Politically Controversial TV Progammes

[DanaC]

Saw this in the Guardian and thought I'd share

The top ten most politically controversial tv programmes:

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra...ws-of-all-time

There are some humdingers in there. But maybe they missed a few?

Some of them I've seen, some I haven't. My personal favourite from that list is Brass Eye. Awesome television and some of the best satire of modern news I've ever seen. The War Game and The Day After both scared the ever loving shit out of me. But I think Threads should be on that list too(as someone commented btl). And Kathy Come Home was truly groundbreaking stuff - changed the face of British drama and brought the realities of homelessness to the national consciousness.


They're right I think in their assessment of Death of a President - it was really, really bad. I didn't see the one they did about Harry, but I did see The Execution of Gary Glitter - it was pretty ,isjudged in many ways but there were a few scenes that were very well done and really stuck with me.

So what do you think of the list? And what would you add?

[infinite monkey]

I was a big fan of Ellen Degeneres in 1997, when she came out and everyone freaked. I was so mad that show got cancelled. I feel it is some sort of karmic justice that she is so successful now.

If I saw The Day After I don't really remember it. I think I'll look for it though because now I am interested. I probably avoided it because The Cold War was so real to us when we were young (I remember lying awake at night thinking about the total oblivion thing...scary.) I was a senior in HS in 1983, but that fear from an entire childhood was still very strong.

[Clodfobble]

I'm catching up on season 3 of "Once Upon a Time," and just today watched the episode where they strongly imply that Mulan is gay. On the one hand, like the guardian article says, there's no shortage of gay relationships on TV these days, but on the other hand, this is an extremely family-friendly show on ABC, an extremely family-friendly network. And they didn't really, truly say it, so if a parent wanted to talk it out a different way ("she just meant..." ) then they could. But baby steps are still steps, and I was happy to see it.

[DanaC]

Oh I loved Ellen in the 90s too! And was similarly gutted when it got cancelled. I used to love her interplay with Bruce Campbell when his character bought the bookstore and became her boss. I was a huge Campbell fan so it was a real treat for him to suddenly turn up as a recurring character. I used to look forward to those eps

I didn't get into the second sitcom she did so much though. I'd have loved a couple more series of the original.

Re: the cold war -

I suspect that had more resonance for you guys than it did for us generally, but the fear of nuclear armagedon was a big thing here too. I remember lying awake at night about that. When I was a little kid, saying my prayers at night (yes, I know, don't laugh) along with asking God to make sure my family were safe, i'd also pray that there wouldn;t be a nuclear war - but I was so convinced it would eventually happen I included a caveat: that if there had to be a nuclear war could it be after I'd grown up and any children I had grew up and any children they had grew up...

[Undertoad]

I saw The Day After when I was 20 and it gave me chills for weeks afterward.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

I'm catching up on season 3 of "Once Upon a Time," and just today watched the episode where they strongly imply that Mulan is gay. On the one hand, like the guardian article says, there's no shortage of gay relationships on TV these days, but on the other hand, this is an extremely family-friendly show on ABC, an extremely family-friendly network. And they didn't really, truly say it, so if a parent wanted to talk it out a different way ("she just meant..." ) then they could. But baby steps are still steps, and I was happy to see it.

That's awesome. I love the way it's slowly becoming a bit of a non-issue even on a family show.

It's one of the things I really like about Doctor Who. It's a kid's show/family show and they've had quite a few gay characters. Captain Jack was described as omnisexual *grins* so he'd flirt with anybody, but it was brilliant that he also flirted with the Doctor and that was ok. Not only was he kind of gay, he was a kickass hero too.

Now we have the Paternosta gang, with a lizard lady living in Victorian London, with her 'maid' who is really her wife - and they are also kickass characters who do ninja type stuff and save the day - but are also absolutely shown as a married couple. Sometimes they seem to over emphasise it lately (I think because everybody got a bit excited about the legalising of gay marriage) and so they seem to mention the fact they're married in every scene they're in lol. But it's still nice to see. Must be a lovely thing if you're a kid growing up gay to start seeing these characters and it not be an issue - it's not the key part of who they are, and they are just as heroic and cool as the other characters.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I saw The Day After when I was 20 and it gave me chills for weeks afterward.

I didn't see it when it first came out. I think I was about 15 when I saw it. Seriously chilling stuff.

Did you ever see Threads or The War Game?

Both of those gave me bona fide nightmares. Watched The War Game when I was about 13 or 14 I think. I'd heard all about it being banned in the 60s and with it being black and white and very old fashioned, I figured it wouldn't affect me all that much. Bloody hell, it really got under my skin. Threads was also very chilling. Made even more so, I think because it showed a Britain I recognised very much as my home.


Threads



The War Game: a stunningly directed docudrama for the times.






[eta] my mistake, The War Game wasn't banned - it was commissioned by the BBC and they decided not to show it on tv for fear of causing panic - they did give it a short run cinema release in the 60s but it didn't get shown on tv til much later. Also, I think I may be mixing it up with The Day After and Threads as to when i saw it - I was probably quite a bit older, maybe in my late teens.

[DanaC]

Also: for Infi. A clip from The Day After. This is the attack segment:



Threads scared me mainly because it was set nearby, and had a semi-documentary style.

The Day After was terrifying because it was so well made and well acted - and put you right into the drama. Also - I didn't realise til just now grabbing this clip but - John Lithgow!!!

[DanaC]

This, btw, was the episode of Brass Eye that caused such a stir in the UK.

Brass Eye used to parody mainstream current affairs and news programmes. They got real life stars and tv personalities to comment and get involved in their fake campaigns without them realising what they were doing. The regular series had already come to an end when they did this special on Pedophilia, parodying the way tv covered the issue and ramped up hysteria. There were many complaints, and several MPs called for the show to be banned - one of them talked in the House of Commons about how disgusting she had found the show only to later have to admit that she had never actually watched it.

It isn't mocking the victims of paedophilia, but the way tv and newspapers were handling the subject at the time.


nsfw

[glatt]

I saw the Day After when it originally aired, and they had been warning about how disturbing it was for at least a week before it was broadcast. I was a teen and don't remember being any more freaked out than usual with the Cold War going on. In my bedroom, I had a map of the US and used to throw darts at it to imagine what a nuclear war might be like. I even drew a blast radius with a compass around my town based on the available information to see just how toast I would be. The point I'm making is that I was just a little obsessed with nukes. I had surplus government nuke literature and stuff, and the Day After was nothing to me. Old hat. I was an expert, after all.

But the next day, teachers actually brought it up in school and asked if anyone had any questions or wanted to talk about it.

[Undertoad]

For a lot of people, it was the first time that you had even considered what an actual strike would really be like, and despite the bomb being around for 40 years, there was a lot you hadn't considered. I remember seeing blast radiuses but not thinking about the depths of what that meant.

[DanaC]

Y'now, it's funny, but of all the nuclear war films from that time, however disturbing I found them, the one that actually stayed with me the longest and the deepest was the animated film When the Wind Blows. by Raymond Briggs.