I have a box of National Lampoons from the 70s that could serve as the origin of humor for the 70s-2,000. I sleep at night waiting for the Prog police to break down my door, confiscate my collection of humor and throw me in jail for appreciating irony.
Once again, this is spot on. It is nothing short of frightening how our entire culture is being upended by these paranoid morons. By the way, thanks for sharing the video clip, it was great!
Is this our fate? To become grey people living grey humorless lives. Docilians ruled by the fear that we may be found to actually have a mind and a soul. Allowed to laugh only when the electronic laugh tracks signal we may. Never knowing who's In or who's Out.
A life without humor, hardly worth living.
Rage, rage! against the dying of the laugh.
An excellent companion to your bulls-eye take on "Rich Men North of Richmond."
Actually, I "boldly borrowed" it from the Risk Monger (blog). You might also like my own description of our era – the Ignoramuscene, or, the Age of Stupid.
Father Ted was wonderful. I wish that some of Linnehan’s fellow comedians would protest about his cancellation. I have read his newsletter updates and the two things that come across are his concern for women’s safety (prisons and changing rooms etc). And concern for children’s health, in relation to irreversible surgical interventions. For this he is being attacked by the thought police. I find it heartbreaking.
Yes, and he's very eloquent and forceful in his language, which allows the mushy-headed libs to be all like "he's so mean!" Which is so self-serving, because they can dismiss him without tackling the truth of what he's saying. On the other hand, people like me who are mouthy bitches, love his trenchant style.
And yesterday I hear about another academic who is in trouble with the OU over questioning her employer on queer theory. Comedians are supposed to challenge received ideas and academics are supposed to exercise critical thinking. This is deeply depressing.
Father Ted looks like a great show. People need comedy to relax and the more uptight the subject (and institutional religiosity, as distinguished from authentic Christianity, can be notoriously uptight) the more people need it. The fact that our woke betters want to impede a healthy expression of comedy says volumes about their desire for tight control of every aspect of our lives.
Dennis Prager (who has given me thus far the most appealing reason for being religious that I have heard) said that bad people claiming to act in the name of religion have done incredible harm to religion- which is a reference to the institutional religiosity you speak of.
"Father Ted" is one of the funniest shows in the history of television. Watched it once myself, then later with my kids and it held up hilariously. "Never punched down" is a great observation.
It's remarkable to me that a tyranny of such a very tiny minority is given such control over the public conversation at the expense of capitalism, logic and the Human Spirit. History has seen such behaviors in the past; not once have things worked out for the better.
Hardly a day goes by that my wife and I don't see some movie comedy or tv sitcom from the past, even as recently as only ten or fifteen years old, and say "wow, they couldn't say that anymore!" I'm old enough to remember the crazy rants of Don Rickles, the things he'd say to someone like Sammy Davis, and Davis's hysterical, delighted laughter. People of different races and backgrounds being able to laugh at and with each other like that really seemed to bring them closer together. In the uptight locked-down culture of today, that may be hard for younger people to comprehend. Maybe you just had to be there.
Jenny is describing the organic phenomenon -- the lunatic fringe and the "middle class morons" who enable sectors of society to allow the lunatic fringe to capture the entire culture -- but the full description (and many other phenomena could be adduced to flesh it out) doesn't make sense as merely an organic phenomenon. Sense is only restored if we factor in an internationally coordinated Conspiracy from the top down. Jenny seems hesitant to go there. It's funny, the main two substacks I read regularly are Jenny Holland, who is too cautious about conspiracy, and Celia Farber, who has the opposite problem -- it's like she's cut the brake line in her Reason Car.
Well, maybe, but I don't think every essay/tweet/piece of content needs to be a deep dive into the factors that you correctly say are funding this crap. I think that middle class morons merit opprobrium all of their own, because they are the handmaidens of the Big Pharma, transhumanist, pedo riddled conspiracy, which I'm quite aware of and is not a theory. If the middle class didn't prop them up, the truly dangerous psychos wouldn't have gotten such a foothold.
On the more general point you are making -- which I find very interesting, actually -- yes, I am very cautious about conspiracy in general. That is because I simply lack belief. I find that many conspiracy theorists (and that's not an insult for me) have quite a totalising worldview that I just do not share, even though I see so much evidence in their favour. My hesitancy comes from the dilemma. I also see evidence that Christians were right about everything, but I just cannot fully profess my belief in God, because it's not there. I've said to you before, I have commitment issues.
