John Cleese and Andrew Graham Dixon

or d) be too drunk to know what exactly was said.

Night night!

Some peoples opinions arent worth listening too, can think of approximately 17 much better ways time can be spent just off the top of my head.

One of them is sleep, love sleep

or c) jump to conclusions based on a determination to react vociferously to anything that might give them the sort of brownie points they so desperately crave.

Good summing up, Chewbacca

So, to sum it up: AGD went to a university and spoke to some students about the holocaust and, during his talk, he ridiculed hitler. Some of the students were, by their own admission, the worse for drink. His talk was taken completely out of context and a whole different spin was put on it. The head of Students Union, Keir Bradwell, was affronted by their erroneous understanding of the lecture and his knee jerk reaction was to vow not only to bar AGD from speaking at Cambridge university again, but to also inform other universities to do the same. Some people on this thread have had the same knee jerk reaction. Would it be beneficial to the students, and the offended on this thread, to perhaps watch the video again and take great care to listen and understand what is actually being said, rather than being outraged and offended by their own misunderstanding and lack of critical thinking?

I dont think a blacklist actually happened anyway... You're wrong. The No Platforming lobby at universities has targeted several people including Germaine Greer, Jenni Murray, Jordan Peterson, Amber Rudd and several academics who champion women's rights. So how are students going to hear other people's views, opinions and experiences if they either a) don't listen to what is being said or b) stop them saying anything at all?

Hitler hated the work of Picasso and other work of that genre and I think I'm right in saying that he ordered them to be destroyed.

Herman Goering on the other hand was an avid collector and because of him many of the pieces he kept for himself, unkown to Hitler were saved.

I have watched the video twice and it seemed to me that AGD was passionate and not trying to be humourous. He is passionate about art and extremely knowledgeable about a number of periods in art and the artists. He has written about and/or made tv series and films on subjects from the Vikings, through the Renaissance to the 20th and 21st centuries such as Picasso and Howard Hodgkin.

During the 19th century and the pre war 20th century the bankers, such as the Rothschilds and the Ephrussi were great collectors art. The Germans took away 19 crates of artworks from the French branch of the Rothschilds. In fact it is considered that they looted 20% of European art. 6,500 art works were recovered from the salt mines by the Allies.

No doubt Hitler would have considered "The Dance" by Matisse to be degenerate. Luckily that painting and several others were commissioned by a Russian who bequeathed them to the Hermitage.

If you are interested you can read about the rise and fall of the Ephrussi family and the losses that they suffered in the book by Edmund de Waal entitled "The Hare with the Amber Eyes"

Smileless2012

^just some silly giggling students, one of whom has said he was very drunk at the time^ there you are then. Some students finding humour in something that was never intended to be humorous, one who was too drunk to know the difference.

Makes the head of the Student Union look rather foolish too doesn't it.

Yes, as well as the knee-jerk defenders of their 'right' not to be offended, even when they are too ratted to know what they are offended about, or why.

just some silly giggling students, one of whom has said he was very drunk at the time there you are then. Some students finding humour in something that was never intended to be humorous, one who was too drunk to know the difference.

Makes the head of the Student Union look rather foolish too doesn't it.

I heard the word "negro" as well but it is a term considered offensive by some

Bit tricky if you're Spanish.

All this happened a while ago now and I just looked into it further and I dont think a blacklist actually happened anyway...

If you mention the deaths of Jews, homosexuals, the mentally ill

But he didn't . Is nobody to mention ever again the things Hitler did because it makes some people think of the Holocaust and they get upset? If that's the case, don't watch this week's WDYTYA.

It wasn't a joke. He wasn't making a joke. There was no humour, just some silly giggling students, one of whom has said he was very drunk at the time.

The n-word you mention is of course offensive to some. He was imitating Hitler. Which isn't the same as impersonating him for a laugh. ??

Who judges that then glorianny? You cant explore difficult ideas without offending. It's not possible.

volver

I don't agree Glorianny. I seem to be watching something else to some other people on here.

There was no reference to the Holocaust. AGD spoke in a German accent and used the word ne***. Count the letters, its not the n-word you might think it is. The word he used for Jews was...Jews ?? He didn't do it for a laugh, he did it as an exposition of the awful things Hitler said.

I'm all for calling out hate speech, but this isn't it.

volver do you need to say the word "holocaust"? If you mention the deaths of Jews, homosexuals, the mentally ill and imitate Hitler is there any other thing he could be referring to?

I heard the word "negro" as well but it is a term considered offensive by some en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro

If you choose to try and make humour out of a human tragedy which still has relevance for people you should damn sure you do it well and don't offend.

Blossoming

Just returning to this thread as I’ve been ff GN this afternoon.

Ooh you really don’t like me do you Violet Sky?

I dont know what you mean?

No feelings either way

Not sure if we have even spoken before

I don't agree Glorianny. I seem to be watching something else to some other people on here.

There was no reference to the Holocaust. AGD spoke in a German accent and used the word ne***. Count the letters, its not the n-word you might think it is. The word he used for Jews was...Jews ?? He didn't do it for a laugh, he did it as an exposition of the awful things Hitler said.

I'm all for calling out hate speech, but this isn't it.

Just returning to this thread as I’ve been ff GN this afternoon.

Ooh you really don’t like me do you Violet Sky?

I can't see that saying Jews, homosexuals, gay and the mentally ill were massacred because they liked modern art is anything but perpetuating stereotypes. Of course some Jews were involved in the modern art movement but using a doubtful premise to base an argument about what is bad and good taste and referring to the holocaust is not using humour. In fact using Hitler is completely unjustified in such a context. I don't know if AGD thought he was being clever and/or funny but sadly he is neither.

Glorianny

I found AGD's speech worrying. I see no harm in parodying Hitler if that is what you are doing. "Springtime for Hitler 'is something that really does it well, I don't think AGD does it well. I think he mixes a real and genuine subject with something he thought would get him a laugh. He carried it too far for too long. I'm not sure that any reference to the holocaust should be included in a debate on taste. I think it demeans it. I can understand that students who lost family in the holocaust would find his remarks unacceptable.

Thank you, I wish I had just waited for this comment, which expresses things so much better.

Sorry - cross posted, Glorianny.

I think it's also worth remembering that when speech is controlled it is the oppressed in society who are most likely to suffer from the control of speech. When groups such as those fighting for gay rights were campaigning many saw their speech as 'offensive'.

No, Callistemon. You are not alone.

There are so many contradictions in VS's posts that I am unable to follow it either.

Of course humour is an effective way of challenging dangerous thinking (or just behaviour that may be offensive). Satire is the very basis of shows like HIGNFY. If The Deciders say that we shouldn't have to listen to offensive material, should that be no platformed, too?

Mock The Week? Black Mirror?

What about films such as The Producers, or The Great Dictator? They mocked Hitler - should they be cancelled? Where does it stop?

I found AGD's speech worrying. I see no harm in parodying Hitler if that is what you are doing. "Springtime for Hitler 'is something that really does it well, I don't think AGD does it well. I think he mixes a real and genuine subject with something he thought would get him a laugh. He carried it too far for too long. I'm not sure that any reference to the holocaust should be included in a debate on taste. I think it demeans it. I can understand that students who lost family in the holocaust would find his remarks unacceptable.

I'm sorry, VioletSky but I cannot follow your reasoning.

I don't think I'm alone on this thread to think that .^Humour is one of the most effective ways of challenging dangerous ideologies^

If it causes discomfort that is a good thing.