Independent Study draft 2.2
“The concept of representation embodies the theme that the media construct meanings about the world- they represent it”. How does ‘Little Britain’ provide humour using stereotypes and why in this way? Does it offend?
Little Britain' is a British comedy sketch show, concentrating on the people of Britain through very diverse characters. Following the conventional structures of comedy sketch shows before them, for example 'The Two Ronnies' (1971)1, 'Little Britain' aims to "show the people of Britain"2. Many of the characters created by the show are familiar and well-known stereotypes about certain people and groups in Britain. However, could some of these characters create a fair representation of those being targeted or does the show manage to offend people on every level possible? From the show's current success, could it be that society has accepted these representations because it's a comedy or could it be that dominant ideologies have manipulated society into believing them as ‘common sense’?
The distributor behind the sketch show is the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), “the principal public service broadcasting organisation in the UK”3. The show moving from BBC3, a channel designed to entertain younger audiences, to BBC1 means it has risen in its success, going from a more niche audience on BBC3 to a more mainstream, terrestrial channel representing the show’s popularity. However, with the programme’s intent to create humour through stereotypical representations of people show the BBC have drawn away from their conventional appeals to inform and educate and entertain. With greater means to entertain nowadays is shown in programmes such as ‘Eastenders’4 and ‘Strictly come dancing’5. Such changes could reflect society’s views on how people see the BBC not as a reliable, responsible institution, but one that has created new representations for itself to appeal to the younger audiences as well as their current audiences. Therefore, being in direct competition with other terrestrial channels such as Channel 4 whose main audiences are those of the younger generation with programmes such as ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Lost’6.
‘Little Britain’ being broadcast by the BBC attracts many different audiences because the channel shows very different programmes, but also the diversity in the show’s many characters may also attract people who will find a character they like and can identify with on some level in certain represented features referring to the uses and gratifications theory. Daffyd “the only gay in the village”7 is one of the many well-known characters and is based on stereotypical views on homosexuals in Britain. With his platinum blonde hair, tight leather clothing and camp characteristics are what makes him the perfect stereotype. However exaggerated, the question remains whether such a character would offend those being represented. Matt Lucas, one of the creators of the show and the person who plays this particular character is in reality a homosexual, so it could be argued that he is making fun of himself and people like him to prove a point that they are, as homosexuals no different then anyone else. The character in the text is ignorant of the people around him who tend to support him in his beliefs, though he is too defensive to notice. This links to a drastic change in society’s views over time as maybe 20 years ago a gay character would not have even been though of because of the controversial issues it would have raised with HIV and AIDS being the big problem at the time in the 1980s. Beliefs about being gay and being proud to express it illustrate, the acceptance of homosexuals nowadays, shown from a satirical homophobic point of view to which seems ridiculous after watching the programme. Although, not all characters represented are related to the people who play them.
In addition, the Vicky Pollard character is a reflection on the ‘chav’ life of young, white teenage girls in Britain. Shown as troublesome, uneducated and sexually active is a vague description of this group of people, but a stereotype, which many would not disagree with when, considering their social status even if it is a misrepresentation. In Britain, ‘chavs’ are seen, as the lowest form of working classes, so to misrepresent them probably would not cause any kind of backlash because they probably would not be heard. People often do not question issues if it does not concern them. This demonstrates the selfish, spineless society that we live in.
Through the diverse characters shown, the show provides audiences with a selection to identify with. However, audiences watching tend to see past the negative representations of these characters and enjoy themselves when viewing ‘Little Britain’ because the show is not designed to cause political debates, but provide humour, leaving audiences to just ‘turn-off’ and be entertained, linking to escapism theory “the desire to retreat into imaginative entertainment rather than deal with the stress, tedium, and daily problems of the mundane world”8. The producers can reinforce stereotypes used in the show as they do, although the context of the text being a comedy indirectly tells audiences that it is meant to be viewed as humorous and not offensive. This is due to the way the characters are seen and exaggerated in their stereotypes. Audiences may feel that because the exaggerated characters are so unrealistic it is not reflected on their particular group. Whether it is homosexuals, the obese or transvestites the show’s success comes from those who do not take it personally.