I also read Celia Farber, she's fascinating and a very useful voice. I just do not share her belief.
May I humbly suggest that you just ask God in prayer to show you the truth. Nobody comes to God by his or her own efforts (although one can cooperate in the process). It is God who lovingly draws a person to Himself.
I'm also leery of conspiracy theories floating around social media -- and yet I consider myself a believer in conspiracy. The difference is whether one demands All or Nothing Black or White, and then either believes or doesn't -- as if the only truth out there has to be the result of smoking-gun evidence. In fact, life and reality are usually a spectrum of greys. Within that soup of greys may or may not be detected red flags; the nature & quantity of those red flags then either moves one to reasonably become suspicious, or not.
There are also logical considerations, like asking yourself about a certain phenomenon like the Covid Shitshow: does it make sense that there was no conspiracy involved? or is it more plausible to infer a conspiracy? If the latter, that then opens up the problem of the Mainstream that must have been a part of that conspiracy. And if they collaborated/were manipulated into that conspiracy, it's unlikely it was a one-off and everything else in life is not a conspiracy.
Jenny just may not be fully eyes-open yet. I really enjoy her thoughts and writing but I agree, it’s not the middle class. They may be lemmings in going along with gender ideology, but it sure as hell didn’t originate there. This is a top down problem that Europe has finally figured out and banned & that Republicans knew all along and that Democrats are captured by. Dems are all-in with drag queen story hour, “gender-affirming care” of teenagers, permanent sterilization of mentally confused people, all for virtue signaling. There’s a large cabal pushing this and it’s not LGB. It’s TQ, starting with “Jennifer” Pritzker (Hyatt billionaire, Illinois governor family) et al pushing this. Autogynephilia is the disorder. This is a good origin article: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/billionaire-family-pushing-synthetic-sex-identities-ssi-pritzkers
I try not to make claims I don't provide evidence for. If I don't provide evidence and someone asks me, I'm not so silly or rude to tell them to "go Google it". I own up and at the very least I'd say "yeah you're right, my bad, sorry I don't have the time to back up my own claim".
Don’t be completely ridiculous. This is on the record and has been for at least two years. The UK and Denmark and other Nordic countries that had gender clinics are all closed. Easily researched. Had you been reading, you would know this.
It is amazing (and terrifying) how we as a society are allowing this trans dystopic fantasy KoolAid to be forced down our throats. At least Jim Jones promised paradise if you drank. The trans maniacs promise only a lifetime of misery and pain.
It is very sad how this ideology has infested the places and events I used to enjoy. I now find such events as Libertarian Party and Bitcoiner meetings a warm bath in comparison.
I had not heard about the Father Ted musical getting cancelled, what an absolute waste. You have to wonder what these people think they're achieving by cancelling everything that a person who questions them does. You'd think a musical lampooning religious figures would be just their thing, but not if it's got Graham's name on it.
I've always found the phrase 'cultural Marxism' to be deeply embarrassing, but this cancel culture really does resemble the way in which those who dissented from the party line in communist states were excised from public life. In short: it's not about what you do, it's who you are, and once you're branded an enemy, that status is immutable
By the way I hope Graham is aware that Black Books is very popular in the Czech Republic! I was amazed that so many people knew this show that I always thought was quite niche in the UK
Great article, The IT Crowd and Black Books wouldn't have existed without Graham Lineham. A comedy genius cancelled for telling the truth. The left hate laughter.
I entirely agree, Jenny. Great article! Although, when Graham was getting into his stride on twitter and already attracting a lot of opprobrium, I did tweet him a couple of times to tell him he was paying too high a price for his courage, and to forget it and just walk away. That is still my opinion! On the plus side, people are giving much more serious attention to the arguments of the the gender critical movement.
I look forward to Graham once again occupying a leading position amongst his comedy writer peers, where he belongs!
I have been listening to him for a year or so now, and often wonder what it's going to be like when the dust settles and he's at some event with the ones who didn't dare speak. Will they just pretend their treatment of him never happened? I'm glad he didn't back away, because he's smart and eloquent and brave. Sometimes it costs a great deal to speak the truth, it has certainly cost him a lot, but I believe we need the example of people with that kind of courage to inspire our own (usually smaller) acts of courage.
Probably! People this much in the wrong usually do not repent. And now it’s Roisin Murphy’s turn to be publicly flogged. I hope Graham and JK and PP and Rosie Kay have all gotten in touch with her and given her support behind the scenes.
