Hmm, it seems to me that Labour need to connect with their traditional support base.

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Originally Posted by Ash

Action transvestite. Or liberal imperialist as I would describe him. Bragged about being "thinly read" while proposing violent solutions to complex problems he wasn't remotely interested in trying to understand.

I did like his surrealism though. And his James Mason and Sean Connery voices. And his Darth Vader with the lunch tray sketch. And Mrs Badcrumble.

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I think as a society, we probably need to re-examine this received idea that the ability to make people laugh constitutes a profound intellectual achievement that suggests your opinions on other matters have any particular weight.

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Originally Posted by redgunamo

Nobody is against prejudice, A. In fact, everybody wants to get a piece of it. 'Twas ever thus.

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Well, yes, it all depends on what sort of prejudice is fashionable. Today it is fashionable to pre-judge Leave voters, for example, by people who don't realise they are bigots.

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Originally Posted by Burney

I think as a society, we probably need to re-examine this received idea that the ability to make people laugh constitutes a profound intellectual achievement that suggests your opinions on other matters have any particular weight.

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I'm tempted to say something about stock jokes against UKIP and the Daily Mail for BBC studio audiences, but it's probably a wider matter, where succesful entertainers have long felt they have a responsibility or mission to use their reach for something they believe to be right. Frank Sinatra was very supportive of FDR, for example.

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Originally Posted by Ash

I'm tempted to say something about stock jokes against UKIP and the Daily Mail for BBC studio audiences, but it's probably a wider matter, where succesful entertainers have long felt they have a responsibility or mission to use their reach for something they believe to be right. Frank Sinatra was very supportive of FDR, for example.

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I don't think it's that complex. The thing you have to remember about performers is that they do what they do because they crave acceptance and approval. This means they will always be drawn to the accepted wisdom of whatever milieu they inhabit and will adopt the politics that they think will get them applause.

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Originally Posted by redgunamo

Would you call a bender "gay"?

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I would probably ask him what his name was and call him by that. I doubt I would often have cause to refer to his sexual preference as it is of no interest to me. If it really matters to him then we are probably not going to get along...

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Originally Posted by Burney

I don't think it's that complex. The thing you have to remember about performers is that they do what they do because they crave acceptance and approval. This means they will always be drawn to the accepted wisdom of whatever milieu they inhabit and will adopt the politics that they think will get them applause.

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This is only really an issue because people pay far too much attention to celebrities. Dangerous in its own right.

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Originally Posted by Luis Anaconda

He's no Basil Radford though

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Decent free-kick last night though, all the same.

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Originally Posted by Peter

Yeah, I get that you think that, b.

I think the problem is you have a generation that grew up being taught about the heroic struggles against prejudice undertaken by previous generations and they want their own. So now we have to change toilet customs for a few awkward and confused benders who cant decide whether to piss standing up.

I suggested a third toilet called 'other' for all the various weirdos and tossers. Didn't go down well.

There is also an issue with dyslexics and other blaggers using the disabled toilets which should be set aside for spaccas.

I think I am just reaching an age where this stuff annoys me.

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No, you had a couple of generations that lost all credibility, having brought the world to its knees in great big wars and such to the point that their descendents roundly rejected both them and everything they stood for. Not that they had any better ideas or anything, simply that so long as it was new and different, it must be good and if it was old and traditional and their parents did it, it must be bad.

This phenomenon is particularly stark on the continent (oddly enough, I suppose) where you have teenage Germans, for example, bemoaning the fact that, on their worldly travels, they are often subjected to Nazi jibes, even though that whole sorry business had obviously nothing to do with them. You can readily understand the resentment felt towards their forefathers that way.

Why this curiosity should be so prevalent among urban trendies in London and New York remains something of a mystery. But then, cities are always about the exotic, aren't they.

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Originally Posted by Burney

I think as a society, we probably need to re-examine this received idea that the ability to make people laugh constitutes a profound intellectual achievement that suggests your opinions on other matters have any particular weight.

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As I just said to P, they don't have to have any particular weight. What's important is that their opinions have a different weight to their parents'.

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Originally Posted by Ash

Well, yes, it all depends on what sort of prejudice is fashionable. Today it is fashionable to pre-judge Leave voters, for example, by people who don't realise they are bigots.

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Yes, I understand they call it "weaponising compassion or empathy" nowadays. Choose which groups matter and which groups don’t, then you control the conversation, the culture and the politics.