1, 2, 3, 4 - I Declare A Class War
The new format of The Guardian? Loving it.
I am hooked. It folds up into A4 nearly! They have Doonsbury! And Nancy Banks-Smith! And crosswords I can almost do!
But…
Sam Wollaston had a bad case of the Mondays in The Guardian. On Monday. When he said in The Guardian:
I was never big into Swallows and Amazons - horrid little posh children sailing their horrid little boats round the Lake District and speaking their weird language. “Better drowned than duffers, if not duffers won’t drown.” Hurrah for father! Oh shut up, go and drown in ginger beer, the lot of you. Didn’t they have PlayStations in those days? What Titty, Roger and the others needed, apart from new names obviously, was a bit more attitude. Hurrah for hoodies!
Hey hey hey Hey HEY.
Wishing death upon kids, even fictional onces, because of their social background? Offensive class distinction? Imagine any other paper, even The Telegraph, writing:
I was never big into Kez - a greasy little working class kid with a greasy kestrel wandering round the estates of Barnsley and speaking his weird language. “What’s up then? What’s a matter with you Kes?” By gum, lad! Oh shut up, go and drown in cheap bitter, the lot of you. Didn’t they have rugby in those days? What our Billy and Jud and the others needed, apart from new names obviously, was a bit more refinement. Hurrah for wellies!
It seems that you can be as politically incorrect as you like in the UK about gingers, posh people and Americans, but in my view this is no different from laughing at gay people. Just because a sector of society is not downtrodden or is a majority, it doesn’t mean you can attack them.
Is it OK to comment on a conference of successful Jewish business leaders and make anti-semitic distinctions? No. Is it OK to make jokes about overdressed punters who pay eight pound for a small glass of Champagne at Ascot Opening Day? No. But you could imagine The Guardian doing it.
Take the piss out of people for how they behave by all means, but don’t laugh at who they are. The Guardian needs to fuck off sometimes.
Love the new format, guys. A4 folded nearly. Du ist ein Berliner.
September 22nd, 2005 at 12:11 pm
‘Bad case of the Mondays’??? Have you seen a film called Office Space? Watch it. Funny, undemanding, CUTS TO THE BONE!
You’ll see what I mean.
Grauniad? Yeah, good format. Along with the weekend Independent, which is my favourite tipple.
Hear hear to No Nastiness:
Swallows and Amazons - Good book.
Posh people - erm… Good-ish.
I’m really sorry, I just can’t get past it. Posh people make me cringe.
Counselling needed, I fear.
September 22nd, 2005 at 7:53 pm
PC load letter? What the FUCK does that mean?
ummm.. yeah……
Hey Peter, man! Check out channel 9!
I love that film. Good spot.
Posh people. Know what you mean, but not one for the media. More about that later, but wishing them death? Even fictional ones? It’s so safe. So. Guardian. Close to a non-existant bone.
Still one of the best papers.
September 22nd, 2005 at 9:10 pm
No2: TheGuardian
Didn��t there used to be a newspaper called the Guardian? There still is. Look under that copy of the FT, there��s a pile of them.
What, this? That��s the chap. Nice and blue, isn��t it.
Cripes. Are the printers all on diets? No, that svelte shape is quite this season’s thing on the Continent. And it won��t get caught up in your cardigan when you��re reading on the No 42.
Oh, small is beautiful and what-not? Precisely. But the Guardian couldn��t just follow the crowd, it��s got a reputation for the avant garde and the iconoclastic to uphold.
Hmm. Does it have any stories in? Come on, even Guardian readers can only take so much in one go.
Hey, where��s that funny bit with the questions and answers? The Times.
Do say: Ich bin ein Berliner.
Don��t say: Didn��t I read that in the Mail yesterday?