FAO people who laugh at Britney, Kerry K et al...

A penny to the face!

This has actually wound me up. It's the worse kind of pseudo-moral crusade. No-one's died here. Britney and Kerry started out as pop stars - their careers were built around the image of a lifestyle they portrayed in the media. Of course people are going to laugh when things slip up. No-one's actually LOLOLOLOLing, it's just a snide look and chuckle. It's what we do. We laugh when these stars fall from grace because we're jealous of the grace they have, or bitter, or just generally unpleasant. But that's humankind for you. Hell, most humour is built on cruelty. Watch Family Guy? Or HIGNFY? Mock the Week? Hell, even You've Been Framed is built on belly laughs at the misfortune of others (just because they add sound effects doesn't mean grandma didn't break her hip there). Every single good joke is offensive or cruel in some way. Does this guy shake his head when he hears an Englishman, Scotsman, Irishman joke? Is he a complete tosser? Worse, is he trying to divvy up celebs into ones you can laugh at, and ones you can't? I see no mention of Dochery, Winehouse or Mills McCartney there, it's the generally less-disliked ones he's plumped for. And at the end of the day who has the last laugh? Kerry's got her millions of pounds and her Iceland ads and her glitzy showbiz career et al, we have our day jobs. If her publicist is fool enough to send her on live TV in that state what are we supposed to do? Yes personal problems are shite but we all have them and we quite like to see these people fragile, human, but also we don't see them as real people because of the image of themselves they've portrayed previously. If the PM makes a mistake are we supposed to say 'well, he tried - try again! We believe in you!' Basically this moron is trying to elevate himself above the rest of us, us scum who chuckle at the crap times of those we see in the media every week. Prick.

Sorry to go on a bit of a rant, I only had 5 mins to squeeze in a comment earlier between work, but there it is.

Good post Danny Boy.

NGE wrote:I like Charlie Brooker.

...but I think he's pretty guilty of hypocrisy here - he based his Screenwipe programme on outing the dregs of 'slebdom' and here he is defending those that he previously ripped the crap out of. Seems like double standards to me. Also, I saw him embarrassingly trying to fit in with the other celebs on '8 Out of 10 Cats' the other day.

I'm sure he's been pretty nasty about Jimmy Carr and the like before, yet here he is rubbing shoulders with them. I think he's sold out somewhat.

I'll still be watching Dead Set tonight though.

Yep, while I'm sure he's never really laid into someone when they're down this kind of lecture left me a little if I'm honest.
And I'm not sure pissing on a dying woman and laughing at a drunk Kerry Katona is the same sort of thing.

He's still great though.

Danny Boy wrote:Basically this moron is trying to elevate himself above the rest of us, us scum who chuckle at the crap times of those we see in the media every week. Prick.

No, he's not. He's despairing at a society that increasingly refuses to help people when they need it - preferring to point and laugh or film on a mobile instead of offering assistance - and used a prominent example of someone in the public eye to prove his point.

PsychicSykes wrote:What a load of tosh. If you're willing to accept big sacks of money to have your home life broadcast and endless puff pieces written about you, you have to accept that people will consider you public property. That's what being a celebrity entails now and if you're whoring yourself out to the media every few weeks, you have to accept people are going to call you a slag once in a while.

Are you employed? Would you appreciate it if your employer laughed at you when you were ill? People who laugh at other people's problems are utter banana splits, to be frank.

MCN wrote:

PsychicSykes wrote:What a load of tosh. If you're willing to accept big sacks of money to have your home life broadcast and endless puff pieces written about you, you have to accept that people will consider you public property. That's what being a celebrity entails now and if you're whoring yourself out to the media every few weeks, you have to accept people are going to call you a slag once in a while.

Are you employed? Would you appreciate it if your employer laughed at you when you were ill? People who laugh at other people's problems are utter banana splits, to be frank.

Well then, Frank, I must be a banana split, as I do not have sympathy for that twat what-so-ever...

Kerry Katona quadrospazzed on national telly? What's not to laugh about?

Brooker moves in different circles nowadays, I'm sure the PC zone staffer of yesteryear would have pissed himself laughing and fowarded the youtube links, just like the rest of us.

Hero of Canton wrote:

Danny Boy wrote:Basically this moron is trying to elevate himself above the rest of us, us scum who chuckle at the crap times of those we see in the media every week. Prick.

No, he's not. He's despairing at a society that increasingly refuses to help people when they need it - preferring to point and laugh or film on a mobile instead of offering assistance - and used a prominent example of someone in the public eye to prove his point.