When considering character representations back to society, the show is shown to only do sketches on minority groups in Britain: working class, homosexuals, the disabled, the obese, Asians and most of all women. By targeting the weaker groups gives the show the advantage to stray away from negative press coverage, mainly run by middle class, white men such as Rupert Murdoch, the elite group in society. This could be the reason for the show’s success as the people who are potentially reviewing the show are not being featured, therefore would not take anything personal from it or be offended but would perhaps laugh at those ‘lower’ than themselves in society relating to reception theory. The female groups shown are played by two middle class, white men in David Walliams and Matt Lucas possibly suggesting a sense of backlash from ‘man’ through quite misogynistic ideologies. Most sketches happen to feature a female character or imitation of females in some sense, for example transvestite Emily Howard (played by David Walliams), exaggerating female stereotypes that make them appear gossipy, bitchy and mainly sexually active interpreting that perhaps a woman’s purpose only relates around sexually oriented events and getting a man. Coming from a patriarchal society the show tends to “objectify women”9 without actually showing real women, but re-presenting them through male counterparts. These groups could be arguably marginalized by the media so it would be acceptable to mock them as the show does and be successful through doing so.
Although, funnily enough the majority audience for the show is those people being represented in the working-class, the popularity of the show would not be as widespread if only middle-class, white men watched it, so why doesn’t the public take offence? The idea of audience positioning enters where they are positioned to view the programme as the dominant group rather than “the others”10 providing them with a sense of ambition to actually watch as one of the elite. Audiences are forced to see the programme from the creators David Walliams and Matt Lucas’s points of view and consider identifying with them and the way they see Britain as the dominant group. Providing audiences with beliefs and values that are the general beliefs in British society have passive audiences believe what the creators have to express because they believe the same ideologies. This manipulates the audience in providing more messages through the drip drip theory and hegemonic reading (introduced by Stuart hall and developed by David Morley) of the text to strengthen what the elite believe to be seen as common sense. However, some audiences can spot when they are being mocked, this is the active audience, but may find it flattering if nothing else to see themselves indirectly on the television, creating a narcissistic appeal to audiences as everyone wants to be a celebrity these days and have their “15 minutes of fame”11 because it is possibly the closest many viewers will get to it through these characters that represent them best, even though they are over exaggerated.
This popularity that surrounds the different characters in the show suggests the level that it has reached in television through memorable catch phrases and characteristics “yeah but no but”12, “I am a lady”13 and “yeah I know”14 can be heard and automatically related to ‘Little Britain’. However, these ever lasting and continuously over-used phrases could potentially offend audience’s intelligence as it brings connotations of television today becoming ‘dumbed down’ for audiences who are not suggestively smart enough to take in any other information than repeated, little phrases. “We can all use the off button if there is something on television we find offensive. But shouldn’t we be doing more to uphold morals through TV? Or is everything by and large, ok.”15 A point that suggests that audiences must be active if they choose to object to the show’s content and messages, however the genre of the sketch show was not always this patronising to audience’s intelligence.
The sketch comedy genre is one that ranges back to the 1970s with shows such as ‘The Two Ronnies’. “The Ronnies performed as comedy character actors, slipping into a huge variety of different guises and personalities to execute their humour.” With many similar features ‘Little Britain’ uses similar approaches. However, the level of humour has varied to what it is and what it was as television has changed what is acceptable now that was not then. The representations of people then would have probably been censored because of how society would take to it. Now it seems nothing shocks anybody, as we live in a society adapted to desensitised images and stories the media has to offer. This is part of effects theories on audiences, suggesting that as people are more exposed to new things they get more use to it, so ‘Little Britain’ is a ‘drop in the pond’ for many nowadays.
