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Radio 1 backs down in Pogues row

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7150693.stm

The Radio 1 had censored the tune 'Fairytale of New York' for its use of the words slut and faggot but has now backed down in the face of criticism.

'However, veteran gay rights activist Peter Tatchell said Radio 1's original actions were right.

"The word faggot is being sung as an insult, alongside scumbag and maggot. In this abusive context it is unacceptable," he said.


Seems like a fuss over nothing to me, is anybody out there actually offended by this?
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Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Not met anyone who thought Radio 1 was anything but barking....
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Not met anyone who thought Radio 1 was anything but barking....

    It does seem weird that it took them 20 years to do this :lol:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Not met anyone who thought Radio 1 was anything but barking....

    It does seem weird that it took them 20 years to do this
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    BlackArab wrote: »
    It does seem weird that it took them 20 years to do this :lol:

    Indeed

    :rolleyes: at the whole thing, really.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    BlackArab wrote: »
    It does seem weird that it took them 20 years to do this :lol:

    P'haps they just didn't listen to the lyrics very well :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It seems weirder that Nick Clegg is the same age as me, and claims to have never heard of 'Fairytale Of New York'. I'm not being funny, just where was he in hiding for the past twenty years?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Uncle Joe wrote: »
    It seems weirder that Nick Clegg is the same age as me, and claims to have never heard of 'Fairytale Of New York'. I'm not being funny, just where was he in hiding for the past twenty years?

    So good start for the Lib Dems leader in showing he's in touch with the voters... :rolleyes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    He's probably too busy listening to The Arctic Monkeys or The Spice Girls like most politicians seem to claim these days :rolleyes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I am not offended at all. If the lyrics asked people to go out and attack or kill 'faggots', that would be a different matter. However, those lyrics are just 'insult' trading and could always have been less politically correct ...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    BlackArab wrote: »
    It does seem weird that it took them 20 years to do this


    it's not weird. With the amount of flack the BBC gets, and the amount of people who are constantly trying to find ways to bring it down I am not surprised they sometimes make silly decisions in an attempt to premp the next attack.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Did anyone see the interview with Shane MacGowan on the Channel 4 News last night? He's just a shell of a man.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I can understand their sensitivity having worked for them but after 20 years this is ridiculously over-sensitive. Most people probably hadn't even noticed. It seems stranger in light of Chris Moyles repeated use of the term 'gay' in a negative manner.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    .
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Namaste wrote: »
    .

    You? At loss for words??? Never! :shocking:


    ;)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Teagan wrote: »
    You? At loss for words??? Never! :shocking:


    ;)

    I know... Especially on an LGBT issue.

    JFC
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Did anyone see the interview with Shane MacGowan on the Channel 4 News last night? He's just a shell of a man.

    I saw the pogues a few years ago and Shane Magowan couldnt even finish songs, and had to get someone else to sing most of them for him. Hes got no teeth and couldnt pronounce most words in the songs. It was shit and he was a wreck, but people were still cheering and whooping constantly cos hes such a legend
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I must say I had never heard of it either. I guess I have the excuse of being a foreigner.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    See Peter Tatchell in today's Guardian. I 100% agree with his take.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    He calls it 'the F-word'. How sweet.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    This storm in a teacup makes world headlines, yet Pakistan's massacre of hundreds of civilians in Baluchistan last week has been ignored by the world's media and has provoked no protests at all. The same silence and indifference has greeted the mass arrest and torture of student leaders in Iran this week. Compared to these grave human rights abuses, the fuss over a Christmas pop song seems trivial and obscene.

    Er, well why write an article about it then?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    They wanted to ban the word faggot but Westwood quite happily puts rap on with the n-word interspaced thoroughly through each song.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Whowhere wrote: »
    They wanted to ban the word faggot but Westwood quite happily puts rap on with the n-word interspaced thoroughly through each song.

    Yep, a good example is the Kanye West track Gold Digger.

    The "n" word is censored out even though it isn't meant as an insult in the context of the track, whereas there's uproar over this even though the word faggot is meant as an insult in this track.

    I think it's all a big publicity stunt IMO.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    All my gay friends sing a long to this song, and the general consensus is that gay people don't really care about the use of the word in this song. So in essence, it doesn't really matter what Peter Thatchell and his "inconsistency argument" thinks, because in the context of this song, the word "faggot" doesn't carry the same weight as it does in other contexts; or similarily the same as other racist or homophobic words.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Tatchell has a point about inconsistency in the Beeb's attitude, but he is going OTT when he says its like 'sending queers to the back of the bus.' After all, I hear the n-word frequently used by white characters in films, eg, all of Quentin Tarantino's films, and I don't see any television station bleeping it out.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    But Tarantino's films don't get shown in the middle of the day either, so you can't use that as an example. When the presenters of Blue Peter start saying nigger, you might have a point.

    But I'm pretty sure that in the context of this song, the word faggot isn't used to refer to homosexuality in any way, so I don't see the issue.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    But I'm pretty sure that in the context of this song, the word faggot isn't used to refer to homosexuality in any way, so I don't see the issue.

    Oh I think it does. It is bundled up with a whole lot of other 'insults' where 'a bunch of sticks' or 'meat ball' would not sit as suitable meanings in the context. :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Teagan wrote: »
    Oh I think it does. It is bundled up with a whole lot of other 'insults' where 'a bunch of sticks' or 'meat ball' would not sit as suitable meanings in the context. :)

    Faggot as an insult to me means dickhead. I've never really compared it to homosexual although I know that's the general consensus.

    But in the context of the song, it's two jilted lovers having a go at each other. He calls her "an old slut on junk," that's quite offensive too but the lyrics are supposed to potray their antagonism towards each other while still loving each other at the same time, nothing to do with a quick jab at homosexuals IMHO.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Whatever happened to 'sticks and stones...'?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Teagan wrote: »
    Oh I think it does. It is bundled up with a whole lot of other 'insults' where 'a bunch of sticks' or 'meat ball' would not sit as suitable meanings in the context. :)

    Not a chance imo. Faggot as gay is definitely an American thing.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Not a chance imo. Faggot as gay is definitely an American thing.


    ... and the song isn't.

    Storm in a teacup and Tatchell getting on his soapbox about this is no big surprise really.
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