How does the Katona example prove his point? Brooker says - and I quote - "The equation runs as follows: vacuous celebrities are trashy and annoying + I consider myself above them = HAAAA HAAAA HAAAA CHECK OUT THE SUFFERING LOL!!!!" but he's wrong. Katona's not asking for my help, and my sympathy is pretty irrelevant anyway. There's an absolute world of difference between the YouTube vid he cites, which is downright despicable, and the day-to-day conversations of average people - which, no, aren't the friendliest, but it's simply because we don't view celebrities as people, and that's because of the position they put themselves in (i.e. they don't want to be seen as such, they're different). So as has been said, it comes with the territory.

Brooker's thoughts are thus (sticking with equations): people take the misery of others and twist it for their own gratification = people enjoy the misery of others = people inflict misery upon others. For some reason he bases his whole article on the premise that those who do this (i.e. most people, every day) do so because they consider themselves better than those being made fun of, which isn't the case.

To quote the man himself, "It doesn't add up."

Besides, if we took every news story and gave it an appropriate amount of sympathetic sentiment we'd all be depressed. That's why I used to love getting my news from GR.

I shouldn't have called him a prick, but I stand by my argument.

EDIT: For the record, I thought the Katona video was uncomfortable, not funny, but then I saw someone running to a lecture the other day trip on the way. He got up and carried on running but I swear he saw me smile.

Charlie Brooker wrote:Look! When we lie down on the pavement, utterly prostrating ourselves among the dog piss and fag butts, when we lie down here and gaze upwards ... we can actually see your vagina, you repugnant!

Cant stand the frozen food hawking bitch and have no sympathy whatsover. Schadenfreude FTW!

MCN wrote:

PsychicSykes wrote:What a load of tosh. If you're willing to accept big sacks of money to have your home life broadcast and endless puff pieces written about you, you have to accept that people will consider you public property. That's what being a celebrity entails now and if you're whoring yourself out to the media every few weeks, you have to accept people are going to call you a slag once in a while.

Are you employed? Would you appreciate it if your employer laughed at you when you were ill? People who laugh at other people's problems are utter banana splits, to be frank.

I don't actually agree with the abuse that has been bandied about and I haven't took any pleasure out of seeing this women break down on national television. I may have chosen the wrong words for my post above, but the general sentiment I still stand by.

With the modern media, if you are a celebrity you have to accept that while they will be willing to be lovey dovey while it suits them, it's almost inevitable that they will turn eventually.

It's a shame she's not looking after herself/being looked after properly, but she has put herself out there to shot at. That's what I was trying to say.

Drunken_Master wrote:Kerry Katona quadrospazzed on national telly? What's not to laugh about?

Brooker moves in different circles nowadays, I'm sure the PC zone staffer of yesteryear would have pissed himself laughing and fowarded the youtube links, just like the rest of us.

Or perhaps he's just older and wiser? Just a thought.

Wow, THREE Internet/gaming references. I like!

Danny Boy wrote:it's simply because we don't view celebrities as people, and that's because of the position they put themselves in (i.e. they don't want to be seen as such, they're different). So as has been said, it comes with the territory.

1. That's bollocks. Some people become celebrities without necessarily wanting celebrity status - it's just automatically granted because of their position.

2. So that gives people carte blanche for people to act like banana splits, does it? "Oh, it's okay, they're only celebrities - we can point and laugh all we like because it goes with the territory". Famous people have committed suicide because they couldn't handle the fame, part of that being dicks who behave despicably towards them simply because they're celebrities.

For some reason he bases his whole article on the premise that those who do this (i.e. most people, every day) do so because they consider themselves better than those being made fun of, which isn't the case.

That's certainly part of the reason people do it. And he's not just talking about everyday conversations, but actively putting your opinion out there where it can be viewed/heard by anyone. Including the person in question. I imagine a lot of celebs are well aware they're not particularly well-liked, but it's going to be less distressing thinking that some people are saying bad things about you than reading pages of comments where you're shown up to be actively despised or laughed at when you're obviously having a few problems.

Katona doesn't help herself, sure, but those who actively take time out to post how much they hate her or how funny it is aren't exactly displaying a particularly pleasant side to humanity.

EDIT: For the record, I thought the Katona video was uncomfortable, not funny, but then I saw someone running to a lecture the other day trip on the way. He got up and carried on running but I swear he saw me smile.

Yeah, but if he was genuinely hurt you wouldn't have just stood there laughing.

A guy i work with is a clumsy bastard and has gooseberry fool motor skills. He is 6ft 5 and recently bought one of those tiny japanese scooters for work. It s comical merely seeing him riding it but last week he fell off. He wasn't hurt and everyone at work laughed about it - and we are supposed to be the caring profession.