Once the Muppets have finally made their puppet-y way over to these shores, the next big film I’m really looking forward to see is the latest production from Bristol animation company ‘Aardman’, most famous for their Wallace and Gromit series of short films and one feature, that stood alongside Chicken Run, Flushed Away and last festive season’s Arthur Christmas as quality, funny movies.
Their next piece “The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists” is based on a book of the same name and sees the Pirate Captain, voiced by foppish Brit Hugh Grant, attempting to win the Pirate of the Year award. Already tipped to be a popular film it has, however, recently hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
As seen in the early trailer for the film, the Pirate Captain lands on a ship and demands the crew on board give him their booty. Unfortunately, as revealed by the head of the crew, it is a leper ship, not a pirate one, and to prove the point his arm falls off.
Now, to me, that is a quick punchline of a joke that, though not a contender for the world’s most original joke, is funny. However, this set piece has got leprosy charities in an uproar that the film is deriving humour from the misery of others and making light of their condition.
In fact, their actions have led to this scene being dropped from the final film when it shows in cinemas in March.
Now, this to me is an interesting turn of events. I’m not going to deny that people who have leprosy must suffer and that to have the condition must have a big impact on your everyday life. However, films, television shows and other mediums, particularly in the UK, have a long tradition of deriving humour from situations, conditions, disabilities and aspects of personalities that are not funny themselves but become funny, in ways that range from tongue-in-cheek to a little bit more biting to, at times, quite a bit more controversially. Often humour is a great way of tackling issues that would be difficult otherwise, or to make people think.
Which sitcoms haven’t cracked a joke about someone dying or a medical condition that is horrible to live with? Even moving away from illness, how many shows or films make humour out of people’s personality, looks, sexuality, or behaviour, that may be funny to others but not at all to them?
For those who visit this site and enjoy science fiction will know that the stereotype of the geek or sci-fi fan is well established and often employed in comedies? Is there some truth in that stereotype? A little. Is every sci-fi fan like that? No. Do “geeks” get offended by it? Not really, as it’s in the name of humour and often done lovingly and for every negative portrayal there’s another good one.
In a similar fashion, the scene in The Pirates! has been criticised because leprosy doesn’t actually make limbs fall off and that the scene perpetuates that myth and the stereotype.
Of course, silly me. Nothing has ever been depicted as incorrect or as a stereotype in the name of comedy in the history of the moving picture.
This joke follows on the heels of some raised eye brows from the previous ‘Curse of the Were-rabbit’ film where Victor Quartermaine gets sprayed in the face with ‘pansy spray’ and turns all camp. Again, it’s another potentially controversial joke but that stayed in as it was seen for the lighthearted humour it was. That joke, like this one, is hardly Frankie Boyle material and, in my opinion, suitable for children viewing.
Why not just put a soap-style notice at the end of the film or a contact number to find out more, if it’s really that important?
As I said before I have lots of sympathy for sufferers but I can’t help feeling that, in my opinion, this quick fire joke has been used as an excuse for these charities to get some quick, cheap publicity on the back of a film from a popular animation house. I’m not going to bemoan them the publicity, as these charities often struggle to get heard, but not when it comes down to changing a scriptwriters vision of a film and becomes censorship.
Clearly it’s not on the level of governmental censorship but it is censorship all the same in the name of some quick publicity. How far do we have to go with sort of thing? Remove Ugly Betty from the listings as it is offensive to people born not as pretty as other people? Pull apart ‘Little Britain’ as it can be insulting to wheelchair users? Take out Babs from Chicken Run as she gets laughs from being less able mentally? The list would never end.
Of course, this story got some legs on Twitter with that Tweeter of repute Stephen Fry wading in and calling it a ‘Cheap Joke’. Now I love Fry as a comedian and a presenter but he can’t tell me from his pedestal that he’s never cracked a cheap joke in his life?
I think it’s great that the charity is getting some publicity for a serious condition out of it but the cynical side of me thinks that they’ve used a new film as a springboard for some free headlines and led to a, most likely, expensive cut to a film out within two months, all for a joke that nobody would have batted their eyelid about come release.
Has everyone lost their sense of humour?
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