Those familiar with the satirical television programme 'Have I Got News For You' will be aware of their items in which they juxtapose pictures or video clips with unrelated but witty comments.
During the episode on Friday 1st June there was some footage of some Little People which was then used to mock the height of recently ousted former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
My reaction was along the lines of 'grrr' and then 'snore'.
The grrr was for the heightism. Why is the man's height important? It doesn't effect his performance, his politics or his personality so why is it necessary to even mention it let alone make it a subject of mockery?
The snore was because it was such a lazy and boring joke. Honestly is that the best they can do? Making fun of someone's height is a cheap and obvious joke anyway, but it is especially boring in what is meant to be the cutting edge of satire. Particularly when Sarkozy is such a controversial figure. Why not pick him up on his comments about the poor or immigrants or his handling of the financial crisis in France?
I'll still tune in next week but I'll be hoping for much better.
I think they avoid doing that because it could actually push people to think about his politics.
ReplyDeleteThen my hypothesis might be wrong, because even people who would gain something by mocking his political views rather than his height avoid doing that and focus on his height.
I just don't get it. Maybe they think his height is a sufficient argument, "short = bad", are you gonna trust this shorty? Look at us, "not short = good". Something like that, to avoid us thinking about how their own political views might be problematic?