Gay rights campaigner loses Footy Show case

[Danish]

yeah we make fun of heaps of stuff ... so does the footy show. I don't get your point?

all I said was that the fact that one person finds something funny doesn't mean it's not discriminatory. don't you agree?

Sure, there will be some people who found that sketch offensive (I found it offensive to comedy personally), I am not arguing that.

I am arguing as to why channel 9 or the makers of the footy show should give a rats.

If some lunatic christian group contacted you about some remark about Jesus on your site, I'm sure you couldn't give 2 sh*ts about it, and nor should you. If we censored everything that someone finds offensive then we would not even have shows to put on TV.

Summer Heights High was a far FAR more offensive programme towards gays, islanders and all sorts of other things, and I doubt any of you here would be arguing that it should have not been allowed to go to air, or that it should apologise for any offense it caused to various communities.

 

[Flapper]

I can't wait for the day the Great United League of Penrithians (GULP) takes the next boring f**kwit who calls westies some stereotypical sh*t to the Anti-Discrimination Board:lol:

 

[adamkungl]

fair enough if you think that, but considering the anti-discrimination board exists, there are obviously enough people out there who aren't just happy to suck it up.

I would have hoped that board exists to defend cases of real discrimination. Examples off the top of my head, not employing someone due because they're black, a pub kicking someone out for being homosexual, etc.

But no, apparently the anti-discrimination board is there to defend people's feelings when someone teases them.

 

[Parra]

So what I'm saying is, the funny thing about that skit was ....

Stop right there.

There was nothing funny about that skit.

Did anyone laugh?

Besides giving some ammo to the people who were offended - what was the point of it?

Another reason to be glad to see the back of Matty Johns. He was done anyway - stick a fork in his arse and turn him over.

 

[sass]

I would have hoped that board exists to defend cases of real discrimination. Examples off the top of my head, not employing someone due because they're black, a pub kicking someone out for being homosexual, etc.

But no, apparently the anti-discrimination board is there to defend people's feelings when someone teases them.

adam - you don't have to lose your job to be discriminated against.

are you happy with all the untrue things someone like pauline hanson said about 'immigrants' or asians, for example?

I'm not. I think words are fair game for the anti-discrimination board as much as people being sacked.

if it doesn't constitute discrimination then it will fail and there's nothing to worry about. but to write it off is so close minded. no one EVER changes their attitude if no one questions it.

 

[Perth Red]

it's a shame when people feel insulted by comedy but as has been said it has long been the main ingredient of comedy. People have taken the p1ss out of each other for millenia, can't see it changing becasue we now have tribunals!

As an Englishman I find it quite amusing when someone with less intelligence and personality makes a pom joke!

As with all things we like a laugh at our own and others differences. Anybody think any less of Ian Roberts when he came out? Anybody think less of him because of skits on the Footy show?

 

[Parra]

Sure, there will be some people who found that sketch offensive (I found it offensive to comedy personally), I am not arguing that.

I am arguing as to why channel 9 or the makers of the footy show should give a rats.

If some lunatic christian group contacted you about some remark about Jesus on your site, I'm sure you couldn't give 2 sh*ts about it, and nor should you. If we censored everything that someone finds offensive then we would not even have shows to put on TV.

Summer Heights High was a far FAR more offensive programme towards gays, islanders and all sorts of other things, and I doubt any of you here would be arguing that it should have not been allowed to go to air, or that it should apologise for any offense it caused to various communities.

That's probably the best point in this thread.

It wasn't offensive as much as it was poorly conceived & poorly executed.

 

[Kiki]

i dont think anyone has said the footy show shouldnt be allowed to go to air...have we?

 

[Parra]

It's one thing to admit you're a twinkie.

Gary Burns has to own up to his mates that he watches the footy show.

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

*


Put it like this. Do people really think that the footy show and the writters and participants in that skit think that a person has something wrong with them if they are gay?

I seriously doubt it. I remember the footy show was very supportive of Ian Roberts when he came out.

