Quote of the day

"What I find really offensive in life is people who find trivial, petty things offensive, when there is so much in the world to genuinely get angry at. Needless suffering and death the world over; war, famine, homelessness, poverty, cruelty to animals, paedophilia, child prostitution, the list is bloody endless. But these people are more concerned with how many times someone says 'fuck' on BBC2 at 10pm. It's a word. Who cares?"

Vik on the furore surrounding the BBC's screening of Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee's 'Jerry Springer - The Opera' last Saturday evening.

There was a bucketload of profanity, to be sure - but, hey, FUCK MEDIAWATCH AND THE DAILY MAIL.

Though it wasn't as outrageous or as hilarious as I'd hoped, as a stimulating satire and near-perfect collision of "highbrow" and "lowbrow culture" it did raise many a laugh.

What's more, I'm sure there were plenty of others like myself, put off by the snobbishness and expense of traditional opera, for whom this was a refreshingly different two hours of entertainment. If an art form severs its connections with people and becomes ascetically sealed in its own little bubble, then it'll stagnate and atrophy. As I think Michael Billington claimed in the programme prior to the opera's screening, what Thomas and Lee have done, whether deliberately or not, is brought opera back to the people.

So, good work Mr Thompson.

Links:

'Jerry Springer - The Opera' draws 1.7million viewers.

The BBC's Director of Television Jana Bennett defends the decision to screen the show.