Oh Ricky, Ricky, Ricky…..
by carriegracey
Oh Ricky, Ricky, Ricky….
Ricky Gervais once taught us that success could be achieved with nothing but a detailed eye at observational humour, regardless of his penchant for mid to high-waisted jeans. But last week saw the price of testing the 21st century’s political boundaries when his new tour ‘Science’ aired on Channel 4.
Complaints began to occur on Twitter, when the creator of some of the UK’s best selling TV comedies, defended his previously ‘outrageous’ joke in 2010 of Susan Boyle being ‘a mong’.
Five minutes of his act was spent defending his comment, telling people that it had no correlation to Downs Syndrome. But his defence was too late. Thousands of complaints began to flood in, with even The Downs Syndrome Association writing a letter of ‘concern’. Their press officer announced ‘We’ve had a campaign to have that particular word removed from common usage.’
Even though comedians are constantly testing the boundaries with their fans, it appears they can go a jibe too far. Frankie Boyle also received the same reaction from twitter superior, when he created a routine about Downs Syndrome children last year.
Is this another shock-tactic PR stunt? Or is it the art form itself, with stand-up ignoring all political solace in the use of correct vocabulary. Bill Hicks, Dave Allen, Jimmy Carr, Chris Rock, have all suffered the repercussions but often it’s ended with their name in brighter lights.
Ricky’s response to the complaints, according to some, made it worse. New to twitter himself, perhaps he wasn’t aware of how vocal we really can be, live and direct to his Mac desktop. There’s no need to communicate via their agent anymore; and with this knowledge, so began his statements:
‘Just to clarify for uptight people stuck in the past. The word mong means Down’s syndrome about as much as the word gay means happy. I.e. I never use the word mong to mean anything to do with Downs Syndrome.’
Fellow comedians began to comment, James W Smith said: ‘Personally speaking, I wish Ricky Gervais all the success in the world, I just wish he’d stop using the word “mong” while pulling faces.’
He directed followers to a dictionary definition of the word, followed by ‘Dear fans. Don’t give the haters any attention. Those people aren’t really offended by the things I say – they are offended by my success.’
With Gervais not waving the white flag in any bona-fide manner, it sparked a stronger convulsion to stop some people following his work altogether.
Whilst many found the word inoffensive, praising Gervais on his ‘hilarious’ routines of fat people and the bible, others were disappointed. Labeling the comic ‘arrogant’ and ‘full of hate’.
Although profanity can spark a tsunami of new fans, it can wash away the loyalty of others. Perhaps the self-depreciative roles of David Brent and Andy Millman would involve fewer complaint letters? Is this is a case of gelotophobia? Or is it a fear of encouraging children to use the wrong words in the wrong context? Maybe teasing yourself is more disarming than the alternative.
I used to be a huge fan of Gervais… until I saw this show. It wasn’t just the ‘mong’ comments, it was the slagging off overweight people, using old material from his podcasts, re-telling old jokes and his arrogance (which used to a funny part of his act) has just gone too far. Bored of him now.
Completely agree. It was the retelling of old jokes and he bought up the Susan Boyle gag from his last year, to defend it – what did he think would happen? For as much as he suggested in his comment about that people live in the past – wasn’t he the one who bought it up? I fear his approach of being arrogant will be his downfall. A lot of very funny people are naturally very angry….I wonder if we’re seeing his true colours?