Trigger messages

by Fred Moletrousers Tue Aug 10, 2021 9:41 pm

Tell me, friends, is it just grumpy old bugger me who is becoming increasingly angry at those puerile “trigger messages” that now appear to be mandatory at the start of TV films and comedy or drama programmes?

They inevitably commence their woke exhortations with words such as:”Viewers should be aware that the following film may contain language or references in use at the time that they may find offensive.” Or - fatuously - “Please be aware that the following film contains images of injury and aggressive behaviour that some viewers might find distressing.” (Bearing in mind that the film was a war film and that depictions of solders, sailors or airmen getting shot at or blown up should not have been entirely unexpected…)

The latest example of this politically correct Nanny State intrusion into the real world inhabited by we normal people concerns the trigger message that must now, apparently, precede screenings on something called BritBox of that hilarious old TV comedy series ‘Allo ‘Allo.

I would imagine that most of us here will have no need to be reminded of what the series was all about; for our American friends who may not have watched it - sorry, chums…..but it’s far too complicated to describe and, in any case, you would probably find it as baffling as some of the rest of us find the American political system.

The nub of the matter is that BritBox - operated by a horrible combination of the immaculately woke and politically correct BBC and ratings hungry ITV - has come to the conclusion that - (shock, horror! Pass the Prozac) - the dialogue might be conceived as mocking German and French accents and that, therefore, we innocents must be warned that we might be distressed/offended/upset by unacceptable xenophobia.

I kid you not! Offensive? Xenophobic? Racist? Throughout the series, the French characters take the piss mercilessly out of the English language; the English spy posing as a French policeman horribly mangles the beautiful French language; the Germans believe that to speak English one must simply have a receding chin, prominent upper teeth and have a vocabulary comprising solely of “phwarr, phwarr, phwarr,phwarr, phwarr” and everyone thinks the Italian Army officer is a wop (oops! Call the Thought Police) with a chest full of medals for cowardice and a daft military hat which seems to comprise of a bunch of cockerel tail feathers.

Add to that a bonking cafe owner who screws every woman in sight, a patently obvious gay German officer who has the hots for the cafe owner and a couple of archetypal Brit public school educated upper class twits and…well, you more or less have the plot.

In my opinion ‘Allo ‘Allo is one of the funniest TV comedy series ever made, and well worth the many repeats on Freeview channels. But now BritBox, aka Nanny Beeb, has taken it on…and suddenly it is potentially xenophobic, racist, homophobic (choose whatever “ist”, “ism” or “phobia” that takes your fancy.)

Oh God, stop the fuckin’ world. I just want to get off.

by Syl Tue Aug 10, 2021 11:08 pm

by Eilzel Wed Aug 11, 2021 7:47 am

Sometimes these things seem a bit unnecessary, but never enough to warrant an essay of complaint lol

To be fair, they are probably preempting complaints from those who might be unaware by putting that warning there. And let’s be reasonable, any unassuming under-30 who actually does find comedy built on mocking ‘the other’ as crass and a bit offensive might understandably object - so having those warnings does serve a purpose.

I still agree the trigger warnings are excessive at times, but I get why they’re there.

I’ll save the essays for real issues though Laughing

by Fred Moletrousers Wed Aug 11, 2021 8:15 am

Eilzel wrote:Sometimes these things seem a bit unnecessary, but never enough to warrant an essay of complaint lol

To be fair, they are probably preempting complaints from those who might be unaware by putting that warning there. And let’s be reasonable, any unassuming under-30 who actually does find comedy built on mocking ‘the other’ as crass and a bit offensive might understandably object - so having those warnings does serve a purpose.

I still agree the trigger warnings are excessive at times, but I get why they’re there.

I’ll save the essays for real issues though

I was feeling happy, content and at peace with the world, a state of affairs that was not commensurate with my normal and cherished status as a grumpy old bugger, so I felt I had to do something about it.

I felt much more like my old self after getting it off my chest.

by Syl Wed Aug 11, 2021 10:52 am

What I have noticed, more and more recently, after a programme has been shown, either an audio or visible message will show, informing people that if they have been affected by the programme content, help is available for them...blah, blah, blah.

