Jerry Springer the Opera

by serotonin_wraith 5 Replies latest jw friends

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  serotonin_wraith

  I remember all the fuss about this when it first came out, but I was never really that interested in watching it.

  Then the other day I saw the DVD for £3 (US$6) in HMV, and I couldn't see anything else I wanted, so I decided to give it a try. Afterall, what's £3?

  And WOW, why in the world hadn't I bothered with this before? It is amazing! I've liked Stewart Lee's stuff anyway so I don't know why I thought it would be rubbish. It isn't. I've seen it three times now.

  Check out some clips on youtube if you're interested. Here's some of my faves-

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YFklD5rwFU (Talk to the Hand)

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9z2NDjF-6Q (Jesus/Satan confrontation)

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6aCdBaOjaY (I Just Wanna Dance)

  Well I like them all, so I'd better stop there. Anyone else like this?
• 

  Gopher

  Hey SW, here's a review of that play from www.mnatheists.org :

  If you watched Stewart Lee's "What's Wrong With Blasphemy,"you learned the story of how a filmed version of the musical playJerry Springer: The Operawas kept from being shown on British TV by religious groups despite overwhelming critical praise. This bitingly satirical musical features a depiction of the trash-talk show host refereeing a showdown between Jesus and Satan, which bible-thumpers find "blasphemous."The New York Times, on the other hand, found the play "A brilliant, hilarious crowd-pleasing musical," and "enormously entertaining."
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  John Doe

  No, that was pretty spot on rubbish.
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  serotonin_wraith

  The Operawas kept from being shown on British TV by religious groups despite overwhelming critical praise.

  It was shown afterwards. From wiki:

  The musical was the subject of controversy beginning in January 2005, when its UK television broadcast on BBC Two was the subject of 55,000 complaints.[1] The organisation Christian Voice led street protests against the screening at nine BBC offices[2] and announced their intention to bring blasphemy charges, due to the depictions of the Judeo-Christian characters in Act II. The Christian Institute levelled charges against the BBC,[3] but these were rejected by the High Court of Justice.[4]
• 

  Gopher

  SW,

  Thanks for that correction! I'll have to write the editors there.

  But still the British churches organized a high-profile protest, to try to invoke a blackout of the broadcast. As usual, such moralistic attempts to shut down popular art backfired.
• 

  serotonin_wraith

  If anything, they did a better advertising job than the BBC. If they really didn't want people seeing it, they would have had more success staying at home. Bad publicity is still publicity, as the saying goes.