Frankie Boyle suing The Mirror

[brakespear]

What The Mirror, and most other people have forgotten, is that Boyle is a performer, his whole offensive prick thing is an act. That's it. He's telling jokes. Crude, extreme, nasty jokes but they're jokes. It doesn't make the man himself a racist, a bigot, a homophobe etc etc.

edit: re-read and so withdrawn original reply. I will say that I think Frankie Boyle is obviously a massive self-publicist. And whilst making crude, extreme nasty jokes might not make you a racist etc (as long as you're not telling racist, homophobic etc jokes I guess) but the soft targets he picks combined with his bloated self-regard and generally unfunny jokes (see Bill Hicks for somebody who did offensive properly ) make him one to miss for me.

 

[brightn'ove]

If making fun of anyone's disabilities is tame by his standards then I rest my case!

What are you on about!

Is having a big hooter a disability?

 

[abc]

What are you on about!

Is having a big hooter a disability?

Sorry. Thinking of entirely the wrong person when I linked her to a disability. My wrong.

 

[00snook]

Fishing yeah?

No mate. Any fans of his will know and if you don't like him it's best you don't.

 

[Beach Hut]

I just find him very unfunny

 

[itszamora]

Personally, I think he's absolutely right to sue the Mirror. They called him a racist, and to my knowledge he's not said anything racist ever. So why shouldn't he sue them? It's not a very nice accusation to level against someone.

 

[WildWood]

I would take the Mirror to court if they wrongly described Frankie Boyle as "funny".

 

[rocker959]

Love Frankie Boyle

 

[Pavilionaire]

You could accuse Boyle of many things but being a racist isn't really one of them. I hope he wins this case; this is lazy journalism, and should get punished.

 

[Manx Shearwater]

Frankie Boyle is a grade A bell.

This.

The thread should have ended there.

 

[Southwick_Seagull]

What people forget is that Frankie Boyle, by the very definition of his job, is joking. His material is not there to be examined, unpicked or searched for deeper meanings, he is simply saying stuff to make people laugh. If you don't find him funny, guess what, you don't have to listen to him. You don't have to write a letter or whine about it though, simply turn over and don't watch anything with him on.

If an audience is there and wants to hear jokes that are "offensive" and not mainstream then Frankie Boyle is merely serving as a provider of that. Does Frankie Boyle really have a problem with kids with disabilities? No of course not, but does he know if he tells a joke about Katie Price's son, there is an audience who will find it funny plus a section of people who will find it offensive, therefore giving him even more publicity? Without a doubt. Whether or not you morally agree with him doing that is another matter but for a newspaper to label him a racist, when clearly he isn't, is ridiculous and is quite rightly being challenged.

He doesn't spout hate, he doesn't tell people to go out and hurt other people, he doesn't say anything with any serious malice or intent behind it. He's a comedian, telling jokes, to get a laugh from a certain audience. When people read snippets in an article, possibly totally out of context, they totally miss that point.

As it happens I don't find Frankie Boyle very funny, but then i'm not his audience. So I don't watch him.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

Couldn't someone equally argue that if he doesn't like what The Mirror prints, he shouldn't read it?

if they state that he's racist without proof then they're committing libel.......surely if you were accused of being racist (which harms your reputation) you'd want something done about it?

 

[Acker79]

Could be interesting.

I'm not particularly familiar with Frankie Boyle's stuff, but I think "he's a comedian" or "it's a joke" is to cheap and easy an excuse. Comedians/Jokes don't have to be offensive to be funny, it isn't a pre-requisite or an obligation. It's a choice. When it comes to offensive humour, for me it has to have a point. Being offensive for the sake of it is too lazy. Offensive humour needs to be executed with intelligence. It has to tread fine lines about what exactly it makes fun of - making fun of victims of rape for instance is a no no, making fun of the attitude of entitlement or the culture of rape (when done well and in the right place) is fine. Making fun of a stereotype is fine, making fun of a person or a race is not, and so on.

I don't know if Frankie Boyle has the intelligence to walk that line, because I've never really seen his act. I don't know if he makes fun of disabled people because they are an easy target ("let's all point and laugh!"), or if it's to break down a barrier of fear ("don't mention the war!" kind of "if we ignore people's disabilities we're being good/no we're being ignorant and not accepting someone for who they are") and making jokes about them is an inclusive action to bring them into society with everyone else instead of leaving them on the sidelines because we don't want to say anything that might upset them.

