Fantasy football last sunday night Racist against Ireland

Snake Plisken

Didn't see it myself, but from what I've heard that they did pheonix from the flames and had Ray Houghtons Goal against England in Euro 88, they had Ray Houghton dress up as a Leprachan and then as a Spud, this sounds pretty racist to me? Also why the hell did Ray Houghton agree to do this? I don't think he deserves to be working for the National Broadcaster if he doesn't respect this country :mad:

Did anyone else see the show??

Snake;)

IgnatiusJRiley

Originally posted by Snake Plisken
this sounds pretty racist to me? Also why the hell did Ray Houghton agree to do this?

Oh cop on and get a sense of humour!! He did it because it's funny.

seamus

See, this is the problem with political correctness today. People have forgotten what it's like to have a sense of humour, and are pandering to the weak idiots who can't laugh at themselves.

It's funny because it's essentially a satire on a stereotype.

Von Irish

This was the funniest thing I ever seen. It started to show clips from the Ireland v England in Stuttgart when they won 1-0 in Euro 88. It showed the goal and there was cheering from a few members of the audience(obviously Irish or maby even Scottish) and a lone Boo(all in good spirit). It showed the celebration clips and each time it came back to Houghten, Skinner and Badiel, Ray was dressed as something sterotypically Irish, first a Leprechan, then a riverdance girl, then a spud. When it finished showing the last clip it came back to the three lads, and this time Houghten was dressed as an IRA member in Camoflague, balaclava,gun ect.

The audiance erupted with laughter and the was a kind of agasp thrown in as it was so cheeky. As they were about to take their positions on the pitch Skinner goes "So, Ray are you all set" The IRA man said nothing and gave them a really mean look. With that the camera panned over slowly to reveal Houghten standing on the opposite side to say "I am lads". With that Skinner and Badiel, faces dropped...

Halarious!!:D At first I excepted better from skinner as hes normally quite clever in his comedy. The spud and leprechan was stupid but it was building up to a funny moment...class

BattlingCheese

well said seamus.
He did it cause it is Funny.

Snake Plisken

As I said I didn't see it, but I wonder if they had shown John Barnes dressed in a Monkey costume, they would have been called Racists So I don't see why showing Houghton dressed as a Spud, leprachan is any different.

I'm also sure that some of the Irish Community living in the UK mightn't find it funny, it will be interesting to see if ITV get any complaints about it!

All IMHO

Snake;)

IgnatiusJRiley

Originally posted by Snake Plisken
As I said I didn't see it, but I wonder if they had shown John Barnes dressed in a Monkey costume, they would have been called Racists So I don't see why showing Houghton dressed as a Spud, leprachan is any different.

I'm also sure that some of the Irish Community living in the UK mightn't find it funny, it will be interesting to see if ITV get any complaints about it!

All IMHO

Snake;)

Leprechauns and potatoes are all associated with Ireland and nobody has a problem with that. But monkeys and blacks are only linked by morons!! That's the difference.

super_furry

It's exactly the same thing as the Simpsons taking the piss out of the English with their bad teeth and lack of humour.

You really need to chill out.

LizardKing

Seemly they've received loads of angry emails / letters from Irish in UK and over here. I saw it and thought it might be funny for the uk viewers (there main audience), but i did not think it was humorous or hillarious, I thought they went a too far with the potatoe and IRA jibe.

I don't find the potatoe jibe/IRA very funny at all , it was like slagging an ethiopian to their face and calling them "plumpy nut" ... or dressing a muslim up as a suicide bomber ..

its not a satire on a stereotype at all. It was back to the old days of slagging the poor auld potato-less Paddy ... Come on get some new material lads , they really need more writers on that show ....

anyone interested in mailing a complaint

fantasyfootball@avalonuk.com

or via the feedback form

http://www.itv.com/page.asp?partid=1215


:rolleyes:

flogen

i dont think it was hilarious, but it wasnt offensive to me.

The Irish have always been able to take the piss out of themselves, I would have been offended if they tried to say that Irish people were all terrorists or leprechauns, but they didn't, it was obviously taking the piss.

flogen

Pigman II

Originally posted by Snake Plisken
Also why the hell did Ray Houghton agree to do this?

Because he's a man who's been 'Irish' for a total of 73 days out of 42 years.

LizardKing

Originally posted by flogen
i dont think it was hilarious, but it wasnt offensive to me.