The genre has developed over time and ‘Little Britain’ itself is shown to have influences from other genres in comedy that use similar conventions such as black comedy. Making fun and laughing about real life events and experiences is what black comedy is. Even though it is offensive that is what this type of genre is all about, speaking about real life. “I kid the homosexual a lot because they’re homosexual”16-Eddie Murphy- speaks for itself in making fun of people because of who they are and what they represent showing no remorse for people’s sensitivity in the subject. ‘Little Britain’ adopts this approach to illustrate humour people can relate to on a personal level because it is funnier. The whole point of comedy is to make audiences laugh, “the success of comedy for me is when you recognise people you know in the characters on screen. Politically correct comedy really doesn’t work as, by its very nature, there will be always be one group who will be offended”17. Comedy genre makers know that to get the ratings they have to bend the rules sometimes and rebel, but know that they are doing it at the same time. During the 1980s political correctness became an issue “and people who transgressed would be punished”18 so for comedy to break those boundaries show how far the genre has come, resulting in the production of ‘Little Britain’. Although, they can go too far in breaking certain rules and one of those is the way they treat certain groups for what they have stood for in the past such as the Women’s Institution and representations of women in general, going backwards in their representations.
Women are one of the most represented groups in the show are shown in a variety of ways through a range of characters. This aids the appeal for audiences to relate to the characters to not just generalise the group to one representation. However, the show’s attitudes towards them depicts the era of the new ‘lads mags’ in ‘Zoo’19 and ‘Nuts’20 to have women generally regarded in this way of showing their bodies mainly in characters such as Bubbles and Desiree. “Little Britain’s obsessions with the extreme taboos of physicality: facial hair, urine, fat, breast milk, faeces, penetration, the anus, decrepitude, arousal, ejaculation, vomit”21 are the main themes of the show all have references towards women. This reinforces the ideologies that these magazines hold to make women appear as second-class citizens and no more than objects of a sexual desire for the ‘male gaze’22. Some have the fear that programmes such as ‘Little Britain’ will manipulate those passive audiences of mainly young people to think these messages are true because the television is their best friend and perhaps the most influential thing in their lives. “I feel drearier by the idea of a future generation of comedians whose formative influences will be a combination of misogyny, viciousness and overcooked surreality.”23 This quote refers to the hypodermic model and the way the media injects ideas into the audience. This quote refers to the hypodermic model and the way the media injects ideas into the audience. The main issue is that people fear those negative effects stressed previously will result in similar for the Nazi party before World War Two and also ‘Child’s Play’ (Tom Holland 1988)24 and the Jaime Bulger case.
In creating a show like ‘Little Britain’, Matt Lucas and David Walliams have encouraged issues and debates to take place in society questioning whether the represented stereotypes on their programme are what people really think of one another in Britain. Producing a show of such content that verbally abuses ‘fat’ people for being ‘fat’, homosexuals for their sexual preferences and gullible people who look after the handicapped was always bound to cause controversy. Nevertheless, the writers would have known this and found a way to go around it by not just targeting one minority group but almost everyone in Britain so it couldn’t be argued that some groups were being victimised. Matt Lucas- “some I guess are based on facets of ourselves. Some are just complete inventions”25. This suggests he is saying they are not really based on real people, however some are based on people that they know personally. This could be a loophole that prevents any potential negative reviews because they claim the characters are not based generally on the British public so they should not take offence but embrace the characters as unique inventions of television comedy.
Many critics agree that the show has been a success regardless of any negative underlying connotations that the show may possibly have. After the third series, ‘Little Britain’ creators have racked in over “22 million pounds”26. Going from strength to strength and the help of moving channels to increase audiences have done the show justice. Although when considering society’s take towards the show, is it such a good thing that people enjoy a programme that potentially ridicules others whether it intends to do so or not. As stated earlier, the black comedy generic conventions are implicated in the show and tell it as it is, this could demonstrate society’s change in opinions to allow more things to happen and allow for more manipulation of ideas in the way people think and feel about each other.
When considering media manipulation, the majority of ‘Little Britain’s’ influence on the public could come from its distributors. The BBC, with its appeal to target mass audiences with varied programming can have passive audiences being injected with ideas before the show even begins. The way the BBC schedules its programmes around certain times is deliberate because they are attempting to attract particular audiences. If the news comes before ‘Little Britain’ or just after it, the channel maybe drawing in more responsible, educated viewers who will stay tuned in and continue to watch other programmes. The idea that the institution could be indirectly injecting its audiences with the sense the show is intellectual and worth watching is very possible. Anything seems likely when it is looked at from different view points, so the ideologies of the show can be looked at differently too from different people, considering different messages the show is emulating.
