Extras disability/disabilist humour
- 15 Jul 05, 12:00 AM
(Well, people are divided about whether some of Ricky Gervais's humour features disability or is just disablist, so I decided to include both views in the title of this post. How inclusive of me, eh?)
Extras, the long-awaited follow-up to The Office, finally hits TV screens next week - Thursday 21 July at 9.00pm on 主播大秀 TWO, to be exact. Here on Ouch, we've already been taking a great interest in the series, because former columnist Francesca Martinez has a central role in one episode, which she discussed with Nuala Calvi in a recent interview.
And now, thanks to The Guardian getting a of the series opener, we know that the first episode also contains another disability-related moment. Here goes, then:
"There are lots of uncomfortable moments, not least the moment a production assistant on the film confronts one of the extras about his disability. He has one leg shorter than the other and has to wear a 'big shoe' to make up for it.
'Do you have to buy them in pairs and throw one of them away?'"
In best TV critic style, of course, Crippled Monkey is reserving judgement on Extras until I've seen the whole thing.
Comments
Seems clear to me that the moment in question highlights other people's stupidity by highlighting prejudices, rather than being gratuitously offensive. Not a cause for alarm, methinks.