Heartland

british readers may be aware that woolworths and sainsburys recently withdrew the dvd of jerry springer the opera from sale following complaints from the right-wing christian voice group. it appears that sainsburys only received between ten and twenty complaints before deciding to withdraw js:to from sale. they justified this action by stating that this was an unusual number of complaints about a dvd.

surely this means that if they receive at least twenty complaints about any other dvd they are duty-bound to either remove that from sale as well or put jerry back on the shelves? well i for one find jim davidson's brand of racist, sexist "humour" deeply offensive so am about to suggest that sainsburys remove this filth from their shelves immediately. anyone with me?

aye. sounds like a plan to me.

Do they sell music CDs as well?

If you want to petition to remove the whole Franz Ferdinand or Coldplay back catalogue, I'm your man!

IZ.

good man, quiffster. here's the text of my mail to sainsburys:

in an email to sainsburys i wrote:I write with relation to the DVD "Jim Davidson Full On Live" which is currently available from both your website and your stores. I find Davidson's brand of sexist, homophobic, racist "humour" deeply offensive and believe that it has no place in twenty-first century Britain. As such, I urge you to remove this deeply unpleasant "entertainment" product from your shelves as soon as possible.

I look forward to your response.

feel free to use for inspiration. or copy the bugger wholesale.

It might be an idea to change the wording slightly, as multiple identical e-mails might be identified as spam.

Now how did I know you were going to say something like that?

What is it they say on the Woolworths advert for JD's DVD?

"Everyone loves good comedy!"

Yes. Everyone does. Your point being?

I'm in on this one, definitely. I shall dispatch my e-mail forthwith!

Ooh, one thing though.

If they get all these mails say, today and tomorrow, won't they smell a rat?

In an e-mail to J Sainsbury I wrote:I am astounded at reports that a concerted campaign from a small pressure group, "Christian Voice", has led you to remove the "Jerry Springer - The Opera" DVD from your shelves. In a democracy, surely the best way to answer criticism and satire is just that; to answer it. Mere silencing of the opposition is censorship, and it has all the appearance of an unwillingness, even an inability on Christianity's part to have any dialogue with its critics and satirists.

As a Christian myself, I am appalled that you seem to think that Christianity is not strong enough to stand up to satire. I may not agree with "Jerry Springer - The Opera" but I do not believe you should have removed it from your shelves for this reason.

I look forward to your response.

Regards
Mark Wolstenholme

OK, I'm not a Christian, let's just say I'm playing Devil's advocate

markfiend wrote:It might be an idea to change the wording slightly, as multiple identical e-mails might be identified as spam.

boudicca wrote:If they get all these mails say, today and tomorrow, won't they smell a rat?

well as i understand it, these are pretty much the exact same tactics that christian voice use and it seems to work for them...

RicheyJames wrote:

boudicca wrote:If they get all these mails say, today and tomorrow, won't they smell a rat?

well as i understand it, these are pretty much the exact same tactics that christian voice use and it seems to work for them...

Alrighty!

boudicca wrote:
If they get all these mails say, today and tomorrow, won't they smell a rat?

You could always give them my mobile number Boudica

RicheyJames wrote:jim davidson

He was right about Great Yarmouth though

CV are trying to sue Southend Council to prevent the touring production being staged here.

As a result a fairly mediocre one-joke show which draws the bulk of its humour from the use of rude words in an 'arty' context will be a mainstream sell-out rather than a barely remarked self-indulgence playing in a draughty hall above a pub in Chiswick.

Surely Christian Voice et al can't be so stupid as to believe their protests are having any impact in suppressing these events.

How confident are we that CV and chums are genuine protesters, and not part of an on-going post-modern marketing campaign?

Does CV have any kind of recorded history dating beyond the days of this show? Has anyone ever heard of them in any other context?

It's all a bit convenient, no?

Can we stop playing Devil's advocate for just a moment and send these dash-darned mails please?

I want to see HL on the news by the end of the next working week!

A force for change.

Done.

I know this whole Jim Davidson thing is a bit of fun, but I'm not partaking. If I did, I'd be as bad as the Christians.

I agree with the J Sainsbury e-mail. We can't exactly live in a world of free-speech if we try to ban product that is homophobic, racist, anti-religious, or sexist.

Hell, I don't agree with it and I certainly wouldn't buy it, I don't even like the smug little bastard. But I have to respect Jim's right to freedom of speech and the people who buy his DVDs right to see whatever the hell they want.

nick the stripper wrote:I agree with the J Sainsbury e-mail. We can't exactly live in a world of free-speech if we try to ban product that is homophobic, racist, anti-religious, or sexist.

you can if its illegal...

emilystrange wrote:

nick the stripper wrote:I agree with the J Sainsbury e-mail. We can't exactly live in a world of free-speech if we try to ban product that is homophobic, racist, anti-religious, or sexist.

you can if its illegal...

This gets more and more morally difficult, especially if you consider folk like Lenny Bruce, also where do we stop next, McCarthyism, Guantanamo etc.
Not for one second do I defend Mr Nick, Nick, that is a generation of comedy that should be buried and gone, but almost all comedy seems to take the p*ss out of someone else, such as for example the M*ssion jokes on here. Is it good natured or not is of course another matter.

I realise this opens a whole can of worms, but what the hell, nothing wrong with a healthy debate here...

I will be emailing them about Jim's DVD but only to see if we get a response. Granted, Jim Davidson isn't funny at all but it's slightly hypocritical of you to say that one thing (JS:TO) shouldn't be band but another thing (JD:FOL) should.

But I guess I'm with you.

nick the stripper wrote:But I have to respect Jim's right to freedom of speech and the people who buy his DVDs right to see whatever the hell they want.

Of course, in theory you're right. I don't want to deny anyone freedom of speech - but not getting his DVD sold in Sainsbury's (or any other major store) is not actually doing that. There are other ways he can sell it. I'm not saying it should be like the Bible in the USSR.

It would just be bad for his career, that's all...
Don't begrudge us our fun, eh Josh?

Hmm, Religious Right is getting worse...

Just the other day I read they stopped Ford from advertising Jaguars and Range Rovers in gay magazines because it was sinful. But luckily others don't give in, like IIRC Wells Fargo Bank...

Also they're protesting against what apparently is the trend in the US, saying happy Holiday Season (instead of Merry Christmas), calling the Christmas tree a holiday or unity tree or something like that and Silent Night being turned into White Night

Anyway, the only time I remember something being banned from big supermarkets was some years ago and it was one of my favourite CDs

But, it was because of this cover, and I can see their point



Good luck with your action against silly comics, I think it's not a bad action, you're showing those guys what silly situations this can lead to... As long as it does not make it overcrowded on here I'm happy

I remember a while back a town near me (the majority of people in it were Indian) banned Christmas decorations outside houses because they said it was against their religion!

just a couple of points: firstly, this isn't about getting sainsburys to withdraw jim davidson's dvd from sale. it's about highlighting their hypocrisy in bowing to pressure from the christian right. whilst i may detest the views of mr davidson as a supporter of free speech i acknowledge his right to those views. secondly, this isn't about "putting heartland on the map." it's about making a protest against minority pressure groups imposing their world view on the rest of society. now carry on the good fight!