All it is
Another witness testifies.
What does he mean by “anti-trans”? That the LGB Alliance wants to harm trans people, or exploit them, or oppress them?
No, of course not, he just means that the LGB Alliance doesn’t view trans people as literally the sex they identify as, and that it defends the rights of lesbians and gay men.
I always preferred “That Mitchell & Webb Look” to Matt Lucas & David Walliams’ “Little Britain” anyway.
Not only was it a funnier show, but Robert Webb bravely spoke out against the dangerous quacks at Mermaids.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen clips from Little Britain so I can’t compare. I would say that Mitchell & Webb were superior just for the fact that Olivia Colman was in the cast.
How does Lucas know this? What is his source for this declaration? What prompted it? Does he know no lesbians?
Robert Webb’s integrity speaks volumes when so many of his British comedy (and Hollywood) colleagues say nothing or join the pile on. I guess they don’t want compromise their cushy panel show or hosting gigs. What with Matt hosting beloved Bake-Off I imagine he won’t stick his neck out. I’m sure Graham Linehan will call him out if he hasn’t already.
Speaking of Robert Webb, did David Mitchell support him or stay quiet?
There was an interview on NPR, where Webb was deliberately ambushed by trans extremist Jesse Thorn about Webb’s criticism of Mermaids.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/what-happened-when-the-trans-mob-came-for-robert-webb-
David Mitchell has, AFAIK, never commented on the trans issue. Mitchell did seem uncomfortable with Thorn’s behaviour on the interview.
Well I’d say that now the Bake-Off is completely unwatchable, but I’m not some dumb woke arsehole that can’t enjoy entertainment that is “problematic”. Now if Noel wants to go mask off as a transwoman instead of a nonbinary vampire that’s probably a bridge too far.
This is interesting. Have always loved M&W and wish they were still doing it. At least give us an annual special? Homeopathic Emergency Room is one of my favorite skits ever. That and Mitchell’s “Are we the baddies” line. Plus, I always rather fancied Robert Webb! :)
Disappointed Mitchell was not more vocal on the issue. He always seems to be very, very RATIONA and outspoken. .
One simply has to Google “Robert Webb Mermaids” to see an unending parade of articles about how terrible Robert Webb is for his single since-deleted tweet and how laughable it is that he claimed not to hate trans children, from essentially all quarters of the UK media (the more “respectable” of which take a neutral “people are saying Robert Webb is horrible” tone, so that they can claim they aren’t promoting that message). There is only one pro-Webb article on the front page, and it was written by a trans woman (and I strongly suspect the same article written by a non-trans person would not have been published).
In this light, David Mitchell is being quite “rational” from his individual perspective; he has seen, over and over again, that anyone who says anything that is not 100% capitulation to the most reality-affronting claims of the most engaged and deluded activists will be instantly labelled as a horrible bigot by everyone who matters (and by almost everyone who doesn’t), and will lose friends and potential business partners who either honestly believe anyone labelled a “transphobe” is a terrible person or they’re too terrified of guilt by association to do anything about it.
It is cowardly of him, certainly, not to publicly stand in solidarity with his presumptive friend and business partner; and while American comics have a reputation — or at least a legend — of being brave in the face of totalitarian social madness, British comedians generally don’t. So it’s disappointing, but hardly surprising.
“It is cowardly of him, certainly, not to publicly stand in solidarity with his presumptive friend and business partner; and while American comics have a reputation — or at least a legend — of being brave in the face of totalitarian social madness, British comedians generally don’t. So it’s disappointing, but hardly surprising.”
This ideology does seem very strong in the entertainment industry. There’s endless pressure on comedians, musicians and actors (look how quickly the Harry Potter leads publicly disagreed with J. K. Rowling) to fall into line. Even in the UK, where’s there’s some resistance to the ideology, the hostile treatment of figures like Webb and John Cleese shows the entertainment industry is under its thumb.
Jane Clare Jones wrote a good article about Robert Webb and Mermaids (admittedly for “The Critic”, a publication I dislike).
https://archive.is/SlIvG
I didn’t know Matt Lucas was on the Baking Show. I stopped watching it the moment it left the Beeb and Mary Berry and Sue Perkins left it.
I’ve never seen the baking show. There has been some talk in a trombone group about whether contestant Jurgen, a trombonist, plays an instrument that could be described as a sackbut, but I haven’t found any images. I wasn’t going to watch the show for that reason, but now I have even less reason.
I don’t watch the show either, but I understand that Sandi Toksvig was a previous host. She hasn’t exactly covered herself in glory on this issue, either.
It’s an odd thing to watch, no question, but I sampled it and got hooked on a couple of them via insomnia.
Mitchell and Webb was far funnier, and much less nasty, than Little Britain, which I loathed for its cruelty and nihilism. The one good gag was “the only gay in the village”, which was a satire on self-important rebelliousness.
Re David Mitchell – he is a clever, well-informed bloke. I would guess he maybe does not have strong views on this – and why hurt his career by speaking out on what he’s indifferent to.
The Bake-off became unwatchable as soon as Matt joined it. He was unfunny then, and is less so now.
I don’t really watch TV but I’ve seen a bit of Little Britain. I can’t say I liked it much, one episode seemed much the same as another. I felt that the unconvincing transvestites sketches seemed unnecessarily cruel, as well as being unfunny.
Interestingly, Graham Linehan did some of the writing for the Little Britain pilot and he directed it. I’d say that Lucas owes some of his current fame to Graham, but neither he nor Walliams have lifted a finger to defend him. I couldn’t let a friend be attacked like that without saying something, even if I disagreed with them.
Just to make sure nobody is missing out – their Radio 4 show “That Mitchell and Webb Sound” is available on BBC sounds (and elsewhere, I assume?). It goes in cycles so you won’t get all series at once, but they usually roll around again every few months.
I don’t know what Matt Lucas’s standing is with the trans lobby – surely no amount of grovelling and back-pedalling could ever cancel out the hate crime of Little Britain’s “But I’m a LAAYDAAAYY!” sketches? It’s always my first thought when I see one of these middle-aged beardies in their grandmother’s dresses and bad make-up.
Also Peep Show with Webb and Mitchell was a fairly harsh comedy, if that’s your taste. I found it a bit too cruel for my taste however the hipster waste-of-space Jezza (Webb) and his uptight anorak flatmate Mitchell were a clever update of the Odd Couple, especially with Olivia Colman before she became famous.
I think both are fairly limited in acting range – Mitchell can only play one type, the uptight, awkward, anorak, but it works well with the right script, as in the Upstart Crow where he makes a good Shakespeare, who is an awkward social climber while knowing he is more brilliant than everyone else.
@Catwhisperer – maybe they excuse him on the grounds that this was in the historical darkness of about 15 years ago.
Those “laaydee” sketches were far more offensive than eg Ronnie Barker pretending to be a gossipy Northern housewife singing in the choir, which was better written and paid attention to how such women talk. Little Britain was crude shit-throwing rather than the clever mimicry of a type which requires observation and a good ear (something that Victoria Wood excelled in).
I just googled Little Britain to check how long it ran for. Every time I saw the odd snippet of it I thought “I’ve seen this one before” but then I would realise that I hadn’t, it just felt that way because there was no content and no jokes, just “here we are again dressed as these characters, isn’t it hilarious how stupid these kinds of people are”. It wasn’t funny once, yet there they were, week after week, doing the same thing, for 3 whole seasons. And I only noticed just now that there was blackface involved. Was that really ok 15 years ago? Because it feels like that stopped being ok long before.