“‘Eastenders’ (Julia Smith 1980s-present, 7:30pm, BBC1, Thursday) and then ‘Little Britain’ (at 09:00pm), the schedule of the two are quite close together and the channel illustrates the time of the next few programmes once one is finished. By doing this alerts Eastender’s viewers, predominantly a younger audience, to when the show starts. This is important for the BBC to do as ‘Little Britain’ targets a similar audience to ‘Eastenders’ so it gives an indication of when that particular audience may be tuning in again in order to know when to set certain values and representations in their shows for possible media manipulation for the naïve youth who watch it. “The concept of representation embodies the theme that the media construct meanings about the world- they represent it, and in doing so, help audiences to make sense of it in particular ways”27. Those particular ways could be a disadvantage for many people and groups such as ethnic minorities, homosexuals and other under represented groups, which have caused conflict over the years. ‘Little Britain’ could be argued to encourage such events to occur, but it takes two to make something happen, the other is the audience who will act on what they see referring to cultivation theory where “the more TV the audience watches, the more likely it is that they will develop certain kinds of views about the world”28 and desensitisation and that could lead to trouble.
The content of this text has notably not been censored for its audiences to a large extent. “Censorship: the practice, exercised by elite groups in authority, of monitoring and controlling media content”29 is shown as part of the hegemony society maintained by the dominate elite. In viewing the show; swearing, nudity, and references to sex are all included, however with the show coming on after the watershed protects it from any complaints that may come its way. Though the point being that as possibly offensive as it seems, the raw content of the show is still viewable with its endless stereotyping of marginalized groups when it seems clear that those in charge of censoring it are not being represented as they are the elite. Although, with society exposed to such violence on television and sexual references throughout the media this text does not shock audiences as it may have done in the past. As our society changes to be more open to new ideas thanks to the introduction of the internet for example and worldly, life changing events we are taught to be prepared for anything and ‘Little Britain’ is ‘loose change’ amongst other things. Censorship seems to be more and more oblivious in television because everything that could be seen has been seen, giving certain texts authority to experiment and put out material that could potentially cause conflict.
Overall, the characters in ‘Little Britain’ and the show itself present something different to various people. More recently the sketch show genre has exceeded expectations and beliefs since the days of ‘The Two Ronnies’ to create a mixture of comic styles from black comedy to scatological humour. Considering the characters as representatives of the people of Britain it is yet to be deemed anything other than a comedy show? Opinions of the public will always be different, someone will always be offended by the show and someone else will always find it humorous. The question remains whether ‘Little Britain’ can be considered offensive to the point of being completely unacceptable or a masterpiece of television that will be remembered throughout the ages winning awards such as the Royal Television Society awards for best entertainment show and best comedy. When all arguments are put aside it comes down to individuals who will agree to disagree.
Word count:3,333
1 ‘The Two Ronnies’ (1971) creator Ned Sherrin
2 ‘Little Britain’ episode 2, series 1 (2003-present)
3 Essential word dictionary AS/A-level media studies (pg 21)
4 Created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland
5 Created by Jon Conway
6 Created by created by Jeffrey Lieber, J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof
7 episode 1, series 1 of ‘Little Britain (2003)
8 web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_E.html
9 ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ Laura Mulvey (1975)
10 ‘the other’
11 Expression is a paraphrase of Andy Warhol (1968)
12 Matt Lucas- Little Britain’s Vicky Pollard (2003)
13 David Walliams- Little Britain’s Emily Howard (2003)
14 Matt Lucas- Little Britain’s Andy (2003)
15 Television and Censorship in the Media-Judith Spelman (1996)
16 Eddie Murphy- ‘Delirious’ (1983)
17 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,564-1876331,00.html- Carol Tyrrell (17/1105)
18 http://www.users.bigpond.com/smartboard/pc.htm- political correctness
19 Owned by EMAP
20 Owned by
21 www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-1875033,00.html
22 ‘Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema’ Laura Mulvey (1975)
23 www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-1875033,00.html
24 Directed by Tom Holland (1988)
25 Matt Lucas- ‘Meet Matt Lucas’ (2004)
26 Daily Mirror, thurs 27th oct 05, '£22m Little British Empire'
27 ‘Representations and Realism-Studying the Media (1994)
28 Cultivation theory-‘Theories of Audience-a comparative summary (pg 94)
29 Essential word dictionary-AS/A-level media studies (2005)
Little Britain' is a British comedy sketch show, concentrating on the people of Britain through very diverse characters. Following the conventional structures of comedy sketch shows before them, for example 'The Two Ronnies' (1971)1, 'Little Britain' aims to "show the people of Britain"2. Many of the characters created by the show are familiar and well-known stereotypes about certain people and groups in Britain. However, could some of these characters create a fair representation of those being targeted or does the show manage to offend people on every level possible? From the show's current success, could it be that society has accepted these representations because it's a comedy or could it be that dominant ideologies have manipulated society into believing them as ‘common sense’?
