World of Chig   

13.7.02

The dangers of live television


[Sunday 07/07/02] Oh dear. Channel 5 is showing the Capital FM Party In The Park live on TV. A young interviewer is sent amongst the crowd to meet the fans. She's talking to some Gareth Gates fans. Like a red rag to a bull, she stupidly asks one teenage girl, "Why do you prefer Gareth to Will?" Before her interviewee can answer, a neighbouring teenage girl shouts out, "Because Will's gay!" Predictable, and annoying, but an experienced presenter like Dermot or Davina would have admonished the vile specimen there and then by saying something like "Well that's a pretty stupid reason, isn't it?" Not this one, though. Clearly a little bit embarrassed, she moves on quickly along the row, and flicks the peak of rude girl's baseball cap in a way which says to me "I really wish you hadn't said that, but I'm feeling too flustered to know how to respond, so we'll ignore it". It was only a small TV moment, and it was on C5, so hardly anyone can have been watching (ha, ha), but this kind of unchallenged homophobia (and, let's face it, just stupidity) makes me REALLY angry, because the audience of mainly teenage girls is exactly the kind of audience which has their attitudes shaped by pop stars and TV programmes like this. I really wish C5 had apologised for the remark, but nothing was said, so easily-influenced viewers will now think that liking a pop star because they are straight and not gay is perfectly rational and acceptable. Grrrrr. Gareth was on stage later, but Will had been on earlier. I just hope he didn't hear the girl. He would despair as much as I have.

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