Does TV influence/promote 'bad' behaviour?

[davieG]

Peaky Blinders accused of 'glorifying nationalism and toxic masculinity'

 

A fuming academic has published a long list of criticisms of the hit BBC show

ByAdam CareJames Rodger
07:53, 12 APR 2019UPDATED07:58, 12 APR 2019

Peaky Blinders is guilty of promoting "British lad culture", according to a US-based academic.

He accused the hit Birmingham-set BBC gangster drama reflected "current and privileged" views.

BirminghamLive reports the British PhD holder claimed the show has "nostalgia for nationalism" in the Journal of Popular Television.

George S Larke-Walsh, of the University of North Texas, fumed: “In the current sociopolitical environment, and associated concerns about the prevalence of toxic masculinity, such presentations no longer feel safely confined to fantasy.”

Peaky Blinders has been a huge international hit
Larke-Walsh also told The Times the hit Birmingham-based show used “a mask of ethnicity”.

He accused its creators of using the Shelby family’s Gypsy origins to disguise their behaviour.

He argues that images of attractive men at work are used adversely because it is “a feature of regressive masculinity that homosexuality must be denied.”

Peaky Blinders’ creators defended the show.

“The story of Peaky Blinders invites viewers to consider the effect of violence on men, and the terrible and long-lasting consequences — on both men and women — of gang violence, poverty, and most of all armed conflict,” a spokesperson said.

“The series also discusses the role played by the Establishment in relation to the above.”

Series five of the cult hit wrapped filming in January.

The show is set in Birmingham between the wars (Image: BBC)
The acclaimed  Bafta award-winning drama  began filming its fifth series in Manchester in September, before moving to film in Stoke-on-Trent in November.

Peaky Blinders has become a cult hit since the first series aired in 2013.

The  creator of the Birmingham-based show revealed in November that the Shelby family will take on a Glasgow crime boss in series five.

Steven Knight says old favourites - Tommy, Aunt Polly and Arthur - will take on a Glasgow gang boss based on the head of the Billy Boys.

Hunger Games star Sam Claflin will be joining the series as a dapper politician, who may come into conflict with Tommy.

The Witch star Anya Taylor-Joy will also be joining as a feisty new gangster's moll.

Snow White and the Huntsman's Brian Gleeson is also added to the cast, along with Kill List's Neil Maskell, and Game of Thrones star Kate Dickie.

Others to look out for are Hollyoaks star Emmett J Scanlan, Lady Macbeth's Cosmo Jarvis, Charlene McKenna, Andrew Koji, Elliot Cowan and Vikings' Daryl McCormack.

Little is known about the plot for the new series, apart from the fact that it will explore the financial crisis of 1929, along with Tommy's new role as the MP for Birmingham South and how he navigates the political sphere, specifically his relationship with Sam Claflin's character.

[ozleicester]

Bullsh*t from both sides

[Finnegan]

Ugh. Can we not? 

[mancunianfox]

His is a different take but not a particularly interesting one. The strength and weakness of a lot of academic writing is that authors will tend to look at everything through the lens of their particular field which can be thought provoking but rarely definitive. It is almost impossible for a show or a film to be all inclusive as people in real life are not like that. Peaky Blinders does have something to say about the effect of violence on men who have been conditioned to ignore its effects and not to show weakness to others. The whole point of the show is that you are not supposed to like most of his actions, Tommy is not a particularly sympathetic character.

 

I don't think TV promotes or influences ehaviour anymore than the behaviour in our society influences the films, tv, music and art we create. Our culture is violent because we have a natural fascination with violence because it speaks to the primal part of our brain (as does sex but oddly our cultural approach to that is very different) and because of that the human species is pre-disposed to violence. I think if anything there is starting to be less of a focus on glorifying the worst parts of masculinity and if the author wants to find that it is out there. Although it is a gradual process I think different voices are starting to be heard at least but we do no need a variety and not just one.

[urban.spaceman]

Load of old shit. 

[kingcarr21]

Definitely, after watching Game of Thrones I find myself walking around with a selection of faces in my pocket and a fat sword

[Finnegan]

15 minutes ago, kingcarr21 said:

Definitely, after watching Game of Thrones I find myself walking around with a selection of faces in my pocket and a fat sword

 

And raping your sister at the wake of your bastard incest son. 

[Finnegan]

I really hate this shit because it just absolves people of responsibility. 

 

I've spent my entire life playing violent computer games, watching war films, crime dramas, gangster movies and the like. 

 

My favourite shows include Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos and The Wire but I don't watch them and aspire to be like Nucky, Tony or Stringer - I see them for what they are, monsters. 

 

I'd like to think I'm pretty open minded and accepting of people and I've not been violent or aggressive to anyone (off a sports field anyway) in about twenty years. 

 

Mostly because I was raised by two thoughtful, loving parents who coached me to be compassionate, considerate and helpful to people. 

 

Yes, I think shit like Grand Theft Auto, gangsta rap and violent films CAN be a negative influence but I think they only tend to become role models when parents actually fall short of offering children the direction and inspiration they should be giving. 

 

The world is getting over populated because too many ****ing assholes just want to **** and have kids on repeat but can't be arsed to actually raise them. 

[Carl the Llama]

Tbf you're guaranteed to look cool if you stroll into a club yelling "BY ORDER OF THE PEAKY BLINDERRRS" then start wailing on a dude with a concealed razor blade. It happens every night in every town, we've all seen it.