That's not a bad thing in itself, but in these days of it being damn near impossible to see a GP, and almost equally hard to even get a telephone conversation with one, where will all this expert help be coming from I wonder.

by Syl Wed Aug 11, 2021 10:54 am

Fred Moletrousers wrote:
Eilzel wrote:Sometimes these things seem a bit unnecessary, but never enough to warrant an essay of complaint lol

To be fair, they are probably preempting complaints from those who might be unaware by putting that warning there. And let’s be reasonable, any unassuming under-30 who actually does find comedy built on mocking ‘the other’ as crass and a bit offensive might understandably object - so having those warnings does serve a purpose.

I still agree the trigger warnings are excessive at times, but I get why they’re there.

I’ll save the essays for real issues though

I was feeling happy, content and at peace with the world, a state of affairs that was not commensurate with my normal and cherished status as a grumpy old bugger, so I felt I had to do something about it.

I felt much more like my old self after getting it off my chest.

You should get things off your chest more often Fred, your grumpy old man posts really cheer me up. Razz

by Fred Moletrousers Wed Aug 11, 2021 10:58 am

And now for the serious side of my post:

Over the past 18 months we, as ordinary citizens, have been forced to accept the removal of many of our cherished freedoms in the name of “the science.”

Accepting the seriousness of Covid and its impact on both the health and economy of the nation, just ponder, for a moment, upon the consequences on our daily lives; the imposition of a plethora of rules and regulations, breach of which can result in police officers being able to demand entry to our homes to check whether we are obeying government orders to remain indoors; having bossy local council “covid marshalls” empowered to stop and warned and possibly reported to the police for not wearing questionably effective masks; stay a regulation two meters from other humans;forbidden to visit an elderly relative languishing in a care home; forbidden to give your elderly grannie or little grandchild a hug…..the list is endless and the fines for even minor breaches are positively eye-watering.

OK, so these draconian measures might well have been necessary at the time and government ministers constantly describe them as being “only temporary” but they carry the full force of law - but without the scrutiny of democratically-elected MPs or even Opposition shadow ministers or the revision are House of Lords.

In other words the enforced removal of basic human rights by surreptitious means.

We have being conditioned no longer to think for ourselves or to exercise our own judgement, but to do as we are told…or else!

Now, Lez, what has all this to do with trigger messages? Well, I suggest that they are part of the insidious embrace of the Nanny State - or rather an Orwellian Big Brother state.

We are becoming so dependant on the decisions and diktats of authority that we must even be warned to expect to be offended/distressed/upset about practically everything that we see and what we hear.

And only one short step from authority warning us is authority deciding for us.

Welcome to life controlled by a mandatory Cancel Culture.

(Sorry for the essay Lez, but if I wish to make what I consider to be an important point of principle I like to give my full reasons, and having spent my life earning my modest crust from my scribbles I find it hard to break the habit. I’m not considered bad at one-liners too, when brevity is paramount!

)

by Fred Moletrousers Wed Aug 11, 2021 12:02 pm

Syl wrote:
Fred Moletrousers wrote:

I was feeling happy, content and at peace with the world, a state of affairs that was not commensurate with my normal and cherished status as a grumpy old bugger, so I felt I had to do something about it.

I felt much more like my old self after getting it off my chest.

You should get things off your chest more often Fred, your grumpy old man posts really cheer me up.

Aw, thank you Syl. I have spent 82 long years striving to achieve the heights of the Most Noble and Honourable Order of Grumpy Old Men and even my own daughter says that among that elite hierarchy I have reached at least the Degree of Ipsissimus.

by Original Quill Wed Aug 11, 2021 3:30 pm

I just like to read your posts, Fred. Your longer essays offer the opportunity to display your colorful writing style...whether I agree with you or not.

Keep it up.

by HoratioTarr Wed Aug 11, 2021 4:02 pm

I'm on several writing groups, and the amount of people who shit themselves about this, scared to death of writing something someone won't like, or who seek validation of others before they put pen to paper drives me nuts. It's all about herd mentality, the hive mind, the fear of standing out from the crowd.

I don't give a flying fuck if I 'trigger' someone. That's their problem, not mine. And I'm certainly not going to pussyfoot my way through life or the internet because Chantelle from Teddington gets triggered by strawberry print dresses, or she's suffering from PTSD due to a dearth of 'likes' on her Facebook.

It's all more attention seeking shite.

by Fred Moletrousers Wed Aug 11, 2021 6:15 pm

Original Quill wrote:I just like to read your posts, Fred. Your longer essays offer the opportunity to display your colorful writing style...whether I agree with you or not.

Keep it up.

Thanks, Quill, coming from you that is a compliment indeed.

