Last night's Have I Got News For You launched a full-scale humour assault on Nigel Farage, UKIP and UKIP voters.
Nigel Farage himself was present as this particular roasting, and laughed and groaned his way through punchline after punchline at the expense of his own expenses and his (alleged) ex-marital activities, a round called 'Fruitcake or Loony?', plus various jokes about racism and homophobia, mostly read out by actor Stephen Mangan.
I note that many UKIP supporters took to Twitter to denounce the BBC's left-wing anti-UKIP bias. Given that they, their leader and their party had been the butt of most of the programme's jokes, it would have been surprising if they hadn't. Funny old world, Twitter, though because anti-UKIP left-wingers also took to Twitter, either to praise the BBC for 'ripping UKIP to shreds' or to denounce the BBC for inviting Nigel Farage onto the show in the first place ('right-wing bias'). As I say, funny old world, Twitter.
Similarly, the HuffPost and the Independent may be gloating about Nigel Farage's slating on the show but many of the BTL commenters on those sites are saying that the UKIP leader did himself no harm whatsoever by entering the ultimate lion's den for a right-wing politician - a BBC studio with a baying audience - and pretty much managing to maintain his cool and good humour throughout.
Indeed, I doubt that a single BBC viewer would have changed their view of Mr Farage and UKIP after watching that show. Those who love him will have admired his guts for going on the show, laughing his way through its relentless assault on both him and his party: The plucky outsider, hated by the political establishment, bravely sitting in the stocks as deeply-personal allegations are flung in his face like tabloid tomatoes. Those who hate him and his party, on the other hand, will think he/they deserved all he/they got, even if they don't think he should have been invited on in the first place. They will hope that some of the thrown tomatoes will stick to him, and damage him. (I very much doubt that though).
HIGNFY still gets a decent audience each week, even after 47 series. It's no longer the 'must see' programme it used to be for me though, even though its still makes me laugh from time to time. Its targets though remain utterly predictable.
This week's targets - besides Nigel Farage, UKIP and UKIP supporters! - were: Sky News, Lidl, Michael Gove, Maria Miller, David Cameron, Sajid Javid's former career in banking, the Daily Mail (inevitably), the Royal Family, George W Bush (yep, still doing Dubya jokes!), Tony Blair, Alistair Campbell, numbers, Alan Titchmarsh, William Hague, out-of-touch Conservative interns and Nick Clegg (sort of).
There wasn't a single joke about Ed Miliband, the present-day Labour Party, the Guardian, Tristram Hunt, the BBC, Barack Obama, or the Green Party, etc, but then again that's BBC comedy for you!
Our license fee pays for the BBC's bias so the more we pay the more lies we get told.
ReplyDeleteAt nearly 70, I find the present frenetic bias against Farage & UKIP by the BBC, particularly, Nick Robinson and Jo Cockburn really quite worrying. I will refrain from HIGNFY, both The Daily and Weekly Politics shows and anything on which Robinson appears. The BBC is now far too left wing and presents accordingly. Thank God I'm nearer the exit than when I came in!
ReplyDeleteI saw two BBC "news" bulletins of note on Tuesday 20th. One was the ever-grinning entertainer-journalist Nick Robinson going through the motions of giving Clegg a hard time initially, but mewing and fawning over him almost immediately with that goggle-eyed look of adoration he reserves for establishment figures. Clegg took the opportunity to trot out some vapid cobblers about opposition to our membership of Europe being "unpatriotic." What is surreal about his take on "patriotism" is that in a more outspoken age, Clegg would be regarded as a traitor because of the extent to which he and his kind are complicit in trying to ensure the UK remains essentially an occupied country under the EU. The other was the BBC's report about a UKIP rally in Croydon that was disrupted by (apparently) Romanian demonstrators. Somehow the BBC managed to present the disruption of a legitimate UK political party event by foreign nationals as being rather heroic, and for good measure, managed to tell us that a steel band hired for the event left after saying they didn't realize they had been hired by UKIP (the implication being they're racists), and would not have attended if they had known. Not a word from the BBC questioning the legitimacy of foreign demonstrators in disrupting the event. Obviously, that's fine.
ReplyDeleteYes UKIP is seen as anti neoliberal so therefore far right regardless of what they believe. But when you create a situation where you are either for or against us (very divisive in itself), the grey areas in between are ignored regardless of people trying to make a perfectly logical point that is sensible anybody disagreeing has been clearly brainwashed to see the world a certain way. Left and right views (although I'm not convinced these things exist and most people have a mix of viewpoints anyway) become redundant. Its like those brainwashed to believe the E.U. and Europe are the same thing when quite clearly a large chunk of people in Europe don't like the E.U. But clearly a chunk believe they are. So you are against E.U. you hate Europeans kind of thing, when there is no clear evidence.
DeleteIt's becoming abit cringe worthy now to be honest.
ReplyDeleteEvery political joke aimed towards UKIP.
They aren't even funny. You can almost hear the presenter at the time begging for people to laugh.
"Like us like ... please like us and out left wing ways"
Yeah I agree a truly unbiased programme would make fun of the left or should I say neoliberals (who believe in a certain world view and everyone who doesnt believe it are crazy and looney), or coarse though who is truly crazy? It used to be better before. Of coarse what is more bizarre is the accusation of the right believing in one thing and left in another. The situation for most is more complex. The right hate this this and this.....etc. of coarse the reality is rather different. Neoliberalism is a world ideology. Wanting control on immigration isn't in itself far right as neoliberals claim, they may also agree with good working conditions, good pay a fair society. But when people believe a certain ideology what may be considered left and right goes out the window and it becomes trying to force anyone to see the world from your world view even if it makes no logical sense at all. It becomes a black and white view so anybody seeing things in grey areas are pigeonholed.
DeleteAnother example on Fridays programme. Expected a few jokes about Ed Milliband's blunders pre-election?
ReplyDeleteAs an anti UKIP type, I think the bashing they get from the sons and daughters of privilege on HIGNFY is counter productive, if the Oxbridge types don't like them, people may see them as having a connection with the general public, Hislop used to do satire, sneering at UKIP is not satire.
ReplyDelete