The distributor behind the sketch show is the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), “the principal public service broadcasting organisation in the UK”3. The show moving from BBC3, a channel designed to entertain younger audiences, to BBC1 means it has risen in its success, going from a more niche audience on BBC3 to a more mainstream, terrestrial channel representing the show’s popularity. However, with the programme’s intent to create humour through stereotypical representations of people show the BBC have drawn away from their conventional appeals to inform and educate and entertain. With greater means to entertain nowadays is shown in programmes such as ‘Eastenders’4 and ‘Strictly come dancing’5. Such changes could reflect society’s views on how people see the BBC not as a reliable, responsible institution, but one that has created new representations for itself to appeal to the younger audiences as well as their current audiences. Therefore, being in direct competition with other terrestrial channels such as Channel 4 whose main audiences are those of the younger generation with programmes such as ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Lost’6.
‘Little Britain’ being broadcast by the BBC attracts many different audiences because the channel shows very different programmes, but also the diversity in the show’s many characters may also attract people who will find a character they like and can identify with on some level in certain represented features referring to the uses and gratifications theory. Daffyd “the only gay in the village”7 is one of the many well-known characters and is based on stereotypical views on homosexuals in Britain. With his platinum blonde hair, tight leather clothing and camp characteristics are what makes him the perfect stereotype. However exaggerated, the question remains whether such a character would offend those being represented. Matt Lucas, one of the creators of the show and the person who plays this particular character is in reality a homosexual, so it could be argued that he is making fun of himself and people like him to prove a point that they are, as homosexuals no different then anyone else. The character in the text is ignorant of the people around him who tend to support him in his beliefs, though he is too defensive to notice. This links to a drastic change in society’s views over time as maybe 20 years ago a gay character would not have even been though of because of the controversial issues it would have raised with HIV and AIDS being the big problem at the time in the 1980s. Beliefs about being gay and being proud to express it illustrate, the acceptance of homosexuals nowadays, shown from a satirical homophobic point of view to which seems ridiculous after watching the programme. Although, not all characters represented are related to the people who play them.
In addition, the Vicky Pollard character is a reflection on the ‘chav’ life of young, white teenage girls in Britain. Shown as troublesome, uneducated and sexually active is a vague description of this group of people, but a stereotype, which many would not disagree with when, considering their social status even if it is a misrepresentation. In Britain, ‘chavs’ are seen, as the lowest form of working classes, so to misrepresent them probably would not cause any kind of backlash because they probably would not be heard. People often do not question issues if it does not concern them. This demonstrates the selfish, spineless society that we live in.
Through the diverse characters shown, the show provides audiences with a selection to identify with. However, audiences watching tend to see past the negative representations of these characters and enjoy themselves when viewing ‘Little Britain’ because the show is not designed to cause political debates, but provide humour, leaving audiences to just ‘turn-off’ and be entertained, linking to escapism theory “the desire to retreat into imaginative entertainment rather than deal with the stress, tedium, and daily problems of the mundane world”8. The producers can reinforce stereotypes used in the show as they do, although the context of the text being a comedy indirectly tells audiences that it is meant to be viewed as humorous and not offensive. This is due to the way the characters are seen and exaggerated in their stereotypes. Audiences may feel that because the exaggerated characters are so unrealistic it is not reflected on their particular group. Whether it is homosexuals, the obese or transvestites the show’s success comes from those who do not take it personally.
