Guido on June 1:
Big Brother's Emily is coke sniffing Cameroonie.
Her profile:
She considers herself to be right wing and will be voting Conservative in the next election. She says she has no time for benefit cheats, and believes everyone has a right to education, to make money and to keep it.
Big Brother contesant Emily Parr was dramatically removed from the house today for using a racially offensive word.The 19-year-old drama student used the word "nigger" while dancing with fellow housemate Charly in the living room.
Transcript here. Discussion of Bayes' theorem here. Lyrics to Common People here.
Do programmes such as Big Brother succeed by playing on popular prejudices? E.g. that Tories (and the working class) are racist?
Posted by: Heraklites | June 07, 2007 at 12:43 PM
Chris,
She used the word "nigger."
Big fucking deal...? So what? Usage depends on context.
The black housemates she supposedly offended were not, it seems, offended.
"Knee-jerk emotivism" hey Chris...? You hypocrite.
Posted by: Amir | June 07, 2007 at 12:57 PM
Looking at the transcript and seeing this in context it looks like a failed attempt to be cool (Charley seems to acknowledge this: "I know maybe you see it in a rap song. Maybe you and your friends sit there saying it").
It is stupid not to realize that, while some black people may be happy to call each other "Nigga/Nigger", they are going to be a lot less happy about hearing it from a white person. However, I think that the intent behind a persons remarks is the test of whether they are racist. That is, do they imply, consciously or unconsciously, that the other person is inferior by virtue of their race? I would say, therefore, that the remark was stupid and offensive but not racist.
Attempting to link this to her voting choice is just feeble. I have met many Labour voters who come out with much worse than this.
Posted by: Alastair | June 07, 2007 at 01:08 PM
I'm not complaining about her racism - that's not for a white guy to judge. I'm laughing at exactly what Alastair says - the stupidity of a posh girl trying to fit in.
Posted by: chris | June 07, 2007 at 01:18 PM
"the stupidity of a posh girl trying to fit in"
Granted, this was a stupid way to try and achieve that, but your comment seems to suggest that any attempt by her to fit in with someone who is not posh would be reprehensible.
I think it is fair enough to be more concerned about prejudice directed against minority groups who are more vulnerable due to socio-economic status but that doesn't make this sort of sneering class prejudice any more attractive.
Posted by: Alastair | June 07, 2007 at 02:23 PM
[The black housemates she supposedly offended were not, it seems, offended.]
So let me see if I get this. We can judge the intentions of the victims of the slur from their behaviour, but the intentions of the slurrer are opaque?
Posted by: emmanuelgoldstein | June 07, 2007 at 03:44 PM
Alistair - Funny how it's ok for the middle classes to mock working class attempts at "improvement" but not the reverse ?? Inverse snobbery is an admirable trait in my view and it's about time it came back into fashion.
Also, at every diversity and equality seminar I've ever been on (and believe me, I've been on a few) the point has been made, ad infinitum, that "offence" is in the eye of the beholder. Intent is irrelevant.
Not saying that's right, but that's how minorities (and the law) see it. It hardly needs saying that having just ridden out one "racist controversy". Channel 4 were going to be more than a little jumpy if about ists and isms.
Posted by: Matt Munro | June 07, 2007 at 06:20 PM
Channel 4 must be delighted. The girl is clearly just a fool and that's what she should be branded as, not as a racist. But creates a perfect oppotunity for Channel 4 to prove it has learnt its lessons from the previous "racist controversy" BB show.
Posted by: Bruce | June 08, 2007 at 01:14 PM
The pendulum swings: having under-reacted during CBB (Shilpagate), C4 now chooses to over-react.
As someone somewhere suggested, it would have been interesting if they'd left her and got the HMs to discuss what happened and why it might have caused offence.
Posted by: Richard Hancock | June 08, 2007 at 05:09 PM
@Matt,
"Funny how it's ok for the middle classes to mock working class attempts at "improvement" but not the reverse ??"
I don't think I've ever suggested that this is OK. What bit of my comment suggests that I think it is?
Some, perhaps many, members of the middle class are guilty of arrogance, selfishness and/or stupidity and should be taken to task for this. Criticizing them just because they are middle class comes across as spiteful.
Posted by: alastair | June 09, 2007 at 09:03 PM