Hungry? C4 to create comedy series...about the famine

Fratton Fred · 03-01-2015 11:37pm

Esther Obedient Numeral wrote: »

Would they have done more if a famine broke out in Liverpool, Manchester or Newcastle?

The government? Probably not, but the people of those cities were most likely working in factories so of more importance to the wealthy and therefore more likely to receive aid locally.

Jawgap · 03-01-2015 11:38pm

Esther Obedient Numeral wrote: »

That is true, the British Empire was huge by then, but that does not abdicate responsibility, or at least responsibility by modern standards.

Although governments of powerful countries back then were so right wing and brutal they make Hitler look like a child throwing a tantrum.

Would they have done more if a famine broke out in Liverpool, Manchester or Newcastle?

Probably done exactly the same - Trevelyan and the establishment were driven by a dogma based on the theories of Adam Smith - there's no reason to suppose they would have departed from that dogma if events had occurred closer to London.

He, and his cohorts, were like the Troika - they saw a crisis as an opportunity to ram home their ideas as to what the solution should be - perhaps there's some comedic value to be extracted from that?

MadsL · 03-01-2015 11:38pm

Esther Obedient Numeral wrote: »

That is true, the British Empire was huge by then, but that does not abdicate responsibility, or at least responsibility by modern standards.

People in 1845 should be held accountable by 2014 standards, err..OK. Dig 'em up and throw them in jail then.

Although governments of powerful countries back then were so right wing and brutal they make Hitler look like a child throwing a tantrum.

But they should have shown the compassion of Mother Theresa to starving farm labourers...

Would they have done more if a famine broke out in Liverpool, Manchester or Newcastle?

Have you any idea what life was like for children working in the cotton mills of Manchester, the mines of Newcastle or the port of Liverpool??

This was hardly a compassionate era.

Hidalgo · 03-01-2015 11:42pm

Jawgap wrote: »

That, and the provision of the wrong kind of relief - strange as it may seem, the prevailing thinking at the time was against charity, hence the tendency towards relief work schemes - of course, if you're going to work, you need energy in the form of food.

Charitable relief (direct aid) was not as prevalent as it should've been, and even when it was provided it failed to take account of the local situation - the corn is a good example, people didn't like it because they weren't familiar with it and because they couldn't cook it.

There were two main problems with the corn.
One as you state, people didn't know how to cook it and
Two. Mild weather meant poor drying which resulted in less quality and quantity of turf. In turn this made it harder to light hot as opposed to smouldering fires needed to cook the corn.

Micky Dolenz · 03-01-2015 11:43pm

MadsL wrote: »

Oh I see. You never said that failing to relieve famine was an act of homicide, even though I quoted you. Perhaps you could go back an edit what you said, since you never said it.

Not avoiding it, just wondering why I am answerable for Tony Blair's actions. I didn't vote for him. Anyway, he's a lawyer not a historian.

So to clarify, you believe who exactly is culpable of homicide? Trevelyan perhaps? Anyone else?

I'm not one to go back and edit (smiley face)

He was PM of the British empire. The British government of the day were responsible for the Great Famine. If they acted appropriately it would never have been a famine nor mind a great one.

Circles we go in. Sorry, I can't discuss things with people like you. I don't care on repeating myself ad nauseam

riffmongous · 03-01-2015 11:46pm

There was also a potato famine in Scotland at the same time I think, which ended in high emigration but nowhere near so much death iirc

MadsL · 04-01-2015 12:32am

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

He was PM of the British empire. The British government of the day were responsible for the Great Famine. If they acted appropriately it would never have been a famine nor mind a great one.

Eh? Tony Blair was never PM of "The British Empire" Canada and Australia's PMs may have something to say on that

What would have been appropriate? Do you think modern responses to famine are equally appropriate?

Circles we go in.

No. The circle is me reminding you that you agreed that failing to relieve a famine is a homicide. That, by your own judgement, makes you a murderer.

]Sorry, I can't discuss things with people like you. I don't care on repeating myself ad nauseam

Sorry, the ad you are looking for is ad hominum as indicated by "people like you"

Disappointing really that you cannot follow the logical outcome of calling the famine a deliberate act.

Rhys Essien · 04-01-2015 12:56am

mal1 wrote: »

Without being shot, why do some Irish feel so passionate about the famine? It's no longer in living memory, our grandparents weren't even alive to witness it. It's just a part of our history.

If you are native Irish,has it occurred to you that your ancestors somehow survived this forced starvation so you could be here today typing this very question??.

I wont use the word famine cause a famine it was not.

