Quote: Lazzard @ 12th June 2020, 3:45 PM

The major wasn't being highlighted as a racist - he was just a funny old codger and saying the "N" word was fairly acceptable.

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Totally incorrect. Have you never watched the episode, or just not recently? Just going on whatever trash The Guardian has printed to justify censorship?

Throughout the two series of the show, the Major is highlighted as a doddering, out-of-touch old fool. That is the very essence of the character and how he is treated in his every interaction with Basil.

In the instance of this specific scene, the whole way it is played makes clear the Major's language is outdated and Basil is not keen to engage with him accordingly.

As dozens have pointed out already, the core of this entire episode is highlighting ridiculous nationalist/xenophobic and racist attitudes.

I saw it two weeks ago - and I still think it hilarious - and it doesn't offend ME in any way at all.
And, actually, I think Basil's interaction with him on this issue is more "We're not allowed to say that these days" (his version of PC gone mad) rather than "You shouldn't say that - it's wrong".
Anyway, I was really commenting on the statement in the post before, that to 'not' have him being racist would somehow be disingenuous and that censoring that word would somehow lead to future dramas being 'cramped' and overly-cautious.
I just don't think that's true - racism is often displayed in dramas but it's always pretty clear what the 'writer' feels about it (ie it's a bad thing).
If Cleese was making a political point, he was doing so with a fairly light touch.
Similarly I never REALLY bought the Till Death defence, either.
Pretty sure, at the time, more people thought his attitudes were funny rather than hateful.
Anyway - they probably shouldn't have pulled it - just put a warning up and dubbed out the troublesome word.
Tricky times.

Fair enough - I agree on most points.

Right.
I've now got to guess which points you don't agree on and get all cross about those!

Will I don't agree on your reading of Till Death Us Do Part, for starters!

Let's hope Rising Damp sneaks under the radar.We all know some of Rigsby's comments are based on his jealousy/envy of Philip.

Basil Fawlty is a loathsome, nasty, petty and mean-spirited individual. He has no redeeming features whatsoever, and everything that goes wrong for him he brings on himself. It's written so well that the viewer is never asked to sympathise with him. Alf Garnett is just wrong in his every word and action. Both are well played grotesques, fun creations to laugh at, but you wouldn't want to spend time with these berks!

There's a lengthy thread on the Cook'd and Bomb'd forums on the issue of recent removal from streaming services of Britcoms for potentially racist/offensive content, from Little Britain to Fawlty Towers. Much of it is just a dick-measuring contest of "I'm so cleverly woke that I was offended by Ting-Tong in Little Britain before I was born", "Well I always knew Ricky Gervais was a c**t, even before Gervais was born," and "beware the slippery slope solipsism of those who sling the term snowflake". And a strange debate about fantasy-land trading cards. (Plus, there's a lovely lynch mob thread of unrestrained vitriol against JK Rowling over a tweet about only women menstruating.)

I remember one time after The Germans episode was broadcast in Australia, there was a lot of goose-stepping/silly walks in the school playground the next day, plus quoting of "don't mention the war" and "you invaded Poland". The only quoting of the Major from that episode was "No, you hit him on the head." His cricketing anecdote about a woman getting racist terms mixed up wasn't the memorable highlight of the episode. That's partly because the senile codger character wasn't the star and partly because those terms don't have the top-level shock value they do today; but mainly because "wog" doesn't mean "Indian" in Australia.

The word nigger wasn't in wide currency in the Australian schoolyard in the 1970s and 1980s. Neither were the Love Thy Neighbour standards: nig-nog, darkie and sambo (for some reason, kids mainly quoted Jacko's "I'll ave arf" catchphrase). Instead, there would be a few pejoratives for Australian aborigines, the most common being abos. And dozens of "abo jokes", nearly all of which were nastily racist (and a few in the vein of "Irish jokes").

