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Surely Fawlty towers should have been given the "this program was and is racist and is shown in its original form" treatment.
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It wasn't removed because of "The Germans".
following the publication of this article they confirmed it was under
review because the episode “contains racial slurs”.The original broadcast included a scene in which Major Gowen, a
regular guest at the hotel, uses very strong racist language in
relation to an anecdote about the West Indies cricket teamThe Fawlty Towers episode in question, first shown in 1975, also
features Cleese’s bigoted character apparently shocked at being
treated in hospital by a black doctor -
The news report was incorrect in this instance.
The particular episode in question is contentious (racist) because of the use of the words 'nigger' and 'wog' in the script. -
Does Inspector Clouseau patronise French people? There are many German stereotypes (Monkey Dust nazi grandpa) and French stereotypes (Allo Allo) in UK shows.
But white Europeans don't get dis-proportionally arrested, beaten up, asked where they are from and all that.
[unless they are East European, and the NI cops seem to be all too happy to report people to the Home Office, in the case of Polish stereotypes there is more of a point]
I can just laugh off the "Shmoking the dope on a bicycle" jokes.
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Stonehedge
Sumo
JurekB
JWestland
@TGR
Today’s TV news - Fawlty Towers has been taken off some tv channels. The news report mentioned ‘The Germans’.
If this crap continues, a huge amount of tv and films will be removed.
I totally understand that some shows may not be suitable for viewing - The Black and White Minstrel Show springs to mind. There was a mad episode where the white actors with black faces were then changed to Hawaiians or similar. Probably on YouTube somewhere. But as an example of how society has moved on, it’s great. More educational now than entertainment.
Does Inspector Clouseau patronise French people?
Do Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce patronise females in Sherlock Holmes ( the best pairing)?
Where will the madness stop? If people recognise that it is inappropriate now, surely that is a win - removal seems like harsh censorship to me. It’s unlikely that there will be an underground Fawlty Towers fan club - but who knows, it could happen.
Rant over!