Spitting out Pure Ridicule and Contempt
If you are long-term reader of this blog you will know that one of my Saturday pleasures is reading Charlie Brooker’s Screen Burn in The Guardian Guide. Sometimes reading his material causes me physical pain from the fits of laughter it induces. Although I have come to him late, there is no doubt in my mind that Brooker is astoundingly funny, acerbic, grumpy and pretty spot on.
Brooker is someone I ought to regard as a columnist/comedy writing hero (especially for his role in TVGoHome, Brass Eye and Nathan Barley). However, despite the fact I can praise the man to the rafters and passionately recommend you read his Screen Burn column online or try to catch his TV show for BBC4, I have issues with him. These are not related to his derision of those believing in any element of a 9/11 conspiracy theory as having their brains ‘fluttered off to spaceland’ (which I happily admit is a great line). No, my issues arise when he bothers to comment on US politics.
Why? It is down to the fact that in 2004 he apologised for a line in an article that read: ‘John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley, Jr. - where are you now that we need you?’ When Mark Thomas caught heat from the US secret services for alleged incitement to kill George W. Bush, (he jokingly offered a cash bounty on his head), Thomas did not get on his knees and say sorry. In a similar situation, Brooker and The Guardian did offer an apology.
Maybe I am expecting too much of my comedy favourites these days. A man who is a recognisable expert at ripping apart the absurdity of Big Brother should probably not be expected to stand up to America’s state employed bully boys. At an objective level, apologising probably marks Brooker out as both as a writer who is both funny and wise. It is just that when someone making a living tossing out diamond-hard insults backs down when challenged, it takes the edge of any purpose beyond mockery. I am all for writers spitting out pure ridicule and contempt, especially when it is done with the verve and panache of Brooker’s work. Yet when you know the guy dishing it out will not stand up and be counted for his use of words, even the funniest lines always ends up tasting like the comedy equivalent of a dirty KFC meal.
Brooker is someone I ought to regard as a columnist/comedy writing hero (especially for his role in TVGoHome, Brass Eye and Nathan Barley). However, despite the fact I can praise the man to the rafters and passionately recommend you read his Screen Burn column online or try to catch his TV show for BBC4, I have issues with him. These are not related to his derision of those believing in any element of a 9/11 conspiracy theory as having their brains ‘fluttered off to spaceland’ (which I happily admit is a great line). No, my issues arise when he bothers to comment on US politics.
Why? It is down to the fact that in 2004 he apologised for a line in an article that read: ‘John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley, Jr. - where are you now that we need you?’ When Mark Thomas caught heat from the US secret services for alleged incitement to kill George W. Bush, (he jokingly offered a cash bounty on his head), Thomas did not get on his knees and say sorry. In a similar situation, Brooker and The Guardian did offer an apology.
Maybe I am expecting too much of my comedy favourites these days. A man who is a recognisable expert at ripping apart the absurdity of Big Brother should probably not be expected to stand up to America’s state employed bully boys. At an objective level, apologising probably marks Brooker out as both as a writer who is both funny and wise. It is just that when someone making a living tossing out diamond-hard insults backs down when challenged, it takes the edge of any purpose beyond mockery. I am all for writers spitting out pure ridicule and contempt, especially when it is done with the verve and panache of Brooker’s work. Yet when you know the guy dishing it out will not stand up and be counted for his use of words, even the funniest lines always ends up tasting like the comedy equivalent of a dirty KFC meal.
Labels: Charlie Brooker, Mark Thomas
posted by David at
11:08 PM
3 Comments:
It's a bit unfair to beat on Brooker just because of your own problems with the CIA.
I was under the impression the Guardian had apologised (and pulled the article from their website), but wasn't sure whether or not Brooker himself had actually made a show of contriteness. Presumably he wasn't really calling for Bush's assassination however, so surely it's not completely spineless to apologise in light of the swirling black vortex the present US administration's seems to have in place of a sense of humour...
Thank you for the comment Nick. My understanding was that that in face of deaththreats from readers of the Drudge Report and contact with the US Secret Service, Brooker apologised and then The Guardian endorsed his apology and withdrew the article.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home