Re: Ricky Gervais - right or wrong to use that word? : Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:56 pm  

peggy wrote:

Their sole aim is not to spoon feed you a job.

Indeed it's not. But that doesn't take away the bad experience I've had and many other people have had at the hands of these so called charity's. Feel free to defend them all you want. But in the meantime there's people out they who are struggling with their lives and there's nobody they to help them me included.

Re: Ricky Gervais - right or wrong to use that word? : Tue Jan 24, 2012 10:52 pm  

El Barbudo wrote: I don't like Gervais or his sneery kind of humour, so I switch him off when he's on TV. I don't like the Daily Mail or its self-centred harrumphing up its own arris, so I don't buy it. I had never even heard the word "Mong" before this story broke (maybe I live in a different bubble) but I gather that it is a derogatory term for people with Down's Syndrome. From that, I have to assume that Gervais is a prat, unless there's something that I've missed. But I'll keep an eye on this thread because there may be more about this word that I don't know. e.g. Can anyone give me an example of when it is considered OK to use the word? http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2012/01/2 ... r_mong_gag Although he said that, ‘When she first came on the telly, I went, “Is that a mong?”,’ he insisted: ‘I don't mean she has Down’s Syndrome, by the way. No! No that would be offensive. That word doesn't mean that any more.’ And they claimed the joke was not directed at Susan Boyle as having a disability but ‘...at those who refuse to acknowledge that the meanings of words can adapt over time’.

El Barbudo wrote: I don't like Gervais or his sneery kind of humour, so I switch him off when he's on TV. I don't like the Daily Mail or its self-centred harrumphing up its own arris, so I don't buy it. I had never even heard the word "Mong" before this story broke (maybe I live in a different bubble) but I gather that it is a derogatory term for people with Down's Syndrome. From that, I have to assume that Gervais is a prat, unless there's something that I've missed. But I'll keep an eye on this thread because there may be more about this word that I don't know. e.g. Can anyone give me an example of when it is considered OK to use the word? http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2012/01/2 ... r_mong_gag Although he said that, ‘When she first came on the telly, I went, “Is that a mong?”,’ he insisted: ‘I don't mean she has Down’s Syndrome, by the way. No! No that would be offensive. That word doesn't mean that any more.’ And they claimed the joke was not directed at Susan Boyle as having a disability but ‘...at those who refuse to acknowledge that the meanings of words can adapt over time’.

Re: Ricky Gervais - right or wrong to use that word? : Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:01 pm  

http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/01/20/hitle ... y-gervais/

http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/01/20/hitle ... y-gervais/

Re: Ricky Gervais - right or wrong to use that word? : Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:37 pm  

Some people will find mong funny. Some won't.

One thing you can be sure of is that the "thought nazis" of the world will be trying to prove how offensive things are, to tell us what's right and what's wrong so that if we dare laugh, we can be riddled with shame and guilt.

You can laugh at it.
You can be offended by it.

Re: Ricky Gervais - right or wrong to use that word? : Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:13 am  

I don't think any word should be off limits, or that anything should be considered "too offensive" for a comedian to say. If we are going to have free speech, we can't be selective about when that applies. The only possible exception to this should be where there is clear evidence of a person inciting violence. "Mong" isn't a word I'd use myself, or one I find particularly funny, but if Gervais wants to use it in his act, it's up to his audience to decide whether they continue watching his show or not.

Re: Ricky Gervais - right or wrong to use that word? : Wed Jan 25, 2012 10:18 am  

Rooster Booster wrote:

Some people will find mong funny. Some won't.

One thing you can be sure of is that the "thought nazis" of the world will be trying to prove how offensive things are, to tell us what's right and what's wrong so that if we dare laugh, we can be riddled with shame and guilt.

You can laugh at it.
You can be offended by it.

I must be one of those "thought nazis" then.
It's a free country of sorts and people have the freedom to laugh at the word if they like but anyone who finds that word funny should grow up and think a bit.

Re: Ricky Gervais - right or wrong to use that word? : Wed Jan 25, 2012 10:42 am  

El Barbudo wrote:

I must be one of those "thought nazis" then.
It's a free country of sorts and people have the freedom to laugh at the word if they like but anyone who finds that word funny should grow up and think a bit.

I fully agree with the last part of your post, but that's not a reason for censorship, is it?

Re: Ricky Gervais - right or wrong to use that word? : Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:03 am  

The freedom of speech doesn't necessary mean the freedom to abuse. However I do think that Ricky has gone about this in the right way at the right place.

Re: Ricky Gervais - right or wrong to use that word? : Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:52 am  

El Barbudo wrote:

I must be one of those "thought nazis" then.
It's a free country of sorts and people have the freedom to laugh at the word if they like but anyone who finds that word funny should grow up and think a bit.

Out of Interest. What puts you in such a position that you feel the need to tell people to "grow up and think a bit" about a word.

Re: Ricky Gervais - right or wrong to use that word? : Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:56 pm  

Rooster Booster wrote:

Out of Interest. What puts you in such a position that you feel the need to tell people to "grow up and think a bit" about a word.

My position is the same as yours, i.e. I am expressing my opinion on a message board.

The reason I hold that opinion is because offence is often avoidable and unnecessary, usually unfunny and, in this case, deeply distasteful ... as a moment's thought would tell anyone.