Let's all take Blindboy seriously now...

Sky King · 13-11-2017 3:14pm #1

People do know this is a character right? And not an actual person?

Does it strike anyone else as strange that a made-up persona with a fake voice, parody accent and a fking plastic bag on his head is treated like a normal, regular person in debates and current affairs TV shows? And given the same credibility and respect as an actual real person?

Imagine Fr. Dougal Mcguire, Dustin the Turkey and Fortycoats appearing our incisive current affairs shows discussing mental health with Alan Partridge adjudicating.

Or discussing the 8th amendment and feminism with Mrs Brown, The Bottler and Podge and Rodge? It would be treated like a joke (obviously), but when the prank phone call making, glue-huffing, spastic hawk-toting Blindboy talks serious we all suddenly have to sit up take it seriously.

If I was asked to debate on the same show as a parody character I'd be more than a little pissed off.

By all means share your story on mental health or offer an opinion on our education system. But for fk sake would you give us and the other people on the show the respect of doing it yourself, in a real voice? Without a fking bag on your head?

Alternatively if you prefer holding on to the bag, you could try going back to... you know... being funny. And less preachy.

RGDATA! · 13-11-2017 3:17pm

Who is he a parody of anyway?

Chips Lovell · 13-11-2017 3:17pm

Sky King wrote: »

Imagine Fr. Dougal Mcguire, Dustin the Turkey and Fortycoats appearing our incisive current affairs shows...

They'd probably be more articulate than your average TD or county councillor.

Ush1 · 13-11-2017 3:18pm

They were funnier when they left out the preachy bull****e and actually did comedy.

whoopsadoodles · 13-11-2017 3:19pm

I'd be more concerned that people listen to him more because he has a plastic bag on his head.

Whether what he's saying his nonsense or not, it's worrying that he needs the character to get his points heard.

We only seem to give voice to extreme views and personalities nowadays.

Meanwhile, in the real world, us normal run of the mill folk are happily enough getting on with things.

DickSwiveller · 13-11-2017 3:21pm

Sky King wrote: »

People do know this is a character right? And not an actual person?

Does it strike anyone else as strange that a made-up persona with a fake voice, parody accent and a fking plastic bag on his head is treated like a normal, regular person in debates and current affairs TV shows? And given the same credibility and respect as an actual real person?

Imagine Fr. Dougal Mcguire, Dustin the Turkey and Fortycoats appearing our incisive current affairs shows discussing mental health with Alan Partridge adjudicating.

Or discussing the 8th amendment and feminism with Mrs Brown, The Bottler and Podge and Rodge? It would be treated like a joke (obviously), but when the prank phone call making, glue-huffing, spastic hawk-toting Blindboy talks serious we all suddenly have to sit up take it seriously.

If I was asked to debate on the same show as a parody character I'd be more than a little pissed off.

By all means share your story on mental health or offer an opinion on our education system. But for fk sake would you give us and the other people on the show the respect of doing it yourself, in a real voice? Without a fking bag on your head?

Alternatively if you prefer holding on to the bag, you could try going back to... you know... being funny. And less preachy.

What do you expect in an infantile society? The fact that this clown is taken seriously shows what a state we're in. Had he anything interesting to say I might give him a chance, but from what I've heard he's just another banal, politically correct bore.

mathie · 13-11-2017 3:22pm

Ush1 wrote: »

They were funnier when they left out the preachy bull****e and actually did comedy.

They were funnier when they did comedy over serious stuff?

DickSwiveller · 13-11-2017 3:23pm

mathie wrote: »

They were funnier when they did comedy over serious stuff?

What serious stuff? He wears a bag on his head and lectures everyone about the latest trendy issue.

Tommy Ferguson · 13-11-2017 3:28pm

He is a good definition of a tool.

13-11-2017 3:28pm

Ush1 wrote: »

They were funnier when they left out the preachy bull****e and actually did comedy.

When did they ever do comedy

everlast75 · 13-11-2017 3:31pm

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

I'd be more concerned that people listen to him more because he has a plastic bag on his head.