The Irish have always been able to take the piss out of themselves, I would have been offended if they tried to say that Irish people were all terrorists or leprechauns, but they didn't, it was obviously taking the piss.

flogen

They started out by slagging Ray by saying he was not irish , He said "I am IRISH and I'll PROVE it" , then it goes off camera and back to Ray several times , dressed as a Leprechaun,a Potatoe,a RiverDance Girl, an IRA Terrorist , essentially showing Ray trying to PROVE his Oirish-ness...

Why did'nt he just show his passport ...:rolleyes:

trotter_inc

The potato, Riverdance and all that was funny but I think they went too far with the IRA thing.

Still find them hilarious though.

roryf

I am writing to voice my anger and disgust at the episode aired with Ray Houghton. Firstly I would like to say I am Irish and my brother was born in England so I have no ill feeling towards English people as a whole, but I have to say that this episode was and extremely sick joke to air on a show which is viewed by allot of people. I can take a joke or mocking but mocking someone’s national identity is very serious, especially as England has a major history of violence when supporting their football team away. Even Landsdowne road was a victim of their fans violent thug mentality in 1995. I could continue on but I don't want to get petty and go off the real point.
I would also like to bring your attention to Ray being dressed up like a potato, if I am to understand this gag correctly they are mocking a famine in which millions of people died. Maybe they wouldn't find it so funny if I was to reference 60 of their service men dieing in Iraq recently. It’s not so funny is it when countrymen die and are mocked.
I can understand that the damage is done now and I’m sure IM not the only Irish or English person who was disgusted by that episode.
I will be getting in contact with Ray Houghtons people and voicing my disgust to him.
I am also going to reference the IRA gag in the show; you must know yourself in the current climate of peace in this country that that was a very stupid and irresponsible thing to do. Cop on lads.

trotter_inc

Very well said RoryF.

mike65

Get a life!

It should be noted that Houghton (who is Scotish lets not forget!) did'nt dress as the Provo only the "benign" sterotypes of Lepricuan/Jean Butler/Potato man.

Some ppl could'nt spot post modern irony if they stood in it.

Time passes as well, I doubt they'd have risked a Provo gag 10 years ago.

Mike.

LizardKing

It was noted previously that houghton did not dress as the provo, Time does indeed pass and these out - dated jokes should pass too....

It was not funny and obviously did offend some people , (who may or may not have "lives") ... Theres another problem here in the fact that the irish find it hard or difficult or unneccesary to complain, I commend anyone who went out of there way to complain, if they were offended then let the show know, if not then fair enuff...

LFCFan

dressing as a spud has nothing to do with slagging off the famine. The Irish are known for loving their spuds, simple as that. Some people really do need to get a humour transplant. What has happened to the Oisris sense of humour?

Polonious

roryf, me thinks you need to get a hobby. It was all in the name of having a laugh. The irish are famous for they're spuds regardless of the famine. It's like the spanish and they're onioins. Come on man.

Tusky

Originally posted by Snake Plisken
Didn't see it myself, but from what I've heard that they did pheonix from the flames and had Ray Houghtons Goal against England in Euro 88, they had Ray Houghton dress up as a Leprachan and then as a Spud, this sounds pretty racist to me? Also why the hell did Ray Houghton agree to do this? I don't think he deserves to be working for the National Broadcaster if he doesn't respect this country :mad:

Did anyone else see the show??

Snake;)

Oh shut up would you. Country stereotypes are funny , Ive been told to go eat a potato and had jokes about leprechauns ETC many a time, there is no malus or harm in it.They are not trying to offend anyone merely trying to get a few laughs.

emertoff

I thought it was hillarious. As others have said, we really should try to take this less seriously. We are well respected as a country all over the world. This sort of thing means nothing. If it was an Italian in the sketch, they would have probably featured a Soprano's like Mafia-Assassin. And we would all have laughed. It would have been far worse IMO, if they have stereotyped us in the 'drunken lout' form. Because then it would have come far closer to the truth. The Bonner/Boner joke was also a laugh. Didn't know Ray Houghton had a sense of humour. Some others should get one.

Guy:Incognito

so why was there no outrage when the simpsons had u2 on a the potato man came to make a delivery, or when they often refer to the irish as drunks.?
Personally I found fantasy football very funny.


Every nationality has been a target on tv, the simpsons especially. How many times has a guy in a stripy shirt with a beret on his head and garlic round his neck been on the simpsons, dont see the french population up in arms.


Whats next, the mafia sueing the makers of The Sopranos for unfairly depicting them as violent criminals?

Snake Plisken

Well said Rory F!!!
Obviously there are a lot of kids on the forum who thankfully have not had to put up with any abuse targetted at them before, but I still feel that this was a poor decision by Ray Houghton to do the sketch on this show.

