In the recent EastEnders cot-death controversy, both sides behaved pretty much as you’d expect. The BBC-bashers denounced the ‘offensive’ suggestion that grieving mothers routinely steal other people’s babies.
In the recent EastEnders cot-death controversy, both sides behaved pretty much as you’d expect. The BBC-bashers denounced the ‘offensive’ suggestion that grieving mothers routinely steal other people’s babies. The corporation itself used words like ‘challenging’ and ‘sensitive’ — before caving in to the criticism. Yet, surely the most (and possibly sole) interesting thing about the debate was the confirmation that we’re in danger of becoming, in Philip Roth’s words, ‘numb to fiction’. And in this, I’m afraid, television has only itself to blame.
Certainly, even at the posher end of TV, you’re hard pressed to find any understanding that fictional characters aren’t meant to be the responsible representatives of an entire social group.
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