So what I'm saying is, the funny thing about that skit was - not that it laughed at gays - but that it laughed at people who discriminate against gays.

Did anyone here laugh because they thought it was a crack against gay people???

I didn't.

Me too, I thought they were poking fun at their dad's generation rather than gay people.
Fair enough, some people don't get it, so do we dumb everything down so it's always bloody obvious?
There's a place for anti discrimination organizations but we're gradually becoming a nanny state. Too PC for our own good.

 

[Paullyboy]

Let's just get rid of the gays and there'll be no problem

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

Let's just get rid of the gays and there'll be no problem

But where will we get tasteful clothes from?

 

[adamkungl]

adam - you don't have to lose your job to be discriminated against.

are you happy with all the untrue things someone like pauline hanson said about 'immigrants' or asians, for example?

I'm not. I think words are fair game for the anti-discrimination board as much as people being sacked.

if it doesn't constitute discrimination then it will fail and there's nothing to worry about. but to write it off is so close minded. no one EVER changes their attitude if no one questions it.

They aren't comparable situations. Pauline Hanson wasn't making jokes about Asians. Comparable situations would be the millions of other skits involving offensive stereotypes.

 

[maccattack]

Fair enough, some people don't get it, so do we dumb everything down so it's always bloody obvious?

Theres a name for that. 'American Comedy'

 

[ozbash]

Its comedy, Shorty. Get over it.

ah right,, so that means it was funny ?

 

[AILD]

i insult gays all day every day... wtf!!! when did this become illegal!

 

[Paullyboy]

But where will we get tasteful clothes from?

Lowes

 

[typicalfan]

I still think this is an example of people taking life too seriously.

If you haven't been offended in your life you haven't lived IMO.

If it was a serious statement or if it was something ongoing every week then by all means it is inappropriate, but it was a 5 min skit.

 

[Bazal]

well maybe next time you should actually have a think about what meaning words have instead of just making excuses.

I don't know whether the meaning of the word is what makes it offensive as much as the context. If I say something worth berating, or get unduly upset among my mates, I fully expect to get called a nice person or a skirt. I take no offence to it, I know it's good natured. By the same token, we have an aboriginal fella on our footy team. A real champ of a bloke, we all love him. His nickname (not given by us mind you) is "Aboriginal". He takes no offence, we wouldn't say it if he did. We say other stuff to him as well, but it's all in good fun and he responds in kind. Similarly, if a guy on the footy field calls me a nice person, I take no offence to it. I don't think it makes him homphobic either.

Knowing so many people from different places as I do, it's inevitable I'll have a couple of gay acquaintances or mates. Several of them are just as "blokey" (for want of a better word) as the rest of us, and will call us poofs and skirts the same as anyone. I personally refrain from calling them poofs, but other mates do and no one has an issue. A typical convo might go something like this...

Gay mate orders a cocktail
Straight mate; "Jeez you're a nice person Davo!"
"Aw, mate, you're only saying that cos you want me inside you..."
"Well, now that you mention it....:sarcasm:"

Don't get me wrong, I find homophobia brutish, ill informed and disgraceful...but there is a difference between using words like this and being a homophobe.

If these people were offended by the skit, then that's there perogative. I have no issue with that. I didn't watch the skit and I don't watch the show Personally I think they could probably handle their complaint in a better way. Perhaps a letter to the show itself would be more appropriate, bypassing the publicity that this will whip up. I don't know, it just feels like something of a publicity stunt to me...

 

[8Ball]

Unless you're of racial decent and had slurs or you are gay, then I struggle to find how you would know and also that you'd still have the same god damn ignorant attitude.

I'm of a minority racial descent, and the only time I find a slur offensive is when there is malice behind it (for example if someone who didn't know me yelled at me from across the street "f**king asians.."). Not if its done in a friendly manner or if its a throwaway statement.

I don't agree with all these "grow a pair" attitudes, but seriously, storm in a f**king teacup.