Farage in the jungle reminds us why creating panto baddies out of MPs is never a good idea
It’s time to change the channel
From Boris Johnson’s unruly hair to Donald Trump’s unblended perma-tan, we’ve had so much fun turning kitchen mops and wotsits into images of our infamous political villains.
There’s been plenty of comment previously about how this can, unfortunately, replace our disgust and justified fear with laughter and pity - almost diminishing the real harm that they do. And there’s definitely something in that - creating panto baddies and cartoon villains out of powerful figures somehow makes them seem fluffy.
I think it’s a similar matter with people we come across in our day to day lives too. I remember a school that made pupils who had bullied other children sit on display in the corridor to do their work. They called it ‘exclusion’. I felt it was more akin to giving them a stage to platform their notoriety. They were probably being high-fived by their mates as they walked past.
And on that note…Nigel Farage and Matt Hancock in I’m a Celebrity goes further still. Not only does it give them a stage to ham up their panto baddie characters like never before, its boosts their bank balance by significant sums of money (the reported £1.5m being paid to Farage is truly sickening).
Panto baddies work in panto because they’re not real. I mean, if we were to put Cruella de Vil on stage after she had *actually* skinned some puppies in real life I very much doubt any parents would be taking their children along to hiss and boo. And yet we think it’s acceptable to do that with political villains - powerful people who have influenced and encouraged hatred and intolerance, who have harmed and risked people’s lives, and who have, through political decisions often based on personal gain, taken lives.
People end up in prison for far, far less, and often the public are outraged about giving them a TV in their cell. Yet these powerful people, who cause widespread harm, are actually placed upon our TV, their worst punishment being booed and hissed at while they attempt to eat some poor wriggling creature in the jungle. And to make their ‘ordeal’ more comfortable, they get given millions of pounds in return.
The injustice is undeniable. Yet while we tune in and watch these shows, broadcasters and producers will keep inviting these in-real-life bad ‘personalities’ to soak up the attention and the cash. In turn creating even more opportunities for them to progress their despicable careers.
This is why I will not be watching I’m a Celebrity. And why I certainly didn’t watch the season with Hancock in either. Sometimes, the only power we have is to switch off. But if enough of us do it, it can be an incredibly powerful message.
I don’t imagine for a second me writing this post from my sofa will make a huge difference. But if we all felt disempowered about the role we can play in the environment, for example, nothing would change. So I’m going to share my angry thoughts on Substack in the hope that it might encourage even just one more individual to boycott the show. I know I’m not the only one making a fuss about this, I just hope enough of us vote with our remote controls to shut these grotesque people up and encourage them to hide their toxicity under a stone instead.
Twat Handjob was also on “Celebrity SAS - Who Dares Wins” and I’m like “really? Is he a celebrity now?”
Having these cretins on is an easy win for the TV companies because they know people will ring up/text in to vote these panto baddies off - the 2023 equivalent of booing them whenever they appear on stage.
I’d like to see Matt Handjob’s fees for these shows be donated to the NHS that he decimated, and maybe Nige could consider donating to a charity that supports victims of racially motivated violence.
I’m sure, if he was still alive, these mercenary TV production companies would have Saddam Hussein on eating bugs in the jungle if they thought it would draw in the viewers.