November 2, 2008

Freedom of speech must be cherished, not used for nasty gags

There's an episode in Father Ted that concerns racism – or, at least, attitudes to it.
Ted has been accused of being racist after putting a lampshade on his head, squinting and saying, "I am Chinese if you ple-ease", just as a Chinese family appears at his window.
Panicking, he says, "Dougal, I wouldn't have done a Chinaman impression if I'd known there was going to be a Chinaman there to see me do a Chinaman impression."
Later, he appears to give them a Nazi salute when, in fact, he is only waving at them. They storm off.
The episode brilliantly highlighted our belief that we're not racist if the foreigner doesn't see us being racist. At the same time it parodied knee-jerk reactions to perceived racism. Far more importantly – as it was a comedy – it was hilariously funny.
Minister for integration Conor Lenihan is also hilariously funny, although he doesn't normally mean to be.
Last week he invoked the Father Ted Defence that "I was only waving" when he appeared to give Leo Varadkar a Nazi salute in the Dáil. "Hi Leo/Heil Leo" do sound alike, after all.
Lenihan called Varadkar a fascist over his proposal this summer that we pay unemployed foreigners to go home voluntarily. Stress on 'voluntarily'.
Herr Lenihan later dropped the Father Ted Defence and goosestepped over to what we'll call the Tommy Tiernan Defence: "I was only joking."
Varadkar laughed it off but is still perceived as a racist for his proposal.
Kevin Myers, like Varadkar, has also been accused of being racist when trying to start a debate about immigration. On the Late Late in September 2007 he argued that anyone who tries to discuss the issue is branded a racist. He was right. There still hasn't been a meaningful debate and he was branded a racist.
Myers doesn't do himself any favours. Recently the Press Council found he caused "grave offence" with an incendiary article about giving aid to Africa. In it he asked why he should do anything to "encourage further catastrophic demographic growth" in Ethiopia. Importantly, the council added the article hadn't been intended to incite racial hatred.
I don't in any way condone Myers' antagonistic, spittle-speckled descriptions of Africans as Kalashnikov-toting and "priapic" and absolutely don't believe they should be let starve. However, while his language was hugely offensive, at the core of the article there appeared to be sincere concern for that unfortunate continent. He wanted to start a debate about it.
This begs the question: is how he delivered his opinion more important than why he delivered it?
Another Late Late Show guest who, like Myers, loudly exercises his right to free speech was also accused of being racist last week.
After snorting at Travellers and disabled people, Tommy Tiernan set about immigrants. He did this by mewling in a 'funny' voice and asking the time. This 'observation' was followed with an impression of a Chinese person working in a takeaway. Again it wasn't clear what his point was. There was no insight, no context.
Was it that non nationals sound ridiculous?
Unlike Myers, Varadkar and even Father Ted's creators, Tiernan used his right to free speech to mock immigrants. This was justified with the idiotic defence that if we all laugh at each other we'll all be grand, lads.
While Myers and Varadkar are trying to break into the debating chamber, Tiernan entered the living rooms of thousands of non-nationals and sneered at them. Just to flog a DVD. He needs to learn that when free speech is used against the vulnerable it becomes the enemy of freedom. The freedom to work in a takeaway, for instance, without being laughed at.
Some comedians use their job to observe society's absurdities, others throw custard pies. Tiernan did neither. He broke the first rule of comedy: he just wasn't funny. And the more 'outrageous' he tries to be, the more boring he is becoming as a comedian.
Perhaps next year the Late Late will have Conor Lenihan on instead.
At least he's good for a laugh.

dkenny@tribune.ie

November 2, 2008