And I certainly take no offence at anyone disagreeing with me…I would be disappointed if they did, for what then would be the purpose of a forum such as this?

by Fred Moletrousers Wed Aug 11, 2021 6:23 pm

HoratioTarr wrote:

I'm on several writing groups, and the amount of people who shit themselves about this, scared to death of writing something someone won't like, or who seek validation of others before they put pen to paper drives me nuts. It's all about herd mentality, the hive mind, the fear of standing out from the crowd.

I don't give a flying fuck if I 'trigger' someone. That's their problem, not mine. And I'm certainly not going to pussyfoot my way through life or the internet because Chantelle from Teddington gets triggered by strawberry print dresses, or she's suffering from PTSD due to a dearth of 'likes' on her Facebook.

It's all more attention seeking shite.

Got it in one, Horatio. The sinister aspect is - in my opinion at least - that this is now the way in which we are being conditioned to be reluctant or even afraid to speak our own minds and to accept what nanny state and the self-appointed Thought Police guardians of the nation’s morality and standards tell us.

George Orwell’s scenario has finally arrived, albeit four decades late.

by Syl Wed Aug 11, 2021 6:52 pm

Well all I can say then is, thank God for a forum where people can speak their minds, because I have never felt wary of saying exactly what I think on here and t'other one, and if anyone does happen along whinging that something is not to their taste....tough.

by Original Quill Wed Aug 11, 2021 7:35 pm

Syl wrote:Well all I can say then is, thank God for a forum where people can speak their minds, because I have never felt wary of saying exactly what I think on here and t'other one, and if anyone does happen along whinging that something is not to their taste....tough.

Indeed, Wolf and I used to travel with a Hong Kong poster (old-timers will remember Oriental Lady), who, living where she did, was often hesitant to speak forthrightly after China took over Hong Kong.

by Fred Moletrousers Wed Aug 11, 2021 9:34 pm

Syl wrote:Well all I can say then is, thank God for a forum where people can speak their minds, because I have never felt wary of saying exactly what I think on here and t'other one, and if anyone does happen along whinging that something is not to their taste....tough.

I don’t think there’s much of a problem with forums like this; I suspect the biggest threats and problems are with the Tik-Tok and Twitter type of social media. I have a Twitter account but it’s years since I used it.

by eddie Fri Aug 13, 2021 10:54 pm

“Trigger warnings - for people who need to be reminded that they will definitely get upset”

“Trigger warnings - for those of you that need to be constantly reminded that something bad happened to you”

“Trigger warnings - for people who look for triggers”

I could go on all night.

by Original Quill Fri Aug 13, 2021 11:09 pm

I tend to think they are attractors, to trigger interest, rather than dissuaders. Maybe they work for the religious, or sensitive few, and provide cover for the network. But I believe they cause the distracted to put down the knitting, look up, and pay attention.

by eddie Fri Aug 13, 2021 11:36 pm

Original Quill wrote:I tend to think they are attractors, to trigger interest, rather than dissuaders. Maybe they work for the religious, or sensitive few, and provide cover for the network. But I believe they cause the distracted to put down the knitting, look up, and pay attention.

Or to be unnecessarily, offended.

by eddie Fri Aug 13, 2021 11:42 pm

Interesting

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/05/trigger-warnings-can-be-counterproductive

by Ben Reilly Fri Aug 13, 2021 11:47 pm

Ageism trigger warning for you, Fred, because this post might point out that you're considerably older than me -- but I only say that to say that I sometimes look at what's going on in the world and conclude that it's getting away from me, too. I don't like the direction people are going, at times, and I have concluded for myself, only, that it spells the death of an old naive faith that I used to have (I can still get it at times) that people are in general heading upwards and forwards, always.

I'm starting to realise that people are just going to keep doing the same old stupid stuff, and on top of that, invent new stupid things to do.

I try to allow for the fact that I'm not the target demographic anymore, so the media will often seem to me that it's trying to please an audience I'm not part of. I also try to allow that for some people, apparently, perhaps, many many people, this is the way to go and that I'm just a contrarian.

I still find myself thinking that I'm right, though, and as much as that may be a fallacy, I think in the end, we have only our own truths to cling to.

I think I'm right when I say that it appears society has become so fearful of causing offense that it's making stupid decisions, fear-based decisions. Of course, I could be wrong, out of touch and old, on the other hand.

Who the fuck knows? Everything is just so fucking everything, and the older I get, the more everything everything seems to get.

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