I have a box of National Lampoons from the 70s that could serve as the origin of humor for the 70s-2,000. I sleep at night waiting for the Prog police to break down my door, confiscate my collection of humor and throw me in jail for appreciating irony.
A jail for people who get irony might not be such a bad place though! 🤣
It's Fahrenheit 451 come to life - who in the 80's could have imagined it?
Once again, this is spot on. It is nothing short of frightening how our entire culture is being upended by these paranoid morons. By the way, thanks for sharing the video clip, it was great!
Thanks Christine!
Is this our fate? To become grey people living grey humorless lives. Docilians ruled by the fear that we may be found to actually have a mind and a soul. Allowed to laugh only when the electronic laugh tracks signal we may. Never knowing who's In or who's Out.
A life without humor, hardly worth living.
Rage, rage! against the dying of the laugh.
An excellent companion to your bulls-eye take on "Rich Men North of Richmond."
Great term--"docilians". I'm gonna remember it and use it. Thanks.
Actually, I "boldly borrowed" it from the Risk Monger (blog). You might also like my own description of our era – the Ignoramuscene, or, the Age of Stupid.
Agree!
Father Ted was wonderful. I wish that some of Linnehan’s fellow comedians would protest about his cancellation. I have read his newsletter updates and the two things that come across are his concern for women’s safety (prisons and changing rooms etc). And concern for children’s health, in relation to irreversible surgical interventions. For this he is being attacked by the thought police. I find it heartbreaking.
Yes, and he's very eloquent and forceful in his language, which allows the mushy-headed libs to be all like "he's so mean!" Which is so self-serving, because they can dismiss him without tackling the truth of what he's saying. On the other hand, people like me who are mouthy bitches, love his trenchant style.
And yesterday I hear about another academic who is in trouble with the OU over questioning her employer on queer theory. Comedians are supposed to challenge received ideas and academics are supposed to exercise critical thinking. This is deeply depressing.
Father Ted looks like a great show. People need comedy to relax and the more uptight the subject (and institutional religiosity, as distinguished from authentic Christianity, can be notoriously uptight) the more people need it. The fact that our woke betters want to impede a healthy expression of comedy says volumes about their desire for tight control of every aspect of our lives.
Dennis Prager (who has given me thus far the most appealing reason for being religious that I have heard) said that bad people claiming to act in the name of religion have done incredible harm to religion- which is a reference to the institutional religiosity you speak of.
Scripture records that Jesus Christ could not stand the sorts of sanctimonious hypocrites who gave real faith a bad reputation.
"Father Ted" is one of the funniest shows in the history of television. Watched it once myself, then later with my kids and it held up hilariously. "Never punched down" is a great observation.
It's remarkable to me that a tyranny of such a very tiny minority is given such control over the public conversation at the expense of capitalism, logic and the Human Spirit. History has seen such behaviors in the past; not once have things worked out for the better.
yup
Hardly a day goes by that my wife and I don't see some movie comedy or tv sitcom from the past, even as recently as only ten or fifteen years old, and say "wow, they couldn't say that anymore!" I'm old enough to remember the crazy rants of Don Rickles, the things he'd say to someone like Sammy Davis, and Davis's hysterical, delighted laughter. People of different races and backgrounds being able to laugh at and with each other like that really seemed to bring them closer together. In the uptight locked-down culture of today, that may be hard for younger people to comprehend. Maybe you just had to be there.
Jenny is describing the organic phenomenon -- the lunatic fringe and the "middle class morons" who enable sectors of society to allow the lunatic fringe to capture the entire culture -- but the full description (and many other phenomena could be adduced to flesh it out) doesn't make sense as merely an organic phenomenon. Sense is only restored if we factor in an internationally coordinated Conspiracy from the top down. Jenny seems hesitant to go there. It's funny, the main two substacks I read regularly are Jenny Holland, who is too cautious about conspiracy, and Celia Farber, who has the opposite problem -- it's like she's cut the brake line in her Reason Car.
Well, maybe, but I don't think every essay/tweet/piece of content needs to be a deep dive into the factors that you correctly say are funding this crap. I think that middle class morons merit opprobrium all of their own, because they are the handmaidens of the Big Pharma, transhumanist, pedo riddled conspiracy, which I'm quite aware of and is not a theory. If the middle class didn't prop them up, the truly dangerous psychos wouldn't have gotten such a foothold.
