Brasseye

Did anyone see Brasseye on Thursday? I did. For those who haven't heard, or are just mentally impaired due to mass depression (Dennis), here's what it's all about:

Quote:

From BBC news (www.bbc.co.uk/news)
Channel 4 is braced for fresh criticism after repeating a controversial satire about media coverage of paedophiles, which drew 1,500 complaints on its first showing.
Callers flooded phone lines following the Brass Eye programme on Thursday night and the Independent Television Commission announced an investigation. Children's charities called for the repeat to be scrapped.

But Channel 4 stuck by its decision to show the programme - dealing with society's reaction to the issue - which it defended "robustly".

Celebrities such as ITN correspondent Nicholas Owen, presenter Richard Blackwood and rock star Phil Collins were duped into appearing on the show.

At one point, DJ Neil Fox was seen hammering a nail into a crab shell, telling viewers that paedophiles shared more in common genetically with the crustacean than they did with other humans.

Blackwood said paedophiles had the power to make computer keyboards emit toxic fumes which would make young users more "susceptible".

The station said it had received almost 1,000 complaints by Friday evening before the repeat was shown.

The ITC has had more than 500 - a figure only beaten by the screening of the movie The Last Temptation Of Christ, which prompted an organised campaign by Christian groups, and a TV ad for Levi's featuring a "dead" hamster.

An ITC spokeswoman said: "They are saying that they don't think it was a suitable subject for humour. Some were concerned about the involvement of children in the programme."

In one scene from Thursday night's show, presenter Chris Morris brought a young boy into the studio and asked a "paedophile" locked in stocks if he wanted to have sex with him.

Morris's 35-minute special was made to complement a repeat showing of his original Brass Eye series which was equally controversial, again duping public figures to show how they could be manipulated.

Trivialising abuse

The presenter also posed as a rapper called JLB8 who dated youngsters as young as seven and performed with a dummy of a child attached to his crotch.

The NSPCC described the show as "crude and crass" and "offensive" and along with NCH called for the plug to be pulled on a repeat.

Mary Marsh, director and chief executive of the NSPCC, said: "This offensive programme trivialises child sex abuse.

"The crimes committed by paedophiles against children and young people are among the most abhorrent in the criminal justice system.

"They are not a laughing matter and have no place in satire and we call on Channel 4 not to repeat this programme."

Climate of hysteria

The NSPCC's National Child Protection Helpline has taken a number of complaints from distressed callers - including child abuse victims - who had seen Thursday night's programme.

NCH said: "Charities likes ours benefit from the support of many individuals. Programmes like this may make it harder to engage public figures in supporting organisations raising awareness of child sexual abuse."

"The NCH hopes that an influential broadcaster such as Channel 4 will review its programming policy to ensure that a comedy based on the sexual abuse of children will not be deemed fit for transmission in future."

A Channel 4 spokesman said: "In the current climate of hysteria that's whipped up about paedophilia, it's impossible to have a debate about the issues surrounding it and you have to use shock tactics of this kind to force them into the public domain and get people to think about them.

"I think the programme shows the massive inconsistencies involved. People are quite happy for their 11-year-old daughters to go to Eminem concerts and watch boy bands gyrating and parents are happy to put children in beauty pageants.

"Obviously there are people who have found this deeply disturbing but if the programme makes people think about the issues, then it will have achieved its aim."

And here is a picture from the show:
http://www.vbforums.com/images/ieimages/2001/07/10.jpg

Well. Did you see it? What did you think of it?