Vexatious viewers

Once he was ‘too posh’; now he is prejudiced too. The BBC’s Basil Brush Show has been accused of ‘racism’ because one episode portrayed a gypsy woman trying to sell Basil bunches of heather and clothes pegs. Northamptonshire Police have been obliged to investigate the show because one watcher made a formal complaint. “Our Hate Crimes Unit is investigating”, a spokesman said ominously (yet also pointlessly, because this complaint is too ridiculous even for these ridiculous times).

The splendidly named Bridie Jones of the splendidly-named England Romany, Gypsy and Irish Traveller Network (George Borrow, thou shouldst be living at this hour), struck the authentic ‘anti-racist’ whining note: “I find it very upsetting and distressing that in this day-and-age the media will use a puppet to get their own negative views and opinions across of a group that is struggling to survive…They are not allowed to joke about blacks or Asians any more because they would be taken to court, but when it comes to gypsies or the Irish travelling community they mock us - and to them it’s not racist. We are the last group of people in this country who you can openly mock and make racist jokes about - who else is there?”

Actually, almost any group can be made fun of, under certain conditions (and rightly so).  No-one really minds, for instance, if people from a particular ethnic group poke fun at their own group. And sometimes it’s acceptable for outsiders to satirize others’ groups – even perceived ‘victim’ groups. Ali G was close to the bone with his celebrated satire on black urban ‘culture’, and made many Guardianistas shift uneasily in their well-upholstered seats, but eventually got away with it because of his intentions and post-modern ‘take’. Bernard Manning was never prosecuted for his (incidentally unfunny) jokes about blacks and Asians. And who gets upset when the Sun or similar journals have a go at the French or Germans or Welsh? That’s right; no-one. Trevor Phillips, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Peter Hain et al continue to doze in front of their PC PCs.

And what about this particular example of racism? I personally have often seen Irish travellers trying to sell bunches of heather wrapped up in tinfoil, and it never bothered me. It seemed to be a strange kind of thing to want to sell or buy (not as useful as clothes pegs), and a thin kind of living generally, but at least it was honest. If they had been trying to steal said heather (and gypsies were traditionally held to be thieves – something the pro-Romany George Borrow attested as fact) that would have been a different matter. Basil was accosted by a saleswoman no better and no worse than a cold-calling telesales conservatory salesman. Even accusing gypsies of stealing (had Basil done so) could potentially be an innocuous form of humour if done in a non-malicious way – I recommend Laurel and Hardy’s Bohemian Girl (before it is banned). Perennially amusing, with great songs too - especially, "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls". DT

Cultwatch

The shine is wearing off Obama at last. “The hope of the entire world” is becoming just another politician. I have nothing particular against Obama; on the contrary, he would probably make a better US President than either Clinton or McCain. But it is always very annoying when people drool about human beings as if they were angels. The Mandela cult is probably the best example – you will all know that often flagrantly insincere simper that comes over people’s faces when The Holy Name is mentioned. The Obama cult is similar in its nature and ethnic focus, except that it hasn’t lasted so long.

Cults like these make for interesting psychological studies. The Channel 4 newsreader Jon Snow, for example, was positively itchy with delight while covering the Obama campaign in its glory days – practically wetting himself with the prospect of the next US president potentially being either a woman or a half-Kenyan. John’s Kwanzaas had all come at once.

Such hero-worship is surely unhealthy, as well as annoying – especially when it comes from people who pride themselves on their cynicism. Jon is a vicar’s son, so maybe he is prone to mysticism. But don’t you long to give such people some Ritalin? DT