Plane crashes into British Houses of Parliament! Well done!
For this heinous act of terrorism, pictured above, Osama bin Laden is among the three finalists for the "Terrorism Awards" featured on the BBC.
You see, it's a joke. Get it? Planes crashing into major buildings? The obliteration of landmarks of Western civilization?
What? You're not laughing?
Well, you're not alone.
[Related: Why I don't think this parody is funny.]
From the Daily Mail:
The BBC has been urged to pull a 'sick' new comedy show which features spoof news reports of Tony Blair being assassinated and a 9/11-style video of terrorists crashing an airliner into the Houses of Parliament.
The clips for an Oscar-style 'Terrorism Awards' ceremony that forms one of the sketches in the new BBC2 series, Time Trumpet.
As well as the al-Qaeda plane attack and a picture of Mr Blair with a bullet hole in the side of his head after being 'shot as he slept beside his wife', the skit also features a Hamas bombing in Tel Aviv. It is believed it was made before the recent outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East.
After each clip is shown, there is the sound of applause and laughter - supposedly from the audience at the award ceremony.
Assassins shooting people in the head. Civilians being blown up by bombs. How droll.
Now it is one thing to allow something like this to be shown on TV. The BBC could be considered brave for doing so. But the BBC went farther. It allowed its own on-air personalities to make guest appearances to add authenticity to the "award" show:
To add authenticity to the clips - which appeared on the internet yesterday in what appeared to be a cynical attempt to drum up publicity - 'The Terrorism Awards' are hosted by BBC election veteran Peter Snow and Tomorrow's World presenter Philippa Forrester.
Introducing the nominees, Mr Snow says: 'Terrorism can be a lonely business, and a long hard struggle. Our three finalists in this category are ...'
The BBC is usually very reluctant to allow its news readers or reporters to appear in films or fictional programmes. This time however permission was granted following a decision by the BBC's editorial policy department.
A BBC spokeswoman yesterday defended Time Trumpet, saying the sketches needed to be seen 'in the context of the whole series.' 'It is a satire set in the year 2031, looking back at the events and people of today,' he said.
Here are some images from the video satire.
First, the plane smashing Big Ben:
Now, Tony Blair dead:
And the fun and laughter had by all:
Too bad the BBC forgot that British soldiers are still fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq against these people and their allies. Seems less funny when you think about it.
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Comments
Ah, the blithe defilements of bored Westerners. Tres hip.
Posted by: EBD at August 2, 2006 10:54 PM
Shame you never saw the 2001 series called Brasseye which was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK. It had a special called "Paedogeddon" which satired the media hysteria over paedophilia. Very funny it was too.
Just as well the UK is a more mature country than the US.
Posted by: steppenwolff at August 3, 2006 08:35 AM
Time Trumpet is a satirical show that purports to look back on news events of the early 21st century from the year 2031. This particular skit intersplices and contrasts real events of the day with fictional ones in an humoured attempt to "make viewers question what is real and what is fake."
There are many similarities between this skit and the recent debate about the cartoons of Mohammed (indeed, both real and fictional--that is, satirical--footage of the Muslim protests are included in the episode). Both may be culturally insensitive given the current political climate, both may be offensive to some viewers, both may push the boundaries of good taste, but both are legitimate forms of free speech. In fact, having viewed the cartoons myself, I would hazard to guess that this Time Trumpet episode is far funnier than those limp drawings.
If, however, you are of the belief that this BBC skit is distasteful and humourless, your best course of action is to simply not tune in.
Posted by: A at August 3, 2006 08:45 AM
Ah nothing like numerous rants on the other side of the atlantic taking things out of context to prove a foreign broadcaster is biased before the programme has even been broadcast.
Looking forward to it. The trailers sound great. Typical Iannucci.
Try http://www.timetrumpet.co.uk for more teasers.
Remember to book Thursday 10pm on BBC2 folks! :) :) :)
Posted by: Time Lord at August 3, 2006 10:57 AM
I posted this at digg:
Decline and Fall of the British Empire, at least the BBC empire. British comedy, once admired for nuance, was once based upon humor. Apparently the crowd producing this product have not only lost any understanding of humor, they have lost joy, hope, decency, common sense and a love of self, society, history, and mankind. Satire is not dead. However, satire produced by self haters is not funny, but simply as caustic as a bottle of lye the producers wish to share with their despised audience. It is not 'self-esteem' that has died, but self-worth. Self-esteem is the insecure mollycoddling of self with pretty lies. Self-worth is the belief, the faith (a term considered satire at BBC) that man has value and the struggle to live is valid.
Posted by: westie at August 3, 2006 10:59 AM
I wonder what these wankers would say if any of the three events occured?
This answers the age-old question whether it is possible to be both narcissistic and nihilistic.
Posted by: Wimpy Canadian at August 3, 2006 12:51 PM
Privatize em!
Posted by: DrWright at August 3, 2006 03:35 PM
Some dunderheads have to be hit or even blown into the stratosphere before their heads can be disgorged from their butts. Funny? No. Let's try for an award in the categorys of morbid or sick humour. Now, depending on your point of view, you can laugh or cry, nice to still have a choice.
Posted by: LizJ at August 3, 2006 04:24 PM
No, this is pure Swiftian Satire, with the intent to correct. It's amazing the BBC produced it, because the joke is clearly on them. For proof, go to the original site http://www.timetrumpet.co.uk/ and watch "Cartoon Protest." It's only 2 minutes long, but it's brilliant. The filmmakers seem to have taken coverage of an actual Muslim protest in London. They inserted "protest signs" only slightly more absurd than the original signs. ("DEATH TO EVERYTHING AFTER THE 8TH CENTURY" or "SLAUGHTER THE LAUGHERS!") Everything else seems to be from a real Politically Correct BBC news story. England has a large population of angry and un assimilated Muslims they either coddle or ignore. The show suggests this situation will clearly lead to (further) disaster.
Posted by: TomJ at August 3, 2006 07:24 PM
The show suggests this situation will clearly lead to (further) disaster.
Well, if it doesn't the recent decision by brit court over-ruling Mr. Reid will.
Guys with guns and explosives hijack plane, hold hostages for 70 hours .... and are granted asylum
here in the nanny state.
check it out.www.dailytelegraph.co.uk and then the article by John Steele.
Posted by: ja y at August 5, 2006 10:23 AM
 
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