Forums > Social Discussion > Jerry Springer the Opera

Posted: 9th Jan 2005
i went and saw it at the west end and i thought it was awesome very low brow humour but funny enough if u let urself enjoy it. i couldnt believe they where able to sing some of it with such a straight face especially the bit about the she male

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?

Posted: 9th Jan 2005
I caught about 20 minutes of this and turned it off at the tap-dancing KKK. Didn't really appeal to me.

I can't be evil; I'm wearing pink.

Posted: 9th Jan 2005
I disagree with the people who are protestibg about it being shown on TV, for one thing its been and gone so they're not going to change it. Secondly they dont have to watch it, its not affecting them.

I actually didnt watch it myself as I dont like Jerry.

AAARRRGGGHHH!!! My giant stick broke!!! In two!!! My stick broke in two!!!

Posted: 9th Jan 2005
The irony of seeing christian fundamentalists burning their TV licenses outside of the BBC studios yesterday is that I felt like doing the same thing the last time Songs of Praise was on!



But seriously, just as nuns threw holy water at the walls of cinemas when the exorcist came out, there'll always be people who feel the need to not only turn a blind eye to art, but protest against it's existance. It's important to challenge borderline art too, and this has been discussed fairly recently on this board in the computer games violence thread (when is a statue of a cherub art and when is it pedophillia?).



Personally, having seen a LOT of jerry springer episodes (i was a uni student for the past 4 years, it happens) and seen the show in the west end, I think the problem people have is more the fact it was shown on the BBC than the fact it was on TV. Yes it's probably offensive to a lot of people, but it did have a big diclaimer at the start and lots of hype (it made newsnight, several newspapers and the 9 oclock news the day before). Jerry is well known for being outrageous, but personally I've seen more naked people doing outrageous things in dodgy art films on BBC4 than I have jerry springer.



Shows like springer arn't just offensive to christians etc, but also to people who live lifestyles of participants of the show. There's nothing outrageous about your average transsexual, nor, as far as I know, is your average lesbian more likely to have an affair with their partner's sibling than a hetrosexual female. The problem really lies in people's interpriatations of media, whether they beleive for instance that because the robber on their favourite soap was black then all black people must criminals or not (the first ever black person in Coronation Street as far as I know was a theif). I'm not pagan, but i have a problem with the way that witches are portrayed on TV. A recent adult cartoon for the BBC depicting the pope never aired after lots of catholic protest, but I doubt it was any more offensive than the portrayal of witches on kids TV. Perhaps it's a little irresponsible, but it shouldn't be held against the media and producers of such art, unless they are actually breaking laws (such as blatent insightment of racism or hate crimes).



You don't have to watch programs if you don't want to, as a vegan I find most cookery programs seriously offensive (what was with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of River Cottage stuffing 9 birds into a turkey just before christmas on prime time channel 4?), but I'm not going burn my TV license just yet!

Posted: 9th Jan 2005
absolutely hilairious it was
went to the west end to see it last year.

They must be pretty insecure when it comes to their faith if they feel threatened my a rather funny opera!!

get a grip!

Posted: 9th Jan 2005
I think the argument of the fundamentalists was that the BBC has a charter which states that it won't air programmes that are offensive or disrespectful to peoples religious beliefs.

Having not watched the program I'm not sure what elements of the show were offensive though.

They also seemed to be a bit peeved that a few weeks earlier Sikhs had protested against a play that they considered to be disrespectful to their beliefs; the demos got violent and the theatre shut it down.

On balance, whilst I don't think it's good to be disrespectful/offensive, in the case of fundamentalist religion I think it's often justifed as it's necessary to challenge some of their attitudes which oppress others (eg women, homosexuals etc).

I also remember the way the fuss caused when 'The Last Temptation of Christ' was made; that was a well made and thoughtful film, it would have been a shame IMO if it hadn't been aired, neither do I think it would be offensive to anyone who had real faith in their Faith.

"You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it."

--MAJOR KORGO KORGAR,
"Last of The Lancers"
AFC 32


Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing STAY SAFE!

Posted: 9th Jan 2005

Written by: onewheeldave

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neither do I think it would be offensive to anyone who had real faith in their Faith.

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i totally agree, thats the thing about fundamentalists though..

Me train running low on soul coal
They push+pull tactics are driving me loco
They shouldn't do that no no no

Posted: 9th Jan 2005
I thought it was a very unimaginative, small minded, unintelligent, unmusical take on an equally pour programme about equally boring people. I can’t see what that did that South Park The Movie didn’t do.

It played on the old Victorian English mindset that saying rude words is bad or funny somehow. It pushed the boundaries of subject matter almost out of desperation than anything else.

Forget religion; I think it was an insult to comedy (I can see Spike Milligan and Douglas Adams - to name but two - turning in their grave).

There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees

Posted: 9th Jan 2005
9 birds in a turkey?!?!? SWEET, Ima hafta try that sometime

First intention, then enlightenment..
Ars Pyronomica

" Life is programmed. Whether death is programmed or not is yet to be determined."

Posted: 9th Jan 2005
I would like to say that it was funny. Not because of the swearing so much, but the fact of parody of traditional opera! No where else will you get a supernatural battle of good and evil than the HUGE aria where Satan and Jesus stand apart from each other and Steve stands between them and starts smoking (not a cigarette dummy, like he's on fire), all the while Satan is singing "Fur" and Jesus is singing "Taur" then it ends, steve collapses, Satan sings "Q" and jesus sings "Talk to the stigmata".

I tell you I was f*cking chewing the carpet at that point.

And as for Jerry's "inner Valkyrie", I nearly wet myself!

Oh. Please note. The message of that show, as it does try to get one across, was "There is no absolute good and evil. Only choices." and Springers "Final Thought" of "take care of yourselves, and each other" is one that I thought might well resonate with the thoughts of all HOPpers, as I think we all feel the same way.

In My Humble Opinion (please take a look above my avatar if you disagree with me, I dont mean it, im only a ikle wabbit without a bwain)

ohmygodlaserbeamspewpewpew!

Posted: 10th Jan 2005
I think JSTO is excellent.

My ex-flatmate used to play the warmup-man/Devil when it first opened at the National Theatre, and I've seen it twice.

It's not to be taken seriously, and I think the outcry of the Christian groups looks silly in view of the screening of the quite acceptable REAL Jerry Springer show, which in my view contains somewhat more controvertial stuff than you'll ever see on stage at the Cambridge. eg. real rednecks, real religious bigotry, real 'satanism' (if you take it seriously), real incest, real fake-preachers, real fuckwittery... yet bible bashers seem to think thats Ok ??

They should relax and see it for what it is.... comedy