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| Jared O'Mara, 2006 (band website - as per HIGNFY) |
It's been a while since I've watched Have I Got News For You but Sue persuaded me to give it a go this week. It was surprisingly even-handed in its mockery - and made me laugh.
It's probably a sign that I take my duties as a blogger about BBC bias far, far too seriously but I made a list of all the butts of their jokes this week and, yes, it's an eclectic lot:
Kim Jong-un
Hipsters
The Welsh
Southern Rail
Martin Selmayr
The Daily Mail
Donald Trump
Boris
Michael Gove
Chris Heaton-Harris
Jeremy Corbyn
Jared O'Mara
Angela Rayner
Jacob Rees-Mogg
Jeremy Corbyn
Xi Jinping
Donald Trump
Scientists
Richard Madeley
Some were predictable, others less so. Who'd have thought they'd have mocked the EU's chief knuckle-grinder Martin Selmayr? Or had a right good pop at Labour over Jared O'Mara?
Interestingly, there was a joke about the latter which provoked the BBC studio audience into a loud collective gasp. Some laughed, some sounded uncomfortable. Heads turned.
In his comments, Jared O'Mara has been homophobic, xenophobic and sexist. Worst of all, in the eyes of the Labour Party, he doesn't have a bad word to say about Jews.
I don't know. I'm not letting pseudosatirist Hislop and his pals off so lightly. I did a random analysis of the ten most recent HIGNFY tweets a while ago and found the vast preponderance were anti-Tory jokes. The anti-Boris one was gratuitous insult, not really an attempt at humour. There was one directed "against" Corbyn but only in the sense it implied he walked on water.
ReplyDeleteI don't known about that last reference. It sounds like a dig at the Labour Party...but I'm not sure. I'd like to know who wrote it. It could be seen as a Dieudonne style attempt to desensitive the public to anti-Jewish sentiment.
Here's another "ten most recent list" for the HIGNFY tweets:
ReplyDelete1. Anti Jacob Rees-Mogg (too large family would they ever do that for a follower of Islam?)
2. Anti-Trump (in relation to release of JFK files)
3. NHS cyber attack joke involving Dr Who...not really targetting anyone. Blunting any attack on the wonderful NHS, so could be seen as PC.
4. Anti-Trump, drawing attention to his failure to publish tax return.
5. Anti-Tory joke suggesting May will soon be gone to be replace by Boris or Mogg.
6. Pop at Nick Grimshaw for being unpopular.
7. Joke aimed at fashion industry re abuse...(hang on, that's no different from Gove is it?)
8. Anti-Remainer joke, as in how they would be reacting to better than expected growth figures.
9. Anti-Twitter advertising joke.
10. Anti-Tory joke (Chris Heaton-Harris's Brexit inquirites).
So I make that
30% anti-Tory
0% anti-Labour
20% anti-Trump
10% a kind of non joke referencing the NHS - potentially defensive.
10% bad taste joke referencing abuse - same as Gove
10% anti-Grimshaw (he may annoy HIGNFY because he doesn't seem to virtue-signal much...most traditional airhead DJ...makes you vulnerable to attack these days).
10% anti-Twitter advertising (kind of self promotion for non-advertising BBC one might say)
10% anti-Remainer...though not particularly vicious...perhaps more rueful than rude. You get the feeling they could be slamming the floor in frustration at the growth figures.
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