Give me smut and nothing but!

[brightlywoven]

 OK, so most of the BBC Ross/Brand commentary is exceedingly boring. Stupid idea, and not funny. But how many of the people complaining would actually ever have been listening to the show? Essentially the whole storm seems to have been brewed up in order
a) for boring people to have something to whine about (see http://ifyoulikeitsomuchwhydontyougolivethere.com/ for the long history of this)
b) for the conservatives to undermine public broadcasting on the flimsiest of pretexts.
c) both

I was unimpressed to hear the chairman of the BBC trust complaining about programs on the beeb sailing close to the wind (in general) around 'young and impressionable' listeners, and declaring this must stop. Thinking about the level of (albeit clever) smut on radio 4 programs like ISIHAC, it's clear that the debate about censorship hasn't advanced much since the obscenity trial of Lady Chatterley's Lover, where the prosecuting QC asked the jury 'would you allow your wife or even your servants to read this book'. That is to say, no of course such material doesn't corrupt *me* but won't you *please* think of the children???

Comments

[sir-rosealot.livejournal.com]

My own far-fetched theory is that people are making such a big fuss about this because of the recession. They feel powerless about that, whereas this offers them a chance to be pleasantly outraged and feel as though something's actually being done, as well as seeming like a return to old-fashioned values, which people seem to cling to in periods of downturn.