"Wog" was more commonly used in Australia. It referred to Greek Australians, and could also be used to describe Italian and Middle Eastern Australians. It was very popular in an Aussie version of 'Till Death Us Do Part/All In The Family, called Kingswood Country, in which the irascible main character had a Greek son-in-law, whom he referred to as "bloody wog". The term wog was even more widely used by Greek Australians "comedians" to describe themselves, especially in a stage show called Wogs Out of Work and an atrociously feeble sitcom called Acropolis Now (which featured clever dialog along the lines of "Jeez Tony, you know sometimes you're a real wog!"). That sitcom was so dreadful that it likely inspired a generation of Australians to never use the word wog.

Australia's Channel Nine television network would promote one-day cricket matches during the 1980s with the terms: Aussies, Pakis, Poms, Kiwis, and Windies. The Indian cricket team was sometimes referred to informally as "the curry munchers" but usually just as "the Indians". Hence I was puzzled by the Major's assertion that wogs are Indian cricketers. Every Aussie school kid knew that wogs are Greeks.

As for slippery slopes, I do feel that if the Major's lines about niggers and wogs are cut on the grounds of causing offense, then all scenes showing verbal and physical abuse of Manuel must also be cut, to avoid causing offense to Spaniards. Much better to leave everything intact and simply insert a prefatory warning.

The episode is being reinstated with a warning added:

https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/news/5804/fawlty-towers-removed-by-uktv/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

The Guardian, too lazy to write its own article because it has more important news to share, such as "How to Wear a Belted Blazer": https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/may/29/how-to-wear-a-belted-blazer), relies on a PA Media article, which gets the facts wrong:
"The episode included a scene in which Major Gowen, a regular guest at the hotel, uses racist language in relation to an anecdote about the West Indies cricket team." No, his anecdote was about taking a girl to see the Indian cricket team. And he was more a permanent resident than a regular guest. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/jun/12/john-cleese-attacks-stupid-removal-of-fawlty-towers-episode

I'm hardly Mary Whitehouse myself, but ffs, you'd have to be pretty f**ked-up, beyond PC, head-so-far-up-your-bottom-you-make-Janet-Ellis-look-like-Dice-Clay to find Fawlty Towers offensive.
Dear Sah,
I shall like to groan regarding the presentation of rats in the popularse sitcum 'Fawlty Towers'. My bestest fwend is a rat and I waited patiently for its cameo throughout the entire series, only for it to be squeaked in the very last ep - AND presented as verminious, filthy and not jolly nice at all. I was particularly offended by the 'Siberian hamster' jibe, confirming the stereotype that such furry friends are cuter, cuddlier and cooler. Isn't this precisely the kind of racial and social prejudick the Beeb should beeb striving to beebradicade? Whatever next - Posh is a better Spice than Ginge because hubby has hordes of homes, or Scouser Sporty sucks before Bristol babe Baby? Surely all men, rats and Spice are bored equal.
Furthermost, after repeated views of the final scene I smelt a human, and yes, you cannot fool me: that's but a paltry puppet! Are you insinuating our rodent mates are incapable of performing such a cunning stunt? Or merely attempting to defraud the poor fellow of its hard earned hairpay? Poor lad worked like a black. Sorry, racist - like a Trojan... It was the same poisonous cunning stunt in the first scene of 'The Young Ones', where we're damn certain marionette mice were misused. And did those poor fellows get another scene? Of course not: you used them to attract audience and killed them off in the first five minutes! Who do you think they are, Mr Brando in Superman? ENOUGH alratty or we'll human on you, human fink!
The sole rodent you employed in this Boomtown human-race was my dear colleague Roland, YEEEAH, RATFANS! But that was back in the eightsquaks and din'cha lettim go like a rat out of smell? The sec the ratings dropped, he was like a man from a stinking shit! I haven't heard a squeak out of him since, and fear he has ceded to self-seclusion, getting human-arsed and One Direction. You just don't give a man's ass do you?
I hope you are well and show more concern to capybara, sensitivity to schlonghairs and generostitty to golden-mantled ground mongeese, hice mice and hairy beaver.
Love,
Bob Geldof

Very interesting examples of different slang, Kenneth.

And Michael.

(Adjusts belted blazer)

Glad to read it will be back on UKTV. It shouldn't be removed, we can't delete history. If you don't like it, don't watch it. It's so simple.

We should ban stuff more often because this is the liveliest the BCG has been for years.