my daughter watching that and then mimicking it, I’d be horrified.

Maybe don't show the programme with a 15 rating to your presumably young child then?

There are plenty of examples of really bad stuff in Little Britain, this isn't one.