[Finnegan]

Just now, Carl the Llama said:

Tbf you're guaranteed to look cool if you stroll into a club yelling "BY ORDER OF THE PEAKY FOOKIN BLINDERRRS" then start wailing on a dude with a concealed razor blade. It happens every night in every town, we've all seen it.

 

 

[kingcarr21]

11 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

And raping your sister at the wake of your bastard incest son. 

Standard weekend now

[davieG]

 Leicester City are also complicit.

 

[Captain...]

18 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

I really hate this shit because it just absolves people of responsibility. 

 

I've spent my entire life playing violent computer games, watching war films, crime dramas, gangster movies and the like. 

 

My favourite shows include Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos and The Wire but I don't watch them and aspire to be like Nucky, Tony or Stringer - I see them for what they are, monsters. 

 

I'd like to think I'm pretty open minded and accepting of people and I've not been violent or aggressive to anyone (off a sports field anyway) in about twenty years. 

 

Mostly because I was raised by two thoughtful, loving parents who coached me to be compassionate, considerate and helpful to people. 

 

Yes, I think shit like Grand Theft Auto, gangsta rap and violent films CAN be a negative influence but I think they only tend to become role models when parents actually fall short of offering children the direction and inspiration they should be giving. 

 

The world is getting over populated because too many ****ing assholes just want to **** and have kids on repeat but can't be arsed to actually raise them. 

I agree with you, but does mainstream art/culture not also have a responsibility to the weakest in society.

 

You put something on prime time bbc it needs to be held to a higher standard of scrutiny than a late night channel 4 film. When you see the kind of dangerous sociopath that gets obsessed with a soap star or a presenter or news reader then it would be no surprise to hear that someone has been negatively influenced by a prime time bbc drama. You can’t just excuse it by saying they should have had better parents.

 

Having said all that personally I don’t really think Peaky Blinders is an issue, it is far enough removed from reality that it wouldn’t influence anyone that wasn’t just looking to justify already existing behaviours/views. I think reality tv is a lot more damaging for portraying negative behaviour as acceptable and reinforcing toxic masculinity, because it is just that, real, and real people actually get rewarded for actually being arseholes.

Edited 12 April 2019 by Captain...

[Innovindil]

23 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

I really hate this shit because it just absolves people of responsibility. 

 

I've spent my entire life playing violent computer games, watching war films, crime dramas, gangster movies and the like. 

 

My favourite shows include Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos and The Wire but I don't watch them and aspire to be like Nucky, Tony or Stringer - I see them for what they are, monsters. 

 

I'd like to think I'm pretty open minded and accepting of people and I've not been violent or aggressive to anyone (off a sports field anyway) in about twenty years. 

 

Mostly because I was raised by two thoughtful, loving parents who coached me to be compassionate, considerate and helpful to people. 

 

Yes, I think shit like Grand Theft Auto, gangsta rap and violent films CAN be a negative influence but I think they only tend to become role models when parents actually fall short of offering children the direction and inspiration they should be giving. 

 

The world is getting over populated because too many ****ing assholes just want to **** and have kids on repeat but can't be arsed to actually raise them. 

Hear hear. 

 

People desperately looking for excuses outside of parental responsibility. Did you see the report on the BBC the other day saying a school had to get someone in to change nappies because 5 year olds weren't potty trained? 

 

I mean wtf man. Imagine if every parent in the UK managed to muster half the effort that kingcarr puts in with Ashton. What a generation we'd raise. 

 

[Stadt]

There definitely wasn't any violence in the UK prior to Peaky Blinders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It probably can be apportioned some of the blame for the helmets booting off at the races though cos those c unts weren't wearing flatcaps and elaborate waistcoats 5 years ago.

[Finnegan]

The sort of nobs that think they're cool because they've got a short back and sides and bought a flat cap after seeing Peaky Blinders were nobs before they watched it, though. Its just they were wearing a new costume after going through their This Is England phase and their Green Street phase and their Football Factory phase. 

 

The problem isn't their choice of TV the problem is they were nobs long before they saw any of that shit. 

[Voll Blau]

So *that's* where his occasional penchant for reckless challenges comes from...

Edited 12 April 2019 by Voll Blau

[Alf Bentley]

I watch very little TV apart from Newsnight and Match of the Day.....and I'm sure that doesn't cause me to behave badly.

 

I mean, it's not as if it causes me to spend my time on football forums engaging in political arguments. Oh! Hang on..... 

[Parafox]

A bellend being influenced by characters from a film is a bellend with no sense of self and lacking in direction in life, if they think wearing a flat cap and a waistcoat makes them look threatening then they are simple minded. 

 

Films don't influence me at all. I realise I don't have a 12 inch cock and can cum like a fountain

[SouthStandUpperTier]

I do find that people who watch things like Peaky Blinders, GoT and Breaking Bad get unnecessarily aggressive and irritable when I tell them I have absolutely no interest in watching things like Peaky Blinders, GoT and Breaking Bad.

[Grebfromgrebland]

On 13/04/2019 at 00:13, SouthStandUpperTier said:

I do find that people who watch things like Peaky Blinders, GoT and Breaking Bad get unnecessarily aggressive and irritable when I tell them I have absolutely no interest in watching things like Peaky Blinders, GoT and Breaking Bad.

What did you mean that you don't like watching hundreds of hours of TV with cliff hangers every hour? Have you no life? Grrrrr!