The daughter of former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, once memorably dubbed Attila the Hen by Norman St John Stevas, has whipped up a fair old storm by calling a male tennis player a golliwog . The remark was made in conversation with the show's host over drinks after the show had been recorded and was then reported to the Beeb's top brass.
License fee payers in Scotland are said to be up in arms about the comment, believing it was a deliberate attempt to rub saltire into the wounds after Dunblane's favourite son and pre-tournament favourite, the charismatic Andy Murray, was sent packing in the fourth round.
Personally, I can't see much similarity between the famous Robertson's marmalade mascot and the surly Scot. It is rumoured that the golliwog is considering legal action.
License fee payers in Scotland are said to be up in arms about the comment, believing it was a deliberate attempt to rub saltire into the wounds after Dunblane's favourite son and pre-tournament favourite, the charismatic Andy Murray, was sent packing in the fourth round.
Personally, I can't see much similarity between the famous Robertson's marmalade mascot and the surly Scot. It is rumoured that the golliwog is considering legal action.
Meanwhile, as this storm in a tea cup dies down, the real debate is just starting and is likely to go on and on, a bit like a BBC chat show.
Just who is uglier, Carol Thatcher or the little man who snitched on her, Adrian Chiles?
That's this week's poll sorted, then.
(It was a tie between Monet and Van Gogh, by the way, for those who follow these things.)
13 comments:
God she looks like her mum!
On a closer look, the golliwog sort of has the same hair as that tennis guy.
Thatcher was referring to the black French player Gael Montfils not to Murray.
I really don't see what the fuss is about. When "Darkie" toothpaste was changed to "Darlie", but the Chinese equivalent "hak yan" (Black People) remains the same till today, nobody has ever kicked up a fuss.
The best thing to change Chinese people's attitude towards golliwog is when Obama became the American President, I think.
Anonymous, do you have some inside info? A quick Google suggests that the BBC have refused to reveal which player it was.
Stuff this PC crap ... l'm gonna go and buy me a golliwog or two tomorrow.
Support the Golly!
I wonder whether the BBC banned Sinjen for life for his sexist comments about Baroness Thatcher.
I don’t think Norman St John Stevas would care tuppence. I wouldn’t mind betting he plays some kinky role-swapping games with ‘life-partner Adrian’ at his Northamptonshire pile, assuming the Baroness St John of Fawsley position when the spirit moves him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_St_John-Stevas,_Baron_St_John_of_Fawsley
I suspect that if Denis Thatcher was your father you would also grow up thinking of black people as golliwogs. Of course, the irony in all this is that when I was young, kids really loved their golliwogs, so the term should be one of endearment.
When St. John Stevas was appointed Minister for the Arts by Maggie, Dennis came out with the Cantonaesque comment: "There's something I don't like about the cut of his jib."
I’ll see your Dennis Thatcher comment and raise you Simon Hoggart from the Grauniad, who use to call St John ‘the thinking man’s Larry Grayson’.
If there was a Chinese version, would it be a golliwong?
It was St John Stevas who dubbed Thatcher 'Tina' (There is no alternative).
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