Little Britain - Criticism

Criticism

The series, and in particular its second and third season, have been criticised for their perceived treatment of minority groups. For example, Johann Hari, writing in The Independent, stated:

“ "Little Britain has been a vehicle for two rich kids to make themselves into multi-millionaires by mocking the weakest people in Britain. Their targets are almost invariably the easiest, cheapest groups to mock: the disabled, poor, elderly, gay or fat. In one fell swoop, they have demolished protections against mocking the weak that took decades to build up." ”

Similarly, Fergus Sheppard wrote in The Scotsman:

“ "The latest series of the hit BBC comedy Little Britain may be hauling in record viewing figures, but it has also sparked a previously unthinkable chorus of criticism, with claims that the show has lost its way, trading early ingenuity for swelling amounts of toilet humour in the search for cheap laughs, and becoming increasingly offensive." ”

The programme has become increasingly popular with children, despite being shown after the watershed. There has also been criticism from teachers that the programme leads to copycat behaviour in the playground.

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Famous quotes containing the word criticism:

    “Of all the cants which are canted in this canting world—though the cant of hypocrites may be the worst—the cant of criticism is the most tormenting!”
    —Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)

    “Parents sometimes feel that if they don’t criticize their child, their child will never learn. Criticism doesn’t make people want to change; it makes them defensive.”
    —Laurence Steinberg (20th century)

    “The critic lives at second hand. He writes about. The poem, the novel, or the play must be given to him; criticism exists by the grace of other men’s genius. By virtue of style, criticism can itself become literature. But usually this occurs only when the writer is acting as critic of his own work or as outrider to his own poetics, when the criticism of Coleridge is work in progress or that of T.S. Eliot propaganda.”
    —George Steiner (b. 1929)