Joking Aside, Racism Lives.
Sunday 11 October 2009 16.50
What's the difference between good family entertainment and racism? The answer: time. The latest "race rows" (where white people argue over how offended they are by a bigot, with barely a black or Asian voice to be heard) have highlighted above all how attitudes change over the years.
American musician Harry Connick Jr slates a blacked-up white group performing a "tribute" to Michael Jackson on Australian TV, and explains how his own country has struggled to end the portrayal of black people as buffoons. Neither the programme producers nor the studio audience, it seems, had even considered this thought. They probably have now.
And in Britain, our own race controversy involves a white Strictly Come Dancing performer calling his partner a "Paki", with veteran entertainer Bruce Forsyth at first claiming that it's a shame people have lost their sense of humour. He later retracted, but still couldn't help making a dig at "political correctness".
Most British people watching these shows would be shocked to see the dancer utter those words, or the "Jackson Jive" promote that imagery. But turn the clock back three decades and the opposite would be true. On a Saturday night they'd be settling down to watch the peak-time Black and White Minstrel show. After that they might tune in to Till Death Us Do Part, to hear the racist rantings of Alf Garnett. Over on ITV they could be watching Mind Your Language, in which an English teacher struggles with his class of overseas students, filling every cultural stereotype from headswinging Sikhs to camera-obsessive Japanese, all "hilariously" failing to grasp the language. Or even tune in to the popular series The Comedians, starring that hero of the race equality struggle, Bernard Manning.
All of these shows were, at the time, good family fun. And if we could go back, Life on Mars-style, to any of those involved, they'd be sure to say they weren't being racist; it was only a bit of fun. And, of course, "Some of my best friends ..."
Brucie's formative years were, as we know, well before even this era, so it is maybe a bit harsh to blame him totally for carrying his views forward into this millennium.
Twenty years ago you couldn't go to a football game without hearing a mass of monkey chants whenever a black player kicked the ball. TV and radio match commentators would make no mention of it. It took a microphone malfunction by Ron Atkinson for the rest of us to realise that bigoted comments were also being voiced, and tolerated, within the commentary box itself. That was in 2004. Again, Atkinson denied he was a racist and called his comments an aberration.
So, many things have changed with the passage of time, but many others haven't. Now, as then, no one is racist, it seems. Not Prince Charles, who calls his friend "Sooty"; nor Prince Harry, who refers to his army chum as "Paki"; nor even Carol Thatcher, who dismissively refers to a tennis player on the TV as "golliwog". The remark was "in jest", she said. "I just happen to have the opinions of a normal person."
So, many things have changed with the passage of time, but many others haven't. Now, as then, no one is racist, it seems. Not Prince Charles, who calls his friend "Sooty"; nor Prince Harry, who refers to his army chum as "Paki"; nor even Carol Thatcher, who dismissively refers to a tennis player on the TV as "golliwog". The remark was "in jest", she said. "I just happen to have the opinions of a normal person."
And I'm sure, if we asked them, the denials would come from the Spanish motor-racing fans who did their own black-up when goading Lewis Hamilton at the Formula One circuit in Barcelona; or the European football crowds which still abuse black players; or Australian singing doctors.
And in case anyone thinks that here, in the enlightened west, such attitudes and beliefs are now the preserve of a beyond-the-pale minority: what about the media, which gives out a daily dose of Muslims-as-terrorists propaganda (instead of giving the true picture, that al-Qaida is a crackpot group with a tiny number of fanatical followers and no base in the community)?
And in case anyone thinks that here, in the enlightened west, such attitudes and beliefs are now the preserve of a beyond-the-pale minority: what about the media, which gives out a daily dose of Muslims-as-terrorists propaganda (instead of giving the true picture, that al-Qaida is a crackpot group with a tiny number of fanatical followers and no base in the community)?
Yes, of course things have changed, and mostly for the better, since the 1970s. And I'd like to think that in another 30 years we could be looking back, for example, at today's xenophobic attitudes towards migrants with disbelief. Or in an era when "political correctness" is no longer a term of abuse against those who wish to treat minorities with respect.
But with the ongoing rise of the far right, and the infiltration of both casual and organised bigotry into the popular discourse, we might just as easily be living in a nation where the Black and White Minstrels are back in their old slot on Saturday night peak-time TV.
Article 2
'Sexualised' nun and priest ad banned by watchdog.
Wednesday 1 July 2009 07.35
A newspaper advertising campaign for ice-cream featuring a young nun and priest about to share a kiss has been banned after complaints that it was offensive to those working in a religious order.
The saucy press ad, with the strapline "Kiss temptation", was run by ice-cream brand Antonio Federici Gelato Italiano. The ad, which ran in Delicious and Sainsbury's magazines, featured a nun in full habit and a priest wearing rosary beads while holding a pot of ice-cream.
The saucy press ad, with the strapline "Kiss temptation", was run by ice-cream brand Antonio Federici Gelato Italiano. The ad, which ran in Delicious and Sainsbury's magazines, featured a nun in full habit and a priest wearing rosary beads while holding a pot of ice-cream.
In its ruling, the Advertising Standards Authority said that the portrayal of the priest and nun in a "sexualised manner", and the implication that they were considering whether or not to give in to temptation, was likely to cause serious offence to some readers. The ASA banned the ad.
