A couple of programmes grazed my radar this week.
One was Newsnight, who did an extended profile of John Reid. Fairly interesting, but do you know what really annoyed me? The reporter, bimbo with a meagre IQ, did a piece where she was filmed outside the various departments he has held office. "Department of Defence" she said.
No, it's the Ministry of Defence. Talk about Dumbed Down TV. If a 'political' correspondent on Newsnight - yes, Newsnight, not the Natasha Kaplinsky dumb bimbo show - can't get right the name of a major government Department that hasn't changed in my political life, really what the hell is going on with the BBC? I would be more forgiving if it was live, but there was no way one can move form Department of Defence to Interior Ministry to Department of Commie Socialised Medicine in seconds. I wonder how she got the job - because she has detailed knowledge of the British Political System, or because she's a twenty something blonde with big tits? And who edited the report?
I hope I never see her again on Newsnight, which used to be a reliable source of information.
The other programme is Respectable. NSFW. I thought it was excellent, I laughed out loud involuntarily. A sitcom set in a suburban brothel. As long as you're not a prude, give it a watch.
But then I googled and got a petition against it.
We, the undersigned, believe that Channel 5s new sitcom, 'Respectable', due to be screened in August 2006, about women selling sex in a brothel as subject of humour is a gross misrepresentation of the lives of women involved in prostitution. The reality for most women involved in prostitution is coercion, extreme violence, drug dependency, homelessness, criminal records, rapes and beatings - not shoe collections and student loans.
And now I feel on the horns of a dilemma. I do so agree with the sentiments expressed. But I'm not sure that I feel comfortable condemning the programme. It is genuinely funny. But I argued when BdeJ won the Guardian best blog award, it really is not an accurate representation of prostitution, which is nasty, whatever gloss someone tries to put on it. So I 'm not sure that consistency allows me to endorse a sitcom set in a suburban brothel.