Whether what he's saying his nonsense or not, it's worrying that he needs the character to get his points heard

c_man · 13-11-2017 3:33pm

Kolten Ambitious Rodent wrote: »

When did they ever do comedy

Ah that Willie o'Dea song was pretty funny. Problem for them was that there's a certain geographic boundary to how far jokes about Limerick and drugs go (things didn't work out on C4 for example) so no international breakthrough, and people here got pretty bored of the hole schtick. Yeah, we get it you singing about yokes and robbing stuff... *snore* So that led to the pivot to where they are now i.e. right-on, PC stuff. It's given them a huge new audience and devoted following.

I had a look at their Twitter during the last "controversy" about them. Wow. Apparently anyone who expresses the sentiment that they're not funny anymore is a right wing troll. Says them anyways.

panda100 · 13-11-2017 3:36pm

Have gone off the Rubberbandits in a big way in the last couple of years. I find them to be very hypocritical. Blindboy proposes to be a champion of women's rights/repeal campaign yet they parade women in their underwear and treat women as sex objects in most of their videos/advertising.

They also claim to champion Limerick yet put on these ridiculous accents which neither of them sounds like IRL and think they play up to a very negative, stereotype of what a Limerick person is like.

Also not a fan of their approach to mental health. They very much frame it in a medical way and promote Pieta House a lot and I am very dubious of the approach Pieta House takes to mental health supports.

sheepo · 13-11-2017 3:42pm

panda100 wrote: »

Also not a fan of their approach to mental health. They very much frame it in a medical way and promote Pieta House a lot and I am very dubious of the approach Pieta House takes to mental health supports.

Why?

Odhinn · 13-11-2017 3:42pm

Sky King wrote: »

People do know this is a character right? And not an actual person?

Does it strike anyone else as strange that a made-up persona with a fake voice, parody accent and a fking plastic bag on his head is treated like a normal, regular person in debates and current affairs TV shows? And given the same credibility and respect as an actual real person?

.

In a world where Brendan O'Connor has his own TV show, no, not in the slightest.

CatFromHue · 13-11-2017 3:50pm

RGDATA! wrote: »

Who is he a parody of anyway?

Mr Chrome

suicide_circus · 13-11-2017 3:51pm

Yeah but he's on message so it dosnt matter that he has a bag on his head.

Boom_Bap · 13-11-2017 3:57pm

You should try to actually listen to why he has the bag on his head.
It's essentially so he can have a life outside of the celebrity circus.

His new podcast is really good as well.

I like him and I like what he has to say.

The_Kew_Tour · 13-11-2017 3:59pm

By all accounts they were not the Liberal lads they like make out from their School days.

nozzferrahhtoo · 13-11-2017 3:59pm

Sky King wrote: »

Does it strike anyone else as strange that a made-up persona with a fake voice, parody accent and a fking plastic bag on his head is treated like a normal, regular person in debates and current affairs TV shows? And given the same credibility and respect as an actual real person?

I doubt any such person would be the first to bring a message, or political opinion, to the public while "in character"?

I do not live in Ireland so I know of this persons existence pretty much only from being mentioned on boards.ie and I know the content of what he says almost not at all. So I can not comment on that.

But we live in a world where people, or the media, throw around credentials rather than their evidence.......... in a "this phd said.........." as if their merely being a phd means we automatically have to lend their uttering credence.

So over time I have trained myself to listen to WHAT a person says. Not who they are, or are pretending to be, while saying it.

Be they a multi-phd genius..... a homeless man selling pencils from a cup......... or some relative nobody with a bag on his head.......... it is the content of the message, not the person, that interests me.

13-11-2017 4:06pm

There was a great episode of Community where one of the characters that is rarely listened to, Britta, accidentally puts mustard on her face. She realises then that with the mustard on, everyone started to pay attention to her and listen to her. And they'd only listen when she had it on.

Pretty much the same is happening here.

c_man · 13-11-2017 4:06pm

Boom_Bap wrote: »

You should try to actually listen to why he has the bag on his head.
It's essentially so he can have a life outside of the celebrity circus.

It's Ireland ffs, I doubt it'd be too hard to work out who they actually are. The "celebrity circus" presumably being... having the odd story in the Indo or RTE Guide about you? How's that different to now?

13-11-2017 4:08pm

Boom_Bap wrote: »

You should try to actually listen to why he has the bag on his head.
It's essentially so he can have a life outside of the celebrity circus.