The advertising watchdog received 10 complaints that the suggestion of a kiss between a priest and a nun was offensive because it demeaned people who had chosen to follow a religious vocation.
Antonio Fedirici Gelato Italiano said the ad was meant to be a "light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek portrayal celebrating forbidden Italian temptations", which its ice-cream represented.
The ice-cream manufacturer added that the ad was unlikely to "offend deeply" and that it was significant that the image did not show the nun and the priest actually touching or kissing.
Article 3.
The right ethnic mix.
The Guardian, Monday 22 June 2009
The director shouts "Cut!" - and wardrobe, props and make-up people swarm the set. One of the principal actors beckons me over and asks: "Can you pronounce it for us again?" As I say "Alhumdulillah" (praise to God) the rest of the cast repeat it over and over until they are satisfied it sounds right. In the meantime, I am pulled into a discussion about the Indian sweets on set: are they the right ones; by tradition, which character would give them to whom?
I am not on the set of a British Asian film, but rather at the studios of EastEnders.
I am not on the set of a British Asian film, but rather at the studios of EastEnders.
For six months I have been working as one of a group of occasional consultants: looking over scripts, sometimes being on set, and advising on aspects of British Asian culture relating to the Masoods.
Playing unsafe
Albert Square's previous Asian family, the Ferreiras, were criticised as boring and unrealistic - their first names were a mixture of Muslim and Hindu, their surname was Portuguese. "We admittedly came under the spotlight with the Ferreiras," says John Yorke, the BBC's controller of drama production. "We played safe with them and ultimately didn't give them good story lines. We're certainly not doing that with the Masoods, but the devil is in the detail and now pretty much everything we write for them that has a cultural or religious aspect is checked."
Albert Square's previous Asian family, the Ferreiras, were criticised as boring and unrealistic - their first names were a mixture of Muslim and Hindu, their surname was Portuguese. "We admittedly came under the spotlight with the Ferreiras," says John Yorke, the BBC's controller of drama production. "We played safe with them and ultimately didn't give them good story lines. We're certainly not doing that with the Masoods, but the devil is in the detail and now pretty much everything we write for them that has a cultural or religious aspect is checked."
While the Ferreiras were "safe", the Masoods' current story line is at the other end of the scale - with the elder son, Syed, embarking on a gay affair. "Part of the reason we chose the Masoods is that it does present us with a whole new set of taboos," admits Yorke. However, he says merely being able to feature such an issue is a positive sign. "Post 9/11, Muslim characters in drama became either saint or terrorist - there was no middle ground. But the fact that we can now actually do a gay Muslim story line is testament to exactly how much we've moved on."
EastEnders is the third most popular series among ethnic minorities, according to Barb, the audience ratings body, behind The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent: on average 43% of the non-white TV viewing audience watch the programme. It also has a long history of featuring black and Asian characters: the first episode included a Turkish cafe owner.
And although cliched roles in soaps and primetime dramas also still exist, ethnic minority representation in drama has advanced across the board over the last decade or so with dramas such as the recent Moses Jones, which focused on issues in London's Ugandan community, and characters such as Anwar in Skins.
But Coronation Street's key Asian character, Dev, is rarely seen through the prism of his religion, and Channel 4's Hollyoaks takes a similar approach with its black and Asian characters. Does that make characters less realistic? Lucy Allan, series producer on Hollyoaks, says the show is keen not to hammer home ethnicity. "We recently had a skin bleaching story line around one of our female Asian characters, and obviously that is a culturally specific issue and it had a big reaction; some viewers were shocked, others identified with it. But as a rule we don't look at any of our ethnic minority characters in terms of just their ethnicity, and if the online viewer forums are anything to go by, we've got it right."
Research and consultation are employed by most broadcasters when it comes to black and Asian characters. But while this is a short cut to accuracy, it would perhaps not be necessary if there were more off-screen talent diversity.
Ade Rawcliffe, diversity and talent manager for Channel 4, believes there is still not enough representation behind the camera. "We're trying hard to make it easier to get in, to make it not about who your dad is, but there is still a way to go. There is no shortage of people from minorities looking to get into the industry, but finding and nurturing that talent is key."
Black Doctor Who
For Ben Stephenson, the BBC's controller of drama commissioning, on-screen representation is potentially even more important than off-screen in terms of attracting minorities to the industry. "The more on-screen we can do with minorities, the more those groups will feel like television is a realistic part of their experience and therefore a career option for them."
Stephenson insists that desire for more minority representation was not behind the casting of a black actor as Friar Tuck in Robin Hood. "Obviously you wouldn't cast a black actress in the role of, say, Margaret Thatcher but in a fantasy series like Robin Hood you've got leeway to play around with the characters. Similarly with Doctor Who - it's the least of our concerns whether the Doctor is black or white, it really is just about who is right for the part."
Yorke agrees that on-screen portrayal has improved, but acknowledges that diversity in the off-screen teams is still an issue. "We're working hard to rectify that, and what we really need is a long-term strategic investment in talent."
Things are changing - but given that one writer recently asked me "exactly how this praying five times a day works", there is some way to go before the industry can be sure that a lack of off-screen diversity is no longer an issue.
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