Why you should ignore the petition against 'Harry and Paul'
Over the past few days, the Filipino community has been brewing a storm over Episode 4 of the 'Harry and Paul' show. It contained a short sketch featuring a Filipina maid which some people found offensive enough to start a petition.
I don't watch the show but caught the clip via the BBC iPlayer service. Personally, I think that the those complaining missed the real butt of the joke and that the issue was being blown out of proportion.
It was not the Filipina maid who was being mocked. The target was the British class system and culture. The skit ridicules stereotypes of the dim-witted Northerner and the pompous upper middle-class Englishman. What you see in the 'Harry and Paul' comedy series are typical examples of British self-deprecating and satirical humour.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines satire as: "the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticise people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues."
You will find that this explains the comedy series perfectly. The same episode similarly pokes fun at Americans, South Africans and Russians, but above all, it mocks the latent stupidity within British culture.
Folks, this show is about British people laughing at themselves, not Filipinos.
As a community, we cannot overreact at every hint of perceived offence to our culture. We have more important things to be concerned about, such as the foreign national ID card. The National ID card and National Identity Register are serious intrusions into our right to privacy and freedom. For more information, please see no2id.
Edit: I'd just like to point out that these are my views. I'm not speaking on behalf of the Filipino community or anyone who is or has been associated with Phil-UK.
Here's a clip showing the sketch:
Of course we should sign the petition
Mate, you are missing the point completely. Yes, it is a satire of the class and cultural bias of the 'cotton-wool' Englishman against his dour Northern counterpart, the north/south divide is a long-running joke in this country, however, to say this balances out the image of the stereotypical Filipino domestic worker/sex object whilst likened her to a breeding dog is not good enough. This depiction of the stereotypical Filipino woman is offensive to our mothers, aunties and sisters. It is a violation of human dignity and therefore in breach of Section 2 of the Ofcom broadcasting code.
You do not speak for the community, Anthony, and you certainly don't speak for our sisters.
Here's my point
It is obviously wrong to equate anyone (Filipino domestic worker or otherwise) as a sex object or breeding dog. That's exactly what the sketch is highlighting. It is showing the idiocy of certain type of Englishman, the kind that sees himself as superior to all those outside his social class.
It is an exaggeration to show viewers the ignorance of this way of thinking. That's why it's satire.
Of course, I could be wrong. This could simply be a misogynistic and xenophobic attack designed to get cheap laughs. But with the amount of political correctness in this country, this is unlikely.
And yes, I'm speaking for myself. These are my own views and I don't claim to represent anyone else.
Think about the sketch in this way...
The point of the sketch is definitely to ridicule the very prejudices it is being accused of perpetuating. People enjoy getting into an unnecesarry lather over things so much that they rarely take time out to smell the misinterpretation! Yes, the maid was presented in a way that compared her to a breed of dog (as was the Northern English man, incidentally) but this attitude was not being encouraged. The entire sketch (it's actually one of a series of sketches) presents the world as seen through the eyes of the upper-middle class Southern English man. Therefore, everyone other than him and his are viewed as no better than animals. The subtext of the sketch is clearly that these attitudes are disgraceful and, far from encouraging them, it is actually designed to ridicule and ultimately discourage them.
To recap, then, the important point to remember when watching the sketch is that it is through the eyes of Enfield's character, the "owner" of the Northerner. The best way to destroy ludicrous stereotypes and prejudices is to depict them outright for the ridiculous attitudes they are. That is the point here and, ironically, those who are fighting for an apology are unwittingly attempting to restrict one of the strongest tools for the achievement of equality: satire.
Harry and Paul
We should not ignore the petition.
There are too many excuses being put into play here.
At the heart of the matter is .... a scriptwriter, in his desire to score points for his show, wrote something which caused pain and outrage to filipinos. What his intention was in writing that sketch and dragging the filipino label into it .... is not important.
The real point is the reaction ..... pain and outrage.
Supposed intentions (excuses really, throw the dog a bone) could have been manufactured after the fact. Its just as plausible that the scriptwriter does carry the bias against filipina domestic helpers and is only now manufacturing excuses after the 'shit hit the fan'.
They even sound scholarly and educated in defending the sketch by treating it like a college book review and being clinical in it's analysis but this approach simply, or conveniently dehumanizes the issue.
GUYS, SHOW YOUR OUTRAGE.
IT IS NOT UNCOOL TO DO SO! IN FACT I THINK IT'S JUST RIGHT. I MEAN, IT'S CRAZY TO JUST LET THIS ONE SLIDE BY.
SINESWETRE NAMAN ANG BBC MASYADO KUNG PALUSUTIN NYO ITO !!!!
Harry and Paul... racism through the episode
hello
Although I am not filipino my wife is and my children are mixed filipino/english... My kids are therefore second generation pinoys, I therefore feel that it gives me a right to post...
There is a lot of racism in the british community against the filipino community. I took part in the white City protest at the BBC about the Harry and Paul episode in question.
I feel that we should protest and deal strongly with any critism of filipino's and the Philippines:
This is the quote from an interview I had from the press association:
Mrs Reed said: "I found it very offensive, we have a problem with sexual abuse in domestic work and because of the stigma involved the victims do not say anything.
"We are asking the BBC to apologise for allowing the programme to happen."
She added: "We are all very upset and offended by the sketch.
"Our overseas domestic workers are heroes in the Philippines, without them sending money home our economy would suffer. The programme really showed disrespect for maids and our community."
Malcolm Conlan, a 37-year-old first aid trainer, is married to a Filipina and his children are half Filipino.
He said: "My family have been insulted and I am disgusted. The BBC have gone too far, they were trying to reinforce a stereotype of Filipina women."
Asked if he thought the sketch was racist, he replied: "It was sexist, racist and immoral."
Around 25 people gathered to protest outside the BBC in White City.
A simultaneous demonstration was planned to take place at Tiger Aspect Productions, which makes the show, outside its office in Soho, central London.
If you go on google and type in harry and paul malcolm conlan you will see racist comments from a certain football club and some of their supporters towards me, my wife and my family. This highlights the need for us all to be strong and protest for the sake of our children
maraming salamat po