BBC removes blackface sketches from Mitchell and Webb comedy show
The broadcaster cut episodes of the satirical series that used blackface to mock racism.
What to know
- BBC removed blackface sketches from 'That Mitchell and Webb Look' that were intended as satire mocking racism, not endorsing it.
- Commenters contest the removal, arguing archived content should remain available for historical understanding of how cultural norms have changed.
- The debate centers on whether satire that critiques racism through blackface should be preserved or removed from public archives.
The dispute Whether satirical blackface intended to mock racism should be removed from archives or preserved as historical record of changing cultural standards. · positions read across 7 posts and comments
Archived content should remain available despite problematic elements, as it provides historical context for how far society has progressed.
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“I've never thought deleting it was the answer. I think they should stay available and younger generations can use these episodes to get a better understanding of what culture used to be like, how far we've really come and how far we still…”
MrCadwallader · Reddit ↗
The sketches were satirical critiques of racism and ignorance, so removal misses their actual intent.
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“The entire point of those sketches is to show the person doing blackface is stupid/ignorant.”
par_rot_master · Reddit ↗
This sets a concerning precedent for retroactively removing any content later deemed problematic.
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“Next time they'll remove "Are we the baddies" sketch because Nazi uniforms are bad”
kwonza · Reddit ↗
Mitchell and Webb Comedy duo whose show featured the sketchesBBC Broadcaster
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlespostscomments
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“In the future are we going to through the archives and delete every single episode that contains jokes that become deemed unacceptable? A lot of the stuff from that era makes me cringe, some of it was worse than others but I've never thought deleting it was the answer.”
— MrCadwallader, Reddit commenter · source -
2 outlets first by Deadline, 2d ago · also The Times · read ↗
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100% agree with you. In the future are we going to through the archives and delete every single episode that contains jokes that become deemed unacceptable? Blackface was pretty common, as was casual racism. A lot of the stuff from that era makes me cringe, some of it was worse than others but I've never thought deleting it was the answer. I think…
2 more of the top 3 · 7 posts in this stretch
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Goodness Gracious Me is a perfect example of how integration should work. They took Asian sub culture, mixed it into a very British comedy format, took the piss out of themselves and the white British and pretty much everyone thought it was funny.
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People not getting a joke don't get to tell people who do that the joke shouldn't be allowed.
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What people are saying 4 voices from 1 site · best of 7 · verbatim
- Sep 21
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The entire point of those sketches is to show the person doing blackface is stupid/ignorant.
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And it's a top 5 community episode. It's not even blackface, he is dressed as a drow.
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The most ridiculous one was the DnD episode of Community It’s not even Blackface
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Next time they’ll remove “Are we the baddies” sketch because Nazi uniforms are bad