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Wokeism Again - Part 2

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andy-hughes | 09:59 Wed 01st Dec 2021 | Film, Media & TV
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Last night I got around tyo watching the second half of Dirty Harry.

As I predicted, the piece of dialogue where the psycho referred to the man he paid to beat him somewhat unkindly, referring to his ethnicity and parentage, was cut, but the graphic beating scene was left intact.

It's odd that the history re-writers appear to find a serious extremely violent beating on film as acceptable, but racial epithets are deemed inappropriate and censored out.

I expected as much, and was not surprised.
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Andy-Hughes has a point about context. A number of songs were changed from the stage to the film version in 'West side story'. One song, 'Gee officer Krupke' was the worst with the opening line 'My father was a ***, my mother an Sob', changed to 'My mummy hates my Daddy' and we're supposed to believe this was said by a New York street gang member.
the "violent beatings" are faked. It's acting.

The words are really spoken.

Hope this helps...
the three stars represents a word very close to mustard.
vulcan, do you "believe" gang members talk in rhyme or dance in the street?
jno, that's irrelevant, the original lyrics, written by Stephen Sondheim should have been used.
Gromit I totally agree. It's not Christmas until I hear Fairytale in New York and they had better not change the words.
AH, //Tastes change - but what is unfunny now was actually unfunny then as well.//

I disagree. Humour is subjective. You think The Office is hilarious. I thought it was absolute rubbish. I laughed at Love Thy Neighbour then and I would still laugh at it now because, as with Till Death Do Us Part, and Rising Damp for that matter, the joke was always on the bigot and that did more to eradicate racism than silencing people ever will. We didn’t laugh WITH Alf Garnet, and Rigsby, and Eddie Booth - we laughed AT them because we perceived them to be foolish - and that served to educate. No one had to tell us they were wrong or that they were idiots. We reached that conclusion of our own volition. In cancelling them anti-racists shot themselves very firmly in the foot.

Art, 'they' say, imitates life, but not these days. When someone decided to strike certain dialogue from the movie you're talking about they erased the reality that, was then, life, as we see that happening now time and time again.

RH, //I cringe at some of the language used in old films.
I am glad that the world (on a whole) has moved on.//

I don’t cringe and I don’t agree that the world has moved on. In attempting to control 'thought', and in succeeding in controlling language, life has taken a seriously sinister and retrograde step. As Voltaire is (debatably) reputed to have said ' "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Me too.

I'm with Stephen Fry when he said, “It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more... than a whine. 'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that.' Well, so *** what."

Indeed. So *** what?
Wokeism has also got to Olivers' Army. On the Gold radio stations, they now omit the verse;

All it takes is one itchy trigger
One more widow, one less white n i g g e r

In favour of repeating;
Call careers information etc.
Quite coincidentally, Radio Lancashire have just played the song but i was upstairs and didn't get down quick enough to hear which version was sung :-(
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naomi - // AH, //Tastes change - but what is unfunny now was actually unfunny then as well.//

I disagree. Humour is subjective. You think The Office is hilarious. I thought it was absolute rubbish. I laughed at Love Thy Neighbour then and I would still laugh at it now because, as with Till Death Do Us Part, and Rising Damp for that matter, the joke was always on the bigot and that did more to eradicate racism than silencing people ever will. We didn’t laugh WITH Alf Garnet, and Rigsby, and Eddie Booth - we laughed AT them because we perceived them to be foolish - and that served to educate. No one had to tell us they were wrong or that they were idiots. We reached that conclusion of our own volition. In cancelling them anti-racists shot themselves very firmly in the foot. //

I would amend my position then, to put forward the view that broad tastes in society change, rather than an individual sense of humour.

I do take your point that something you and i found humerous years ago is still hghly likely to be humourous now, or indeed not, because we tend to keep our sense of humour, and that does not vary, throughout our lives.

I could dispense with the homily about the reasons why 'racist' comedies were funny, and the actual subtlety and targets involved, I doubt if anyone on the thread needed that explained to them - I certainly didn't.

// Art, 'they' say, imitates life, but not these days. When someone decided to strike certain dialogue from the movie you're talking about they erased the reality that, was then, life, as we see that happening now time and time again. //

Absolutely.

// I'm with Stephen Fry when he said, “It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more... than a whine. 'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that.' Well, so *** what."

Indeed. So *** what? //

As always, the wonderful Mr Fry expresses it perfectly - can only agree with his view on humour, as I do with his view on God.
AH, I didn’t offer a homily. Simply my opinion.
10CS, I'm honestly surprised that Oliver's Army survived as long as it did in it's original form, despite the word being used to describe the Irish rather than race in this instance.
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naomi - // AH, I didn’t offer a homily. //

I rather think you did - to refresh your memory -

// ... because, as with Till Death Do Us Part, and Rising Damp for that matter, the joke was always on the bigot and that did more to eradicate racism than silencing people ever will. We didn’t laugh WITH Alf Garnet, and Rigsby, and Eddie Booth - we laughed AT them because we perceived them to be foolish - and that served to educate. No one had to tell us they were wrong or that they were idiots. We reached that conclusion of our own volition. //

I didn't need that explanation, I doubt anyone on here did either.

I worked it out all my mysef, because I am bright enough to know what subtle humour is.

Andy, as an aiside......

Did your Cruise Ship lectures go ahead?
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Mozz - // 10CS, I'm honestly surprised that Oliver's Army survived as long as it did in it's original form, despite the word being used to describe the Irish rather than race in this instance. //

Indeed - wait until they listen closely to the lyrics for Alison Moyet's Love Resurrection, that will have to go, and as for Walk On The Wild Side ... the Beeb are such innocents, bless.
AH, my memory isn’t at fault. I know what I said. I’ll dip out now lest anything else I offer on the subject meets with unwarranted criticism.
One of my favourite music facts that one about WOTWS Andy. Only got passed the censors as none of the old guard of the BBC hierarchy knew what "giving head" meant :-D
Also, as a change of subject. How can naked attraction be ok to be aired? Who would even think of the concept? And the language on that!
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Zacs - // Andy, as an aiside......

Did your Cruise Ship lectures go ahead? //

They did thank you Zacs.

My wife and I had a six-day cruise to Liverpool and back in September, I delivered four Talks, all were successful, and I am now on the Speakers Panel, and awaiting my offers from cruises from March to December next year.

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