I also don't know if he has any race related jokes in his repertoire, but if he does it could be interesting to see the argument. "I'm not racist, just a comedian" can be answered with a long list of comedians who have had his level of success and more without going down the route of offensive jokes (comedians like eddie izzard, peter kay, lee evans, michael mcintyre, immediately spring to mind without any great thought), and then a string of his jokes that may on the surface be about black people, but is actually a comment on the treatment of black people designed (at least subconsciously) to make people realise the absurdity of such treatment. That argument would be an interesting one, I think (as long as people steered away from simplistic "what happened to free speech?!"/"somethings just shouldn't be joked about!" arguments).

If he doesn't have any race related jokes, then I presume it would be much more straightforward.

 

[Pevenseagull]

I went out with a girl who liked Frankie Boyle for a while. She was a stupid f***ing bitch.

(not for liking Frankie Boyle ...... although that would make her a stupid f***ing bitch ............ She was a stupid f***ing bitch ................did Jimmy Carr there for free)

he's crap and nasty and I would not be upset if he gets a bad cancer or (preferably AND) goes blind.

 

[OSRGull]

He's a comedian, his job is to make people laugh.

But, you don't see all these other comedians go over the top like he does, I genuinely think he's an absolute twat.

To be funny is something you already have, a skill.

Anybody could go on stage and come out with sick, vile jokes like he does.

He's a prick.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

What The Mirror, and most other people have forgotten, is that Boyle is a performer, his whole offensive prick thing is an act. That's it. He's telling jokes. Crude, extreme, nasty jokes but they're jokes. It doesn't make the man himself a racist, a bigot, a homophobe etc etc.

Interesting

Bernard manning? Jim Davidson? To use your analogy, they just tell jokes

 

[mikeyjh]

I think people are missing what I believe was the OP's point, that Boyle is a hypocrite because he maintains that it's okay to say whatever you like about basically anyone or anything (allegedly in the name of 'humour'). But the Daily Mirror describes him as racist and he throws his toys out of the pram - You live by the sword.... IMO. To be honest, I'd have bit more respect for him if he'd have responded along those lines, that he's hardly in a position to complain. Knobend.

 

[narly101]

I find him interesting. He's an entertainer, a performer, and makes money from what he does. As alluded to before, if you dont like what he says, or find him unfunny, then simply turn over and don't watch him. I take everything he says with a pinch of salt and don't get offended by him. Some of his jokes are too close to the mark, which make me wince, but then I don't get offended by them, I simply move onto his next joke. He's not afraid to go that extra step like most other comics are, and for that I salute him.

The fact that The Mirror have labelled him as "Racist" is frankly daft, and deserve to be sued for libel.

As for wishing he got cancer or go blind is absolutely astonishing. Just move along and forget he exists.

 

[00snook]

I think people are missing what I believe was the OP's point, that Boyle is a hypocrite because he maintains that it's okay to say whatever you like about basically anyone or anything (allegedly in the name of 'humour'). But the Daily Mirror describes him as racist and he throws his toys out of the pram - You live by the sword.... IMO. To be honest, I'd have bit more respect for him if he'd have responded along those lines, that he's hardly in a position to complain. Knobend.

Taking that on board, the sword that he lives by is not a racist one, therefore he shouldn't be called a racist.

He is in very bad taste, edgy and extreme at times, and would never sue anybody for saying so.

He is not a racist and therefore it's libelous to call him one.

Good on him I say. The tabloids get away with murder so taking a stand is the only way to stop it.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

I went out with a girl who liked Frankie Boyle for a while. She was a stupid f***ing bitch.

(not for liking Frankie Boyle ...... although that would make her a stupid f***ing bitch ............ She was a stupid f***ing bitch ................did Jimmy Carr there for free)

he's crap and nasty and I would not be upset if he gets a bad cancer or (preferably AND) goes blind.

Wow, you call an ex a stupid f***ing bitch ! who none of us know ! and the poor girl cant defend her self & then go onto wish someone who has been called a racist in a national newspaper who has not been found guilty yet and we are discussing does he have the right to defend himself gets cancer !!

Jesus some people need to look at themselves