His new podcast is really good as well.

I like him and I like what he has to say.

I thought he has has had a bag on his head since rubber bandits started? How did he know they’d be successful and that he’d have to put a bag on his head?

Unless he didn’t start off that way? I dunno much about em.

lawred2 · 13-11-2017 4:08pm

Sky King wrote: »

People do know this is a character right? And not an actual person?

Does it strike anyone else as strange that a made-up persona with a fake voice, parody accent and a fking plastic bag on his head is treated like a normal, regular person in debates and current affairs TV shows? And given the same credibility and respect as an actual real person?

Imagine Fr. Dougal Mcguire, Dustin the Turkey and Fortycoats appearing our incisive current affairs shows discussing mental health with Alan Partridge adjudicating.

Or discussing the 8th amendment and feminism with Mrs Brown, The Bottler and Podge and Rodge? It would be treated like a joke (obviously), but when the prank phone call making, glue-huffing, spastic hawk-toting Blindboy talks serious we all suddenly have to sit up take it seriously.

If I was asked to debate on the same show as a parody character I'd be more than a little pissed off.

By all means share your story on mental health or offer an opinion on our education system. But for fk sake would you give us and the other people on the show the respect of doing it yourself, in a real voice? Without a fking bag on your head?

Alternatively if you prefer holding on to the bag, you could try going back to... you know... being funny. And less preachy.

You do know that he's not a fictional character in a TV program right?

Sky King · 13-11-2017 4:11pm

nozzferrahhtoo wrote: »

it is the content of the message, not the person, that interests me.

My gripe is not actually what he says so much as the the fact that a ridiculous fictional comedy character with a fake accent is taking part in a serious debate, and this is accepted as normal by everyone. And my point is, if you replaced everyone else on the panel with other characters from Irish TV like Bosco and Socky the Sock monster would they accept this also? Can you imagine how ridiculous a debate about abortion would be with these guests? So why do we have to make an exception for Blindboy?

Also, the character may make occasional reasonable arguments, but he also says a load of crazy sh!t too (presumably for 'comic' effect though a lot of this is lost on me as well). Is it always easy to draw the distinction between when he is saying something deadly serious or just completely taking the piss? It might be easy for you or me but it may not be for the feeble minded fans he has that he impresses with the big words.

lawred2 · 13-11-2017 4:15pm

Let's all put on our serious clothes lads... and start practicing those serious faces.

beans · 13-11-2017 4:16pm

Was it not our own Martin Luther who said he wanted to live "... in a nation where they will not be judged by the bag on their head, but by the content of their character"?

c_man · 13-11-2017 4:17pm

lawred2 wrote: »

You do know that he's not a fictional character in a TV program right?

He's more akin to Shirley Temple Bar in the presenting Telly Bingo days, being asked to come onto Prime Time and discuss the budget.

lawred2 · 13-11-2017 4:19pm

beans wrote: »

Was it not our own Martin Luther who said he wanted to live "... in a nation where they will not be judged by the bag on their head, but by the content of their character"?

Sure the lads in our own parliament were debating whether to introduce a dress code. Nothing says valid point better than a Charvet shirt.

nozzferrahhtoo · 13-11-2017 4:22pm

Sky King wrote: »

My gripe is not actually what he says so much as the the fact that a ridiculous fictional comedy character with a fake accent is taking part in a serious debate

Again I just see past that. Perhaps I have myself TOO well trained. But I just see the message, not the person, when anyone on tele speaks. Be it your man dressed up as Mrs Merton, someone with a bag on their head, whatever persona Bono is putting on today, or so forth.

I have no real knowledge of the guy bothering you, or his intention, but it sounds from what little I have heard like he is making a caricature of the fact that pretty much EVERYONE sitting on tele pedaling their message is a fictional persona they have put on for the camera. Rather than hide that like they do, perhaps his intention is to go to the OPPOSITE extreme and parade it.

I honestly do not care or even see it. I just listen to what a person is there to say. They could say it while doing the can-can nude and I would not care or, perhaps, notice.

Sky King wrote: »

Is it always easy to draw the distinction between when he is saying something deadly serious or just completely taking the piss?

