TV watchdogs OK gay slur in EastEnders

MarcusGarvey

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=14333921&method=full&siteid=89488&headline=gay-jibe-soap-is-cleared-name_page.html

EASTENDERS escaped a rap by television watchdogs yesterday after viewers complained a character in the show was homophobic.

A comment by Juley Smith, played by Joseph Kpobie, sparked complaints when he said brother Guswas gay for tidying up his flat.

Juley then caused further offence by using a Jamaican slang term for gay people which has associations with gangsta rap.

TV regulator Ofcom decided the programme was not in breach of any rules as the comments were in keeping with the prejudiced nature of the character.

But gay rights campaigners said the ruling was 'unacceptable'.

In the offending episode Gus, played by Mohammed George, suggests to his brother they tidy up as flat mate Kelly is angry at them.

Juley says: 'Has Gus turned gay? Gus can't be a chi-chi man.'

In their judgment, Ofcom said: 'Eighteen viewers were concerned at these comments, which they considered homophobic.

'They also felt the use of this Jamaican term for a homosexual person was offensive.'

The judgment added: 'Juley essentially was being light-hearted, rather than vicious, playing on his brother's good-hearted nature.'

But George Broadhead, of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association, said: 'Whatever the justification Ofcom make, it is still party to giving anyone who is not gay the wrong impression.'

Zillah

That's stupid


How could anyone find a way to be offended by that? If people could find a way to be a little happier with themselves and spend a little less time worrying about other's views of them this world would flow a little bit easier.


At the very same time this show was playing several people were probably killed and mutilated in various action movies on different channels. These 15s rated movies of course brought no such outrage.

MarcusGarvey

If it was a white man calling someone nigger would it have been allowed , even if the character was meant to be racist ?

BuffyBot

If it's in context, and shown at an appropriate time (i.e not during Tellytubby time) and is used to demonstrate the characters ingrained racism, I would have not issue with it.

seamus

Originally posted by MarcusGarvey
If it was a white man calling someone nigger would it have been allowed , even if the character was meant to be racist ?

I wish it would be allowed. Realism and all that.

It's a bit like that good ITC ad a while back where they have cops chasing two bad guys, and it's like "Ouch, get your hands off me you nasty man!"
Shows have to appear realistic. What's the entertainment value in watching a show where people are using 'nice' language, and constantly watching their P's & Q's? That's fine for gameshows, but for things like soaps and dramas, where they're attempting to create a real-life scenario, they need to use normal language. In real life, people use words like '****', 'gay' and 'nigger' as derogatory terms. There's no censorship. Why should we protect people from language they hear every day.

Personally, I'd like shows to be able to say whatever the hell they like after 10pm. If people are offended, they can f*ck off

ixoy

I'm not really sure that such phrases should be excluded from television dramas - after all they are, to some degree, meant to represent people and people are often ignorant/racist/homophobic/sexist et cetera. Within such remarks there are degrees of slurs - "f*ggot" is, to my mind, a far more offensive term than "chi chi man", so I'm not quite sure we can make comparisons to the term "n*gger" when there are other, less vitrolic, racial slurs that could be passed.

However, it would be nice that, if such a slur is accepted, we would also have a judgement defending any cultural slag levied against this Juley character (I don't watch the show myself). After all it could be made humorously as well I assume! There is sometimes the idea that gay people are the last group left that it is socially acceptable to mock or stereotype - I mean we'd complain if all black characters were, for example, in the hood in Hollywood movies yet the gay characters in such shows somehow always seem to be involved in the clothing/fashion industry. I'm assuming it's elements like this that MarcusGarvey has an objection to - that we're one group that it's still okay to marginalize and mock, even lightly, without fear of rebuking.

MarcusGarvey

Well I'd like no censorship but I'd also like some sort of social commentary that shows being racist or homophobic is wrong and not acceptable.

I also wouldn't like some hypocritical situation where to have a homophobic character is ok but having a racist character utter racist sentiment is not.

Atreides

Originally posted by MarcusGarvey
I also wouldn't like some hypocritical situation where to have a homophobic character is ok but having a racist character utter racist sentiment is not.

Why would they want to alienate a large proportion of their viewing public? Of course they won't have someone saying ****** this and ****** that, if they did they would be loose ratings. anyway don't be over sensitive, I'm sure you have heard worse. You should hear some of the ****e people spout about dublin inner city foke.

Big Ears

Has Gus turned gay ? . how is that offensive . Is has Gus turned straight offensive . I saw anything should be a loud on television after the water shed , as in no censorship .

The people of the Homosexual community , just get a bad name from idiots making complaints about Racism and homophobic comments and actions in TV and movies .