I would suggest that a mail or 2 to RTE and ask Mr Houghton to explain himself would not go amiss anyone know whats the best email address to get the message through??

Snake;)

BuffyBot

Obviously there are a lot of kids on the forum who thankfully have not had to put up with any abuse targetted at them before

Obviously :rolleyes:

sceptre

Don't forget to send Patrick Kielty a mail as well for having those balaclava girls on his show.

I'm phoning Bono right now to complain about showing his arse on the Simpsons. And for making fun of the sacred potato.

eirebhoy

I, personally, didn't find it offensive but a lot of people did and let their feelings known. Apparantly ofcom are investigating the whole thing and there is actually a chance Ray could be sacked by RTE.:eek: That would be a bit OTT but it is only a small chance. BTW for us who have lived on the Emerald Isle all our life we wouldn't find it offensive but here's a view from an Irish person who grew up in England:

I take it anyone regarding this **** as a joke is too young to remember the likes of "no dogs, no blacks, no Irish" that prevented our people from accessing housing, jobs, etc. in Britain from the 1950s onwards? Would Baddiel and Skinner dress a Black man up in shackles and make fun of slavery? No way. Not a ****ing chance.

I am offended, Macy. Having grown up in England at the height of the IRA's "activity" here (and being bullied, labelled an "Irish pig" and plenty worse not just by my peers at school and where I lived but also in some cases by their parents), I'm particularly sensitive about the terrorist inference.

As for Ray Houghton, he should have known much, much better, especially with the Loughinisland atrocity taking place the day he scored against Italy in the 1994 World Cup. I'd vouchsafe though that he didn't write the material that caused this pain and offence. I reserve my ire for those that did and those that sanctioned it. As for Houghton, he gets only my pity. He must truly be as thick as pig**** to have allowed that to go on.

zAbbo

Ray Houghtons Scottish, i dont think an Irish person would have dressed up in the spud costume etc,

I saw it, and yes i got the joke, but it was just lame.

The IRA man thing just goes to show you the English perception, As no-one in the skit was Irish, i didnt find it in great taste.

I remember Keano in some costume's for thw walker ad's

Robbo

Originally posted by sceptre
Don't forget to send Patrick Kielty a mail as well for having those balaclava girls on his show.

Wasn't Patrick Kielty's father murdered by paramilitarys?

Surely it's more offensive that Fantasy Football has actually been resurrected from the stockpile of boorish mid-90s "lad-culture" dross?

Zoton

Personally i found the whole ray houghton a little bit off and a tad offensive as the same stereotypes get wheeled out again, hurting my pride as an irishman a wee bit tbh.
Then i saw Des Bishop's work experience last night where he was working in abrakebabra, and i suddenly felt ashamed to irish.

eirebhoy

Right click on the link and click "save target as...". Use Windows Picture Viewer (or any other program) to zoom and read the text.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~gearoidw01/houghton.jpg

Unpossible

out of couriosity (sp, bah stupid word is in finnish) was the fact that it was an english show make it offensive/more offensive to you ppl? I didn't see the show but it sounds kind of lame

Naos

Originally posted by Snake Plisken
Didn't see it myself, but from what I've heard that they did pheonix from the flames and had Ray Houghtons Goal against England in Euro 88, they had Ray Houghton dress up as a Leprachan and then as a Spud, this sounds pretty racist to me? Also why the hell did Ray Houghton agree to do this? I don't think he deserves to be working for the National Broadcaster if he doesn't respect this country :mad:

Did anyone else see the show??

Snake;)

You'll be moaning next about Father Ted..

Unfortunately I didnt get to see the show. However, as noted previously, we are known for being able to laugh at ourselves. If you cant laugh, what can you do? As for the references to the IRA etc, its a joke, this **** has being going on for years.

sceptre

Ms Eithne Rynne of the London-based Federation of Irish Societies, said: "Sketches such as these set the Irish community in Britain back. It is disgraceful the way Irish people are lumped in stereotypes like leprechauns, Riverdance and a gunman"

Never thought I'd say this but thank heaven for Michael Flatley, Jean Butler and the IRA. Without them, satirists would inflict nowt but leprechauns on us.


edited: removing typoes one by one since 2001

alleepally

I'm reminded of the famous Eastenders episode some years back. There was huge uproar about that at the time. The producers of Eastenders had to issue an apology.

Whilst there is a world of difference between a drama programme (Eastenders) and a comedy programme like Fantasy Football stereotyping Irish people, the pervading mentality is the same - the Irish are thick, potato eating, drunken fools. Comedy programme or not, I'm not exactly enamoured by such portrayals.