When considering character representations back to society, the show is shown to only do sketches on minority groups in Britain: working class, homosexuals, the disabled, the obese, Asians and most of all women. By targeting the weaker groups gives the show the advantage to stray away from negative press coverage, mainly run by middle class, white men such as Rupert Murdoch, the elite group in society. This could be the reason for the show’s success as the people who are potentially reviewing the show are not being featured, therefore would not take anything personal from it or be offended but would perhaps laugh at those ‘lower’ than themselves in society relating to reception theory. The female groups shown are played by two middle class, white men in David Walliams and Matt Lucas possibly suggesting a sense of backlash from ‘man’ through quite misogynistic ideologies. Most sketches happen to feature a female character or imitation of females in some sense, for example transvestite Emily Howard (played by David Walliams), exaggerating female stereotypes that make them appear gossipy, bitchy and mainly sexually active interpreting that perhaps a woman’s purpose only relates around sexually oriented events and getting a man. Coming from a patriarchal society the show tends to “objectify women”9 without actually showing real women, but re-presenting them through male counterparts. These groups could be arguably marginalized by the media so it would be acceptable to mock them as the show does and be successful through doing so.
Although, funnily enough the majority audience for the show is those people being represented in the working-class, the popularity of the show would not be as widespread if only middle-class, white men watched it, so why doesn’t the public take offence? The idea of audience positioning enters where they are positioned to view the programme as the dominant group rather than “the others”10 providing them with a sense of ambition to actually watch as one of the elite. Audiences are forced to see the programme from the creators David Walliams and Matt Lucas’s points of view and consider identifying with them and the way they see Britain as the dominant group. Providing audiences with beliefs and values that are the general beliefs in British society have passive audiences believe what the creators have to express because they believe the same ideologies. This manipulates the audience in providing more messages through the drip drip theory and hegemonic reading (introduced by Stuart hall and developed by David Morley) of the text to strengthen what the elite believe to be seen as common sense. However, some audiences can spot when they are being mocked, this is the active audience, but may find it flattering if nothing else to see themselves indirectly on the television, creating a narcissistic appeal to audiences as everyone wants to be a celebrity these days and have their “15 minutes of fame”11 because it is possibly the closest many viewers will get to it through these characters that represent them best, even though they are over exaggerated.
This popularity that surrounds the different characters in the show suggests the level that it has reached in television through memorable catch phrases and characteristics “yeah but no but”12, “I am a lady”13 and “yeah I know”14 can be heard and automatically related to ‘Little Britain’. However, these ever lasting and continuously over-used phrases could potentially offend audience’s intelligence as it brings connotations of television today becoming ‘dumbed down’ for audiences who are not suggestively smart enough to take in any other information than repeated, little phrases. “We can all use the off button if there is something on television we find offensive. But shouldn’t we be doing more to uphold morals through TV? Or is everything by and large, ok.”15 A point that suggests that audiences must be active if they choose to object to the show’s content and messages, however the genre of the sketch show was not always this patronising to audience’s intelligence.
The sketch comedy genre is one that ranges back to the 1970s with shows such as ‘The Two Ronnies’. “The Ronnies performed as comedy character actors, slipping into a huge variety of different guises and personalities to execute their humour.” With many similar features ‘Little Britain’ uses similar approaches. However, the level of humour has varied to what it is and what it was as television has changed what is acceptable now that was not then. The representations of people then would have probably been censored because of how society would take to it. Now it seems nothing shocks anybody, as we live in a society adapted to desensitised images and stories the media has to offer. This is part of effects theories on audiences, suggesting that as people are more exposed to new things they get more use to it, so ‘Little Britain’ is a ‘drop in the pond’ for many nowadays.
The genre has developed over time and ‘Little Britain’ itself is shown to have influences from other genres in comedy that use similar conventions such as black comedy. Making fun and laughing about real life events and experiences is what black comedy is. Even though it is offensive that is what this type of genre is all about, speaking about real life. “I kid the homosexual a lot because they’re homosexual”16-Eddie Murphy- speaks for itself in making fun of people because of who they are and what they represent showing no remorse for people’s sensitivity in the subject. ‘Little Britain’ adopts this approach to illustrate humour people can relate to on a personal level because it is funnier. The whole point of comedy is to make audiences laugh, “the success of comedy for me is when you recognise people you know in the characters on screen. Politically correct comedy really doesn’t work as, by its very nature, there will be always be one group who will be offended”17. Comedy genre makers know that to get the ratings they have to bend the rules sometimes and rebel, but know that they are doing it at the same time. During the 1980s political correctness became an issue “and people who transgressed would be punished”18 so for comedy to break those boundaries show how far the genre has come, resulting in the production of ‘Little Britain’. Although, they can go too far in breaking certain rules and one of those is the way they treat certain groups for what they have stood for in the past such as the Women’s Institution and representations of women in general, going backwards in their representations.