SEPT 23 1989 · 04-01-2015 1:05am

surrounded by water filled with fish and we went hungry

Panthro · 04-01-2015 1:05am

I think whoever has come up with the notion of making a comedy based on the Irish famine is nothing but an inexcusable aul bollocks tbh.
We can make jokes of plenty of things (ie priests on Father Ted) but the fuppin famine? The deaths of our own people?
Ah here, good luck.

BBDBB · 04-01-2015 1:09am

Writing comedy is difficult, plenty try, many fail, some really really painfully

Writing comedy about something no one else has tried/dared should be a rich vein of material..........that said the chances are that it will struggle to be funny without simply being offensive for the sake of it

Rhys Essien · 04-01-2015 1:21am

Jawgap wrote: »

Also why go to the trouble of destroying the backyard breadbasket of the empire and eliminating a population that was providing over 40% of the imperial army manpower and about a fifth of the Royal Navy? What was the motive?

And if extermination was the goal why allow so much food to be imported?

Jesus talk about contradicting yourself.You are saying we were importing food stuff and you also say we were the breadbasket of the empire.What are ya on about and whats your agenda?

As someone else asked,where was this so called imported food going??

In all my years talking about and researching this topic,you are the only person to say we were importing food when its widely known we were exporting,and things ramped up more during the starvation years.

You seem to be trying to skew Irish history.

Rhys Essien · 04-01-2015 1:24am

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

surrounded by water filled with fish and we went hungry

Dont even go there.You would have a bullet between the eyes if you attempted fishing back then.Permits were needed etc.

Mardy Bum · 04-01-2015 1:24am

Rhys Essien wrote: »

If you are native Irish,has it occurred to you that your ancestors somehow survived this forced starvation so you could be here today typing this very question??.

I wont use the word famine cause a famine it was not.

Actually demographically those that were effected (by death or emigration) where of the lowest class and by and large that class was totally wiped out of Ireland . Therefore there are only a few who would be directly related to those who died. Also most people died from disease not starvation.

mal1 · 04-01-2015 1:40am

Rhys Essien wrote: »

If you are native Irish,has it occurred to you that your ancestors somehow survived this forced starvation so you could be here today typing this very question??.

I wont use the word famine cause a famine it was not.

Should I sit here and think about all the various tragic circumstances over the past two millennia and reflect about how lucky i am to be here? Yes, the famine and it's impacts has occurred to me but i can't feel passionate about how my ancestors survived. I'm sure my ancestors overcame more tragic circumstances than the Irish famine , it's history and only a small part of how I came to be here today.

I understand and recognise the famine in the context of Irish history, the suffering is sad but I can't feel passionate about protecting it from the comics in Channel 4. Let them go ahead. Maybe they can cover the Norman invasion in the Second series in the same way Blackadder moved through the centuries.

Rhys Essien · 04-01-2015 1:54am

mal1 wrote: »

Should I sit here and think about all the various tragic circumstances over the past two millennia and reflect about how lucky i am to be here? Yes, the famine and it's impacts has occurred to me but i can't feel passionate about how my ancestors survived. I'm sure my ancestors overcame more tragic circumstances than the Irish famine , it's history and only a small part of how I came to be here today.

I understand and recognise the famine in the context of Irish history, the suffering is sad but I can't feel passionate about protecting it from the comics in Channel 4. Let them go ahead. Maybe they can cover the Norman invasion in the Second series in the same way Blackadder moved through the centuries.

Have a small bit of respect,will ya.:rolleyes:

Should they make the 9/11 comedy first.They would in their fcuk.

Pwindedd · 04-01-2015 2:06am

Do you know what - you're just not ready. It seems it would suit everyone much better to wail and hand-wring over it all, rather than embrace the humour that inevitably arises from tragic circumstances and possibly bring the story of the famine to a wider audience.

Dear god sometimes I think this island thinks it has the monopoly on misery and suffering - Ya seem to thrive on it.

BBDBB · 04-01-2015 2:06am

Rhys Essien wrote: »

Have a small bit of respect,will ya.:rolleyes:

Should they make the 9/11 comedy first.They would in their fcuk.

and call it Faulty Towers?

mal1 · 04-01-2015 2:14am

Rhys Essien wrote: »

Have a small bit of respect,will ya.:rolleyes:

Should they make the 9/11 comedy first.They would in their fcuk.

Goes to show that you're missing my point. Bit of respect for what victim sitting out there today that survived the famine and is reading After Hours? 9/11 is in living memory. There are victims out there. I might meet them some day.

I do show respect, I'm honest in the sense that because I have no tangible experience then I cannot pretend to feel passionate or protective about the events. I do understand and acknowledge the suffering, that is how I show respect. I will not pretend because I'm Irish that I should feel any different.

