 Harry
and Paul
BBC1, 26 September 2008, 21:00
Ofcom received 42 complaints regarding a sketch in the Harry and Paul
show which depicted a so-called upper class character, played by Harry
Enfield, encouraging a Northern man - whom he treats as his dog -
to mate with his neighbour's Filipina maid. The scene showed the
Northerner, known as Clive, failing to show interest in the maid
and the Harry Enfield character shouting encouragement and urging Clive
to mount her before sending the maid back to the neighbour's
home.
The complainants expressed concern that the sketch was offensive to the
Filipino community and women in general, by presenting the Filipina as
an object of sexual gratification.
Ofcom Decision
Ofcom recognises the sensitivities involved when comedy makes reference
to or represents any particular ethnic community in the United Kingdom .
In this case it was a Filipino who featured in the broadcast. We
therefore considered this material in the light of Rule 2.3 (generally
accepted standards) which says that …broadcasters must ensure that
material which may cause offence is justified by the context…
This particular sketch was one of a number which ran throughout the
series in which Harry Enfield plays an extreme comedy stereotype of an
upper class toff living in the South of England. This caricature
has little sensitivity to those outside of his social class.
Consequently, he treats Clive like his dog. It is in this context that
the sketch showed the Harry Enfield character encouraging Clive to
mate with his neighbour's domestic help, for whom he also has little
or no respect.
Whilst Harry and Paul is a new series, Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse
are long established comedians whose style of humour often focuses on
presenting characters in an exaggerated and stereotyped way for comic
effect. The comedy frequently comes from the absurdity of the situation.
In terms of the degree of offence and the likely expectation of the
audience, we considered whether the material was justified by the
context of the sketch as a whole.
As noted above, this item featured established comedians and the sketch
was typical of the material presented by Harry Enfield and Paul
Whitehouse in this, and other series. Therefore it is Ofcom's view that
the material would not have exceeded the likely expectation of the vast
majority of the audience.
Further, in Ofcom's view, there was no intention to ridicule women or
the Filipino community in this sketch. The target of the humour was very
clearly the upper class character played by Harry Enfield who holds such
a deluded view of his social superiority that he treats individuals with
lower social status with ridiculous disdain. The Filipina domestic help
was featured as a character in the sketch to highlight this extreme and
ridiculous behaviour.
Comedy often, and rightly, engages with challenging and sensitive
subjects such as social class. In this respect Ofcom must regulate
potentially offensive material in a manner that also respects freedom of
expression – the broadcasters' right to transmit information and the
viewers' right to receive it. Ofcom must therefore seek an appropriate
balance between protecting members of the public from harm and offence
on the one hand and the broadcaster's right to freedom of expression on
the other, taking into account such matters as context.
Although this sketch may have caused offence to some individuals, it
explored the issue of social class in an absurd way which was not
intended to reflect real life. In our view this was the approach and
effect of this sketch. On balance, it is Ofcom's view that the material
did not breach generally accepted standards because it was justified by
the context.
Not in Breach
|
