So, the thought police have dragged another victim off for processing. I’ve blogged about sensitive language before and, having watched the actual footage earlier this evening, I’m not alone in thinking that the way she way taken out is quite a disturbing turn; it removes all debate from the situation. Even more interesting is the way that, normally, BB would say “this segment contains language some people might find offensive”, but this time, they deemed to tell us what we should be offended about.

Have we become such mindless sheep that we need to be told how, what and when to think?

Blogging and talking it over isn’t going to help, but Paul Flynn covers it very will in The Guardian

[...] let’s get this one cleared up. Charley is black. Emily is white. They have become friends. You might go as far as to say that a week into the three-month run they have become the show’s breakout stars: even before this happened, they were certainly its major talking point.
For teenage girls brought up enshrined in the vernacular of hip hop, through which the word “nigger” is littered, it is not inconceivable that this was delivered with some boisterous, if grossly ill-timed, affection? In this context, could a synonym of Emily’s silly statement have been “are you pushing it out, gangsta?”

[...]this further twist shows up the shortcomings of Ofcom rather than the producers of the show, who have behaved with exemplary haste in cordoning off the issue.

There is a further point to this. In a show in which 24-hour exposure to TV cameras is part of the deal, is it really Ofcom’s job to censor language at all costs? If it is, then what next? Will housemates be automatically evicted for using the potentially offensive words “cunt”, “faggot” or “chav”, too? If the word “nigger” had been used in a popular drama like, say, Skins, that is supposed to hold a microscope over young people’s behaviour and language, would it have been similarly chastised?

If Ofcom do not seek to censor language but to identify and prevent genuine racial prejudice, then the new set of guidelines against Big Brother has categorically failed. This is not an incident of prejudice, it’s one of a stupid use of language by a misguided, although clever, schoolgirl.

At its best, Big Brother reflects a view of Britain back at its audience - an audience to whom the show is now a central part of the UK’s cultural life. If Ofcom are intent on curbing this, the show dies. Prurient police-stating of Big Brother will only spell its end.

You can read the full article.

What WILL be effective is this:

Wrap up a heavy object in a parcel, and send it to the Big Brother 8 Vote Refund address which is

Freepost RRHU-ZJCH-HLXZ
Channel Four Television
Big Brother 8 Vote Refund
124-126 Horseferry Road
LONDON
SW1P 2TX

Do NOT send anything dangerous or stupid. Just something that’s going to cost them a lot in postage to accept. This has worked quite effectively in other campaigns and is, I repeat NOT illegal.

Tags: big-brother,emily,nigger
Categories: Politics, political_correctness
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