Women are one of the most represented groups in the show are shown in a variety of ways through a range of characters. This aids the appeal for audiences to relate to the characters to not just generalise the group to one representation. However, the show’s attitudes towards them depicts the era of the new ‘lads mags’ in ‘Zoo’19 and ‘Nuts’20 to have women generally regarded in this way of showing their bodies mainly in characters such as Bubbles and Desiree. “Little Britain’s obsessions with the extreme taboos of physicality: facial hair, urine, fat, breast milk, faeces, penetration, the anus, decrepitude, arousal, ejaculation, vomit”21 are the main themes of the show all have references towards women. This reinforces the ideologies that these magazines hold to make women appear as second-class citizens and no more than objects of a sexual desire for the ‘male gaze’22. Some have the fear that programmes such as ‘Little Britain’ will manipulate those passive audiences of mainly young people to think these messages are true because the television is their best friend and perhaps the most influential thing in their lives. “I feel drearier by the idea of a future generation of comedians whose formative influences will be a combination of misogyny, viciousness and overcooked surreality.”23 This quote refers to the hypodermic model and the way the media injects ideas into the audience. This quote refers to the hypodermic model and the way the media injects ideas into the audience. The main issue is that people fear those negative effects stressed previously will result in similar for the Nazi party before World War Two and also ‘Child’s Play’ (Tom Holland 1988)24 and the Jaime Bulger case.
In creating a show like ‘Little Britain’, Matt Lucas and David Walliams have encouraged issues and debates to take place in society questioning whether the represented stereotypes on their programme are what people really think of one another in Britain. Producing a show of such content that verbally abuses ‘fat’ people for being ‘fat’, homosexuals for their sexual preferences and gullible people who look after the handicapped was always bound to cause controversy. Nevertheless, the writers would have known this and found a way to go around it by not just targeting one minority group but almost everyone in Britain so it couldn’t be argued that some groups were being victimised. Matt Lucas- “some I guess are based on facets of ourselves. Some are just complete inventions”25. This suggests he is saying they are not really based on real people, however some are based on people that they know personally. This could be a loophole that prevents any potential negative reviews because they claim the characters are not based generally on the British public so they should not take offence but embrace the characters as unique inventions of television comedy.
Many critics agree that the show has been a success regardless of any negative underlying connotations that the show may possibly have. After the third series, ‘Little Britain’ creators have racked in over “22 million pounds”26. Going from strength to strength and the help of moving channels to increase audiences have done the show justice. Although when considering society’s take towards the show, is it such a good thing that people enjoy a programme that potentially ridicules others whether it intends to do so or not. As stated earlier, the black comedy generic conventions are implicated in the show and tell it as it is, this could demonstrate society’s change in opinions to allow more things to happen and allow for more manipulation of ideas in the way people think and feel about each other.
When considering media manipulation, the majority of ‘Little Britain’s’ influence on the public could come from its distributors. The BBC, with its appeal to target mass audiences with varied programming can have passive audiences being injected with ideas before the show even begins. The way the BBC schedules its programmes around certain times is deliberate because they are attempting to attract particular audiences. If the news comes before ‘Little Britain’ or just after it, the channel maybe drawing in more responsible, educated viewers who will stay tuned in and continue to watch other programmes. The idea that the institution could be indirectly injecting its audiences with the sense the show is intellectual and worth watching is very possible. Anything seems likely when it is looked at from different view points, so the ideologies of the show can be looked at differently too from different people, considering different messages the show is emulating.
