The BBC Fails on Political Correctness

There was a sense of a small victory for feminists earlier this week when the BBC announced a woman will need to appear on all of its comedy panel shows. Thinking on your feet one might think this is a good idea it's about time more women were shown on these types of programmes, but the BBC obviously haven't thought through this kind of statement.

If a woman is allowed an automatic seat on a programme such as: 'QI' or 'Mock the Week' then why shouldn't someone from a ethnic minority or a gay person? If the BBC are looking to be politically correct then why are women getting the treatment but other sections of people aren't getting the same treatment - this is against what the BBC were trying to do in the first place.

I do agree with what they are saying though - women do not get as much of a chance as a man in comedy especially on television. If you ever watch 'Live at the Apollo' the ratio from women to men performing is unacceptable - and they deserve as much of a chance as a man, unfortunately there are some bigoted males out there, that regardless of how good the female comedian is, they will not tolerate them. Apart from a select handful the likes of; Jo Brand and Sarah Millican women's stand doesn't thrive.



Jo Brand one of the few big women comedians around today. Picture courtesy of the guardian.com.

If we need women on BBC's comedy panel shows then should that not be case on all television and radio shows broadcast. Isn't a programme like 'Loose Women' sexist? And 'Woman's Hour' on BBC radio 4 sexist to us males. If there was a radio programme called 'Men's Hour' would there be feminists complaining how it is unfair?

Before you all start; I am not a sexist bigoted pig I do believe in equal opportunities and I know woman deserve a place in comedy as much as a man does, but the average person watching a comedy panel show wouldn't be thinking "Why are there no women on this programme?"

If programme's like 'Mock the Week' and other comedy shows are to be politically correct and non-sexist then how much of their material will they have to cut. There aren't many comedians out there that don't do jokes about their partners or wife/husband, a lot of Jo Brand's material is mocking men, as this is sexist shouldn't this material be banned on the BBC as it is not politically correct?

 

Shows like QI will now have to involve a female. Picture courtesy of ABC.

It shouldn't matter who is on comedy panel shows, there should only be one thing that matters when watching comedy: are they making you laugh? I don't care who's making me laugh as long a they are, whether they are man, woman, straight, gay, black or white.

The Trend to Ruin Celebrities

Earlier this week Coronation Street star William Roache was cleared of all charges against him claimed by a number of women back in the 1960s, it also wasn't long ago Coronation Street actor, Michael Le Vell was found not guilty of 12 charges made against him. This got me wondering do people falsely accuse b-list celebrities to have their moment of fame, or are their so many stars that abuse their fame in this sick way?

William Roache leaves Preston Crown Court being cleared of all charges made against him. Picture courtesy of Manchester Evening News.

Since the Jimmy Saville story emerged it seems like we cannot pass over week without a former TV star being accused of raping or sexual assaulting women and/or girls. I'm not for one minute defending Jimmy Saville but why accuse a man that is dead? It almost seems pointless - no justice can be done.

In 2005 Michael Jackson was found not guilty of a number of counts involving a 13 year old boy named Gavin Arvizo. Since the case there has been irregularities from the claimants and one of the 'witnesses' has even admitted lying under oath - which is a criminal offence.

So why would someone accuse a celebrity of sexual abuse even if it did not occur. With the Michael Jackson case it was the simple notion of money. The Arvizo family were known in the past to harass celebrities for money especially Arvizo's father so when the juvenile formed a relationship with Jackson the family obviously saw dollar signs. Gavin Arvizo was diagnosed with cancer before getting to know Jackson - it was claimed this was another way of exploiting their son for money.

Back across the Atlantic, are Brits trying to do the same as the Arvizo family? It would make sense with the troubled economy across the globe. As many as sixteen celebrities have been either charged or accused of sexual assault, they include the Australian Rolf Harris and former BBC radio D.J Dave Lee.

Rolf Harris is just one of a number of celebrities accused of sexual assault. Picture courtesy of the guardian.com

So are they all guilty? That's for the judge and the jury to decide but some celebrities are concerned with the 'witch-hunt' accusing former stars of being paedophiles. It seems to be flavour of the month, I'll admit some might well be guilty but some will just be falsely accused and it's not fair - a case like this can affect the rest of someone's career and life.

One plus to take from this is how much it raises awareness for the welfare of fans of celebrities. They now know they aren't exempt from the law, they cannot take advantage of the stardom, like Lostprophets lead singer Ian Watkins who used his status to manipulate women to let him rape their babies.

One way to prevent innocent celebrities of being wrongly accused is having harsher penalties for people wrongly accusing them. Because when the media learn of a story like this they indirectly try to show the celebrity in a negative light.