By the way, you should watch Four Lions if you think comedy about jihad is off limits.

The Black Oil · 04-01-2015 5:20am

lertsnim wrote: »

I can't wait till someone does a comedy series based on the Holocaust.

The Big Oven Theory

MadsL · 04-01-2015 6:30am

Rhys Essien wrote: »

forced starvation.

Here we go again...

Galwayguy35 · 04-01-2015 6:48am

Pwindedd wrote: »

Do you know what - you're just not ready. It seems it would suit everyone much better to wail and hand-wring over it all, rather than embrace the humour that inevitably arises from tragic circumstances and possibly bring the story of the famine to a wider audience.

Dear god sometimes I think this island thinks it has the monopoly on misery and suffering - Ya seem to thrive on it.

If they want to bring it to a wider audience let them make a documentary on it.

This idea that any subject should be up for being make fun of is a load of bollocks.

As some comedians have found out.

COYVB · 04-01-2015 7:20am

It's original anyway. Could be funny too, depends who's involved and writing

DEFTLEFTHAND · 04-01-2015 7:26am

Everything and everybody is fair game to be made fun of, it's humour it's not actual sentiment. You see this more and more in today's society where you can't broach certain subjects or use certain words. It stifles creativity, everybody has to conform and be prim and proper good little girls and boys.

Jawgap · 04-01-2015 8:43am

Rhys Essien wrote: »

Jesus talk about contradicting yourself.You are saying we were importing food stuff and you also say we were the breadbasket of the empire.What are ya on about and whats your agenda?

As someone else asked,where was this so called imported food going??

In all my years talking about and researching this topic,you are the only person to say we were importing food when its widely known we were exporting,and things ramped up more during the starvation years.

You seem to be trying to skew Irish history.

No, I'm saying prior to 1842 the island was producing a considerable surplus of food. Then a number of factors were exacerbated by a series of poor harvests and by 1845, when the blight arrived, the island had tipped over to becoming a net importer of food in increasing amounts through to 1850.

As for your research, maybe you need to take yourself out to UCD, then you'll have heard more than me talking about the nature and extent of food being imported on to the island.

Jawgap · 04-01-2015 8:53am

Rhys Essien wrote: »

Have a small bit of respect,will ya.:rolleyes:

Should they make the 9/11 comedy first.They would in their fcuk.

They've made plenty of comedies about the wars in Iraq and Afghsnistan.

Bluestone 42, for example, is about an IED disposal team in Afghanistan.

Ghost Buster · 04-01-2015 9:53am

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

If they want to bring it to a wider audience let them make a documentary on it.

This idea that any subject should be up for being make fun of is a load of bollocks.

As some comedians have found out.

Are you 12? Scared to death that someone will make fun of you. Perhaps it will take one of the many other few dozen possible angles that those of us with a developed sense of humour can see.

Ghost Buster · 04-01-2015 10:11am

If
Life is Beautiful
The Ringer
Black Adder
Ding Ding Denny O Reilly
And
Horrible Histories
Comedies about war, plague, genocide, death, famine, mental handicap and revolution can work then why not this.
?

Hannibal Smith · 04-01-2015 10:12am

Ghost Buster wrote: »

Are you 12? Scared to death that someone will make fun of you. Perhaps it will take one of the many other few dozen possible angles that those of us with a developed sense of humour can see.

Just because you find humour in something that others don't, doesn't give you a more developed sense of humour. It just gives you a different sense of humour. All comedians know there are buttons you don't press. Some go ahead and press it, which appeals to a different audience to those that don't. There is no hierarchy.

As for the TV show...I don't like the thoughts of it. I've seen so many British comedians joke about it and always with a tag line 'begorrah what will we do without potatoes we love so much'. I've heard English friends make reference to our love of potatoes too which makes me wonder whether the propaganda used has filtered down through the generations and the famine is seen as our fault for 'loving' potatoes so much without any deeper understanding of what happened. So my concern would be that it would just further that belief but they get an Irish bloke to right it so that makes it okay.

I don't think we like to have a monopoly on misery anymore than any other culture, but it was a pretty horrific time. I can't see how or why people would want to tap into it for comedy purposes, but then I like channel 4s humour so maybe it will work. We'll have to wait and see.

scouttio · 04-01-2015 10:47am

Ghost Buster wrote: »

If
Life is Beautiful
The Ringer
Black Adder
Ding Ding Denny O Reilly
And
Horrible Histories
Comedies about war, plague, genocide, death, famine, mental handicap and revolution can work then why not this.
?

I think if people are to take anything from this thread, it ishould be that Horrible Histories is fantastic!

Hungry? C4 to create comedy series...about the famine

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