“‘Eastenders’ (Julia Smith 1980s-present, 7:30pm, BBC1, Thursday) and then ‘Little Britain’ (at 09:00pm), the schedule of the two are quite close together and the channel illustrates the time of the next few programmes once one is finished. By doing this alerts Eastender’s viewers, predominantly a younger audience, to when the show starts. This is important for the BBC to do as ‘Little Britain’ targets a similar audience to ‘Eastenders’ so it gives an indication of when that particular audience may be tuning in again in order to know when to set certain values and representations in their shows for possible media manipulation for the naïve youth who watch it. “The concept of representation embodies the theme that the media construct meanings about the world- they represent it, and in doing so, help audiences to make sense of it in particular ways”27. Those particular ways could be a disadvantage for many people and groups such as ethnic minorities, homosexuals and other under represented groups, which have caused conflict over the years. ‘Little Britain’ could be argued to encourage such events to occur, but it takes two to make something happen, the other is the audience who will act on what they see referring to cultivation theory where “the more TV the audience watches, the more likely it is that they will develop certain kinds of views about the world”28 and desensitisation and that could lead to trouble.
The content of this text has notably not been censored for its audiences to a large extent. “Censorship: the practice, exercised by elite groups in authority, of monitoring and controlling media content”29 is shown as part of the hegemony society maintained by the dominate elite. In viewing the show; swearing, nudity, and references to sex are all included, however with the show coming on after the watershed protects it from any complaints that may come its way. Though the point being that as possibly offensive as it seems, the raw content of the show is still viewable with its endless stereotyping of marginalized groups when it seems clear that those in charge of censoring it are not being represented as they are the elite. Although, with society exposed to such violence on television and sexual references throughout the media this text does not shock audiences as it may have done in the past. As our society changes to be more open to new ideas thanks to the introduction of the internet for example and worldly, life changing events we are taught to be prepared for anything and ‘Little Britain’ is ‘loose change’ amongst other things. Censorship seems to be more and more oblivious in television because everything that could be seen has been seen, giving certain texts authority to experiment and put out material that could potentially cause conflict.
Overall, the characters in ‘Little Britain’ and the show itself present something different to various people. More recently the sketch show genre has exceeded expectations and beliefs since the days of ‘The Two Ronnies’ to create a mixture of comic styles from black comedy to scatological humour. Considering the characters as representatives of the people of Britain it is yet to be deemed anything other than a comedy show? Opinions of the public will always be different, someone will always be offended by the show and someone else will always find it humorous. The question remains whether ‘Little Britain’ can be considered offensive to the point of being completely unacceptable or a masterpiece of television that will be remembered throughout the ages winning awards such as the Royal Television Society awards for best entertainment show and best comedy. When all arguments are put aside it comes down to individuals who will agree to disagree.
Word count:3,333
1 ‘The Two Ronnies’ (1971) creator Ned Sherrin
2 ‘Little Britain’ episode 2, series 1 (2003-present)
3 Essential word dictionary AS/A-level media studies (pg 21)
4 Created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland
5 Created by Jon Conway
6 Created by created by Jeffrey Lieber, J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof
7 episode 1, series 1 of ‘Little Britain (2003)
8 web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_E.html
9 ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ Laura Mulvey (1975)
10 ‘the other’
11 Expression is a paraphrase of Andy Warhol (1968)
12 Matt Lucas- Little Britain’s Vicky Pollard (2003)
13 David Walliams- Little Britain’s Emily Howard (2003)
14 Matt Lucas- Little Britain’s Andy (2003)
15 Television and Censorship in the Media-Judith Spelman (1996)
16 Eddie Murphy- ‘Delirious’ (1983)
17 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,564-1876331,00.html- Carol Tyrrell (17/1105)
18 http://www.users.bigpond.com/smartboard/pc.htm- political correctness
19 Owned by EMAP
20 Owned by
21 www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-1875033,00.html
22 ‘Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema’ Laura Mulvey (1975)
23 www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-1875033,00.html
24 Directed by Tom Holland (1988)
25 Matt Lucas- ‘Meet Matt Lucas’ (2004)
26 Daily Mirror, thurs 27th oct 05, '£22m Little British Empire'
27 ‘Representations and Realism-Studying the Media (1994)
28 Cultivation theory-‘Theories of Audience-a comparative summary (pg 94)
29 Essential word dictionary-AS/A-level media studies (2005)
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