Again I do not think I recall every having heard the guy speak. I have a vague recollection I watched something from a boards.ie thread once but I can not even remember what the topic of it was now, let alone the content. Perhaps I will search my post history later to find it.

But, in a world where people sit glassy eyed before the flashing box in the corner..... perhaps it is not a BAD thing that they are being asked to stop, think, process, and distinguish the joke from the serious message. Get the cogs whirling rather than idling along maybe.

Boom_Bap · 13-11-2017 4:23pm

c_man wrote: »

It's Ireland ffs, I doubt it'd be too hard to work out who they actually are. The "celebrity circus" presumably being... having the odd story in the Indo or RTE Guide about you? How's that different to now?

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

I thought he has has had a bag on his head since rubber bandits started? How did he know they’d be successful and that he’d have to put a bag on his head?

Unless he didn’t start off that way? I dunno much about em.

What's the problem with wanting to stay anonymous before or after he gets on/off stage?

Prune Tracy · 13-11-2017 4:23pm

He just grasps whatever is considered the "right on" position at a given time. The Rubberbandits were falling over themselves on St Patrick's Day over some self loathing tweet about how terrible and oppressive and anti women Ireland is (yeah, it's like ****ing Syria) and "we" are all responsible. Few months later whinging about "the Brits" and Ireland is better.

Brian? · 13-11-2017 4:27pm

c_man wrote: »

Ah that Willie o'Dea song was pretty funny. Problem for them was that there's a certain geographic boundary to how far jokes about Limerick and drugs go (things didn't work out on C4 for example) so no international breakthrough, and people here got pretty bored of the hole schtick. Yeah, we get it you singing about yokes and robbing stuff... *snore* So that led to the pivot to where they are now i.e. right-on, PC stuff. It's given them a huge new audience and devoted following.

I had a look at their Twitter during the last "controversy" about them. Wow. Apparently anyone who expresses the sentiment that they're not funny anymore is a right wing troll. Says them anyways.

You know things worked very well on C4 for them? So much so they got a series on ITV. They’ve also sold out many shows in he UK and did well at the Edinburgh festival.

Say what you want, but they’ve been very successful in the UK. There’s this weird narrative about the Rubberbandits that they’ve never been successful outside Ireland, that has zero basis in reality.

c_man · 13-11-2017 4:27pm

Boom_Bap wrote: »

What's the problem with wanting to stay anonymous before or after he gets on/off stage?

Well a straight google search for Blindboy gets you his name and picture, among other details. So let's leave the anonymous thing aside as it's a non-runner, obviously anyone who's interested can seek him out. What we're left with is that the bag, mock accent et al is part of the character. You wouldn't seriously claim Shirely Temple Bar had the wig and all so yer man could shop in Dunnes in peace.

andekwarhola · 13-11-2017 4:28pm

Mixed bag for me, insofar as I spend time thinking about it.

Some of his stuff makes me laugh and I want to approve of hin more than I do but there's a undeniable sliver of irritation there for me too.

There's a definite bang of Right On about it, not least when there's a blizzard of internet approval from certain types every time he opens his mouth.

That said, I could never fully dislike anybody that came up with the Trout Of No Craic.

Boom_Bap · 13-11-2017 4:30pm

c_man wrote: »

Well a straight google search for Blindboy gets you his name and picture, among other details. So let's leave the anonymous thing aside as it's a non-runner, obviously anyone who's interested can seek him out. What we're left with is that the bag, mock accent et al is part of the character. You wouldn't seriously claim Shirely Temple Bar had the wig and all so yer man could shop in Dunnes in peace.

Dude, I'm just badly repeating what he has said as to why he wears it, and I can understand why he does it based on what he has said.
And I don't think that Shirley Temple Bar is a suitable comparison either.

13-11-2017 4:33pm

Boom_Bap wrote: »

What's the problem with wanting to stay anonymous before or after he gets on/off stage?

Has his character always worn a bag over their head even in the early days?

I did ask already but you just replied with another question. I also stated I don’t know much about them.

Brian? · 13-11-2017 4:34pm

c_man wrote: »

Well a straight google search for Blindboy gets you his name and picture, among other details. So let's leave the anonymous thing aside as it's a non-runner, obviously anyone who's interested can seek him out. What we're left with is that the bag, mock accent et al is part of the character. You wouldn't seriously claim Shirely Temple Bar had the wig and all so yer man could shop in Dunnes in peace.

