Comments on: Chaser’s War On Editing

By: June 2009 Posts » BLOG :: Part Of The John Lacey Network

June 2009 Posts » BLOG :: Part Of The John Lacey Network — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:36:37 +0000

[...] Think Of The Children (Guest Contributor)ABC: Don’t Mention The WarChaser’s War On Editing If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed or add it to Del.icio.us | Digg | [...]

By: Karl

Karl — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:14:57 +0000

This is a clear case of censorship. The skit was the funniest segment of the show, anyway. If people don’t like the Chaser, they are free to change the channel.

By: AileenWuornos

AileenWuornos — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:54:32 +0000

“We seem to be missing the point here – it does not matter where they are from, middle class, lower class, africa or australia, but when a child dies somebody grieves especially as children are not supposed to die. 80 something year old grannies are supposed to die not our babies!! I wonder if any of the chaser’s comedians have children themselves and how that would change their opinion on the subject!”

No Sara, it seems to be YOU who is missing the point. If a child gets sick, it’s generally cos they’re NOT MEANT TO BE ALIVE ANYWAY. Dumb-ass.
Not everyone wants or likes children. The world doesn’t revolve around you and your patriarchal status quo of mummy, daddy and their babies.

“It’s therefore a debate around the margins. For me, it’s really a matter of taste. As a society, we have a right to expect a modicum of tastefulness in our mass media. We don’t expect to see displays of overt cruelty on our TV screens, for example, No one switches on the TV expecting to see a family pet disemboweled or a group of children sitting around giggling while their grandmother is strangled. Decency has a role to play in our culture.”

Dude, what the HELL are you watching? I don’t get that shit on my free-to-air. I smell bullshit.

“Can’t people be bothered getting outraged at real life events rather than jokes that fall flat? And the number of people who are complaining about their children who watching the Chaser being upset – seriously? Why are they watching a M rated comedy show at 9:30 at night? I’m sure a lot of this is beat up by the commercial channels.”

Ex-fucking-zactly.

By: Matti

Matti — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:21:00 +0000

Very surprising the way a small minority have decided to find this skit distasteful.
It was amusing, but certainly not harmful to anyone, including terminally ill children.
It was a joke, nothing more.
The fact is, Chasers is about about picking on ‘issues’, so if it isn’t to your liking don’t feel compelled to watch it.

By: Tonia

Tonia — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:08:53 +0000

I think the Chaser had a bit of a go at a similar joke way back in their CNNNN days with their hamburger chain “Fungry’s” giving hamburgers to sick kids
I didn’t think it was making fun of sick kids , but they muddied the joke by not making it obvious enough (especially to the irony imparied) what it was about – was it about piss-weak charities, charities being affected by the economic downturn or manipulative images used to raise money?) – I don’t even think they were consciously having a go at the Make a Wish Foundation actually – just a fictional chartiable doppelganger.

But the outcry and calls for punishment for a 1 minute throw-away gag is so over the top.
Can’t people be bothered getting outraged at real life events rather than jokes that fall flat? And the number of people who are complaining about their children who watching the Chaser being upset – seriously? Why are they watching a M rated comedy show at 9:30 at night? I’m sure a lot of this is beat up by the commercial channels.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 06:00:09 +0000

I’ve seen the Chaser skit countless numbers of times (thank to the commercial channels repeating it and telling us we should be outraged by it) and it’s funny, plus it shows what a farce the “Make a Wish” Foundation is. I would think that a sick childs no. 1 wish would be for a cure (Not going to happen). And what happens if they send the kid to Disneyland he comes back and has a spontaeous remission. Does he have to pay the money back? He has to die to keep his part of the bargain. “Make a Wish” are a bunch of creepy ghouls.

By: ABC: Don’t mention the war - Somebody Think Of The Children

ABC: Don’t mention the war - Somebody Think Of The Children — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:08:53 +0000

[...] you think the Chaser sketch was funny or not, offensive or not, the words of the ABC managing director Mark Scott seem really [...]

By: Cameron

Cameron — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:05:42 +0000

The Chaser “incident” should be getting the Media Watch treatment tonight. Keep an eye out.

By: Syd Walker

Syd Walker — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:59:13 +0000

Ixaria, it happened because, out of several examples that I gave of what I consider to be real censorship on part of the ABC, James and yourself chose to obsess about this particular ‘tangent’ and make accusations against me which I’m not willing to leave unrefuted.

But you are right, this isn’t the place to discuss that tangent in detail.

Incidentally, here’s the most amusing skit I’ve seen in the last year or so on the ‘Sponsor a…” theme. The target is rather more appropriate and the skit considerably more amusing than the Chaser’s effort, IMO.

See ‘Sponsor an Executive’ at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDC0qcf0kzE

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:47:41 +0000

It wasn’t all that funny, but I did have a chuckle before going, oh wow, this is gonna bite them.
But I’m surprised at the vehemence of the public reaction. Are we really so sensitive and in need of protection from content? Personally, I read it as them having a go at the soppy, romanticist, heart-tugging, tear jerking style of these kinds of ads we are endlessly exposed to on commercial TV – all these different, sad causes competing for our wallets – in a world where even charity seems to have become little more than a commodity and an industry, another product competing for our wallets, what else do you expect from The Chaser but a darkly sarcastic attack? I think it’s a bit silly to think they would actually have intended to target dying kids. I mean they’d have to be right heartless bastards if that were the case. But even if it were, that’s not how I choose to read it.
They say that laughter’s the best medicine, so I guess, point made. And Nietzsche said a lot of interesting stuff about the intimate relationship of comedy to tragedy as well.
And as for the father watching it with his terminally ill 7 year old – no one pointed out the basic fact that the show expressly states at the beginning that it is not suitable for children to watch. I thought that was the whole reason we have ratings anyway? To warn people about unsuitable content so they can choose to switch off in advance?
Notwithstanding, if nothing else, I guess The Chaser has done well in showing us where we draw the boundaries between good humour and “not funny mate”.