Dewey

It was a joke. I didnt see it myself but i just read the piece in the above link. Ray was taking the piss for a laugh. I do belive the IRA thing was abit to far but it was only for a laugh. you see fans wearing leprechauns costumes at Ireland matches, so are they slaging off the country?? No.

seamus

Originally posted by alleepally
I'm reminded of the famous Eastenders episode some years back. There was huge uproar about that at the time. The producers of Eastenders had to issue an apology.

Whilst there is a world of difference between a drama programme (Eastenders) and a comedy programme like Fantasy Football stereotyping Irish people, the pervading mentality is the same - the Irish are thick, potato eating, drunken fools. Comedy programme or not, I'm not exactly enamoured by such portrayals.

Context is the issue here.

Fantasy Football - comedy sport discussion, mostly parody and light humour

Eastenders - Soap opera, mostly attempts to be real-to-life, claims to be honest to human nature.

Now when a show like FF does an over-the-top characterisation of a popular stereotype (Irish == leprechauns), it's ok to laugh - it's funny. They are almost saying - "Look, here's an absolutely absurd situation, which makes use of popular stereotypes, but which we make so outrageously over-the-top, that obviously we don't believe it's true either".

But when Eastenders does it, they're attempting to keep real-to-life, so when they put in an Irishman who drinks a little too much and beats his wife, they're saying to the nation - "This is what we think the average Irishman is like. It's ok to make him a drunken wifebeater because so many Irish people are."

The key is that Eastenders is attempting to accurately portray and enforce a stereotype. FF are doing a double-back and doing a parody of a stereotype. If a person can't spot such simple differences in context they probably shouldn't be watching TV. It'll be bad for their blood pressure.

Hagar

If the English enjoyed that sketch half as much as I enjoyed "Dry your eyes Becks" then I still had twice as much fun as they did.

alleepally

Originally posted by seamus
Context is the issue here.

Fantasy Football - comedy sport discussion, mostly parody and light humour

Eastenders - Soap opera, mostly attempts to be real-to-life, claims to be honest to human nature.

Now when a show like FF does an over-the-top characterisation of a popular stereotype (Irish == leprechauns), it's ok to laugh - it's funny. They are almost saying - "Look, here's an absolutely absurd situation, which makes use of popular stereotypes, but which we make so outrageously over-the-top, that obviously we don't believe it's true either".

But when Eastenders does it, they're attempting to keep real-to-life, so when they put in an Irishman who drinks a little too much and beats his wife, they're saying to the nation - "This is what we think the average Irishman is like. It's ok to make him a drunken wifebeater because so many Irish people are."

The key is that Eastenders is attempting to accurately portray and enforce a stereotype. FF are doing a double-back and doing a parody of a stereotype. If a person can't spot such simple differences in context they probably shouldn't be watching TV. It'll be bad for their blood pressure.

Yes and I did state that whilst there is a world of difference between a comedy programme and a drama (I didn't feel the need to expand on the point as I guess everyone would already understand that), the basic mentality which puts such stereotypes on screen is ingrained in sections of British media, be it comedy, newspapers, drama etc.

Guy:Incognito

How come everyone whos been against the Fantasy Football sketch has skipped over the Simpsons ones mentioned in the thread?

Elmo

How come everyone whos been against the Fantasy Football sketch has skipped over the Simpsons ones mentioned in the thread?

Generally there quite funny. Except when Homer gave Marge Ireland.:mad: Not funny but then that episode wasn't funny anyway.

Sorry but am I the only one who finds frank skinner just looking out into the audience with those eyes annoying.


It as if he is saying in his mind "don't look into the camera, look directly in front of you".

The scottish complained that their flag was shown in the opening titles of ITV's "Dumb Foreigners" show.

Personally scotland you are all luck that the producers of that show consider you foreigners because it was the worst peice of DUMDED DOWN ANGLO Television I have ever seen.







oh wait sorry then there's is Kristy





oh wait Kristy is good looking mmmmmm



oh wait then theres You've been framed




uhh uhhh you're wan from Emmerdale


oh wait emmerdale.


the end

Quatre Mains

I'll complain about the English having a laugh at us when Portugal beating England is no longer the highlight of most Irish people's sporting year. I know which of those I find more offensive and hate-filled

Ray Houghton scored some of our most memorable and important international goals, but was denied a testimonial by the FAI along with a couple of other members of Jacks army. Players then didn't earn the same kind of cash they do now so that was a big deal. Now 'we' want his job taken away as well? Nice one. I wonder how many boards users would be on the dole tomorrow if everyone who ever made a joke which could be considered offensive were sacked.