Your shotgun approach to debating is quite entertaining.

The Rubberbandits shouldn’t be listened to, we get it. No need to keep trotting out more reasons.

I for one am entertained by their comedy and enjoy their social commentary. I don’t give a fig about the bags.

Well, I do like that one of them wears a bag from JCs in Swords. That’s pretty great.

Sky King · 13-11-2017 4:35pm

lawred2 wrote: »

You do know that he's not a fictional character in a TV program right?

Yes he is.

Brian? · 13-11-2017 4:36pm

Sky King wrote: »

Yes he is.

You need to learn the difference between a fictional character and a persona.

Cee-Jay-Cee · 13-11-2017 4:37pm

I’ve come to consider him as a male version of Twink. Basically they wheel him out to fill a slot when they absolutely can’t get anyone else.

lawred2 · 13-11-2017 4:39pm

lawred2 wrote: »

You do know that he's not a fictional character in a TV program right?

Sky King wrote: »

Yes he is.

Sky King wrote: »

...Is it always easy to draw the distinction between when he is saying something deadly serious or just completely taking the piss? It might be easy for you or me but it may not be for the feeble minded fans he has that he impresses with the big words.

hmmmmm

13-11-2017 4:39pm

Does anyone have an answer to my question?

Has blind boy always worn a bag on his head. Even when they started out?

riffmongous · 13-11-2017 4:39pm

Willie O Dea, Bag of Glue, Blackman, Up the Ra, classic tunes

buried · 13-11-2017 4:44pm

'Hipster or a Hobo' is great tune too! Didn't know he had his own podcast out, going to download that now for the listen later! Nice wan AH

Sky King · 13-11-2017 4:44pm

Brian? wrote: »

You need to learn the difference between a fictional character and a persona.

Perhaps I do. I have the same problem being lectured to in a fake accent by either to be honest.

c_man · 13-11-2017 4:47pm

Brian? wrote: »

You know things worked very well on C4 for them? So much so they got a series on ITV. They’ve also sold out many shows in he UK and did well at the Edinburgh festival.

The show was cancelled though, aye? And the Fringe? Yeah, you could put money on more than half the audience being Irish. C'mon, I've lived there through around 5 or so. You get all the usual Irish acts over and they do well with the Irish there. That's the case and there's nothing wrong with that.

The Rubberbandits shouldn’t be listened to, we get it.

Don't believe I ever said that...

No need to keep trotting out more reasons.

Oh thanks... Is that back seat modding? Who's permission should I ask to post in future, yours or the lad who claims he's so enlightened that he doesn't even see the plastic bag?

topper75 · 13-11-2017 5:00pm

Ush1 wrote: »

They were funnier when they left out the preachy bull****e and actually did comedy.

Yeah sadly a lot of comedians over the years tipped over into "They all love me. So logically, I must share my ideas for the world with them".

I once saw a Steve Hughes show - first half funny all good. Just like I had hoped. Second half was like some sort of students union discussion of world politics. I wouldn't have got money back so no point in asking.

frozenfrozen · 13-11-2017 5:05pm

Everyone on television is a character, the bag just makes someone so obviously a character that more gob****es become aware of the fact that they are a character.

Sleeper12 · 13-11-2017 5:06pm

Sky King wrote:

Imagine Fr. Dougal Mcguire, Dustin the Turkey and Fortycoats appearing our incisive current affairs shows discussing mental health with Alan Partridge adjudicating.

We sent Dustin the Turkey to the Euro vision!

I'm not a rubber bandits fan but he actually speaks for a generation of people. He is the Gay Byrne of this generation. He actually makes sense a lot of the time. His haunted bread was a brilliant statement

Insect Overlord · 13-11-2017 5:07pm

DickSwiveller wrote: »

What do you expect in an infantile society? The fact that this clown is taken seriously shows what a state we're in.

I think you should educate yourself on what exactly it means to be a "clown".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clown

It is a tremendous art-form. Even David Bowie adopted a clown persona for some of his most interesting work.

Blindboy Boatclub may have become famous off the back of some songs that people find funny, but there should be no question about his ability as an artist.

Let's all take Blindboy seriously now...

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