On the more general point you are making -- which I find very interesting, actually -- yes, I am very cautious about conspiracy in general. That is because I simply lack belief. I find that many conspiracy theorists (and that's not an insult for me) have quite a totalising worldview that I just do not share, even though I see so much evidence in their favour. My hesitancy comes from the dilemma. I also see evidence that Christians were right about everything, but I just cannot fully profess my belief in God, because it's not there. I've said to you before, I have commitment issues.
I also read Celia Farber, she's fascinating and a very useful voice. I just do not share her belief.
May I humbly suggest that you just ask God in prayer to show you the truth. Nobody comes to God by his or her own efforts (although one can cooperate in the process). It is God who lovingly draws a person to Himself.
I'm also leery of conspiracy theories floating around social media -- and yet I consider myself a believer in conspiracy. The difference is whether one demands All or Nothing Black or White, and then either believes or doesn't -- as if the only truth out there has to be the result of smoking-gun evidence. In fact, life and reality are usually a spectrum of greys. Within that soup of greys may or may not be detected red flags; the nature & quantity of those red flags then either moves one to reasonably become suspicious, or not.
There are also logical considerations, like asking yourself about a certain phenomenon like the Covid Shitshow: does it make sense that there was no conspiracy involved? or is it more plausible to infer a conspiracy? If the latter, that then opens up the problem of the Mainstream that must have been a part of that conspiracy. And if they collaborated/were manipulated into that conspiracy, it's unlikely it was a one-off and everything else in life is not a conspiracy.
Jenny just may not be fully eyes-open yet. I really enjoy her thoughts and writing but I agree, it’s not the middle class. They may be lemmings in going along with gender ideology, but it sure as hell didn’t originate there. This is a top down problem that Europe has finally figured out and banned & that Republicans knew all along and that Democrats are captured by. Dems are all-in with drag queen story hour, “gender-affirming care” of teenagers, permanent sterilization of mentally confused people, all for virtue signaling. There’s a large cabal pushing this and it’s not LGB. It’s TQ, starting with “Jennifer” Pritzker (Hyatt billionaire, Illinois governor family) et al pushing this. Autogynephilia is the disorder. This is a good origin article: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/billionaire-family-pushing-synthetic-sex-identities-ssi-pritzkers
I refer you to my comment above! 😀
I'd need evidence that all of Europe has magically gone against the Cabal on this issue.
Research Hesperado. Not for me to supply but for you to find in the abundant evidence. Google helps.
I try not to make claims I don't provide evidence for. If I don't provide evidence and someone asks me, I'm not so silly or rude to tell them to "go Google it". I own up and at the very least I'd say "yeah you're right, my bad, sorry I don't have the time to back up my own claim".
Don’t be completely ridiculous. This is on the record and has been for at least two years. The UK and Denmark and other Nordic countries that had gender clinics are all closed. Easily researched. Had you been reading, you would know this.
It is amazing (and terrifying) how we as a society are allowing this trans dystopic fantasy KoolAid to be forced down our throats. At least Jim Jones promised paradise if you drank. The trans maniacs promise only a lifetime of misery and pain.
It is very sad how this ideology has infested the places and events I used to enjoy. I now find such events as Libertarian Party and Bitcoiner meetings a warm bath in comparison.
Great article. Linehan's cancellation is another example of authoritarian censorship dressed up as faux empathy kindness. Keep up the good work 👍
I had not heard about the Father Ted musical getting cancelled, what an absolute waste. You have to wonder what these people think they're achieving by cancelling everything that a person who questions them does. You'd think a musical lampooning religious figures would be just their thing, but not if it's got Graham's name on it.
I've always found the phrase 'cultural Marxism' to be deeply embarrassing, but this cancel culture really does resemble the way in which those who dissented from the party line in communist states were excised from public life. In short: it's not about what you do, it's who you are, and once you're branded an enemy, that status is immutable
By the way I hope Graham is aware that Black Books is very popular in the Czech Republic! I was amazed that so many people knew this show that I always thought was quite niche in the UK
Great article, The IT Crowd and Black Books wouldn't have existed without Graham Lineham. A comedy genius cancelled for telling the truth. The left hate laughter.
I entirely agree, Jenny. Great article! Although, when Graham was getting into his stride on twitter and already attracting a lot of opprobrium, I did tweet him a couple of times to tell him he was paying too high a price for his courage, and to forget it and just walk away. That is still my opinion! On the plus side, people are giving much more serious attention to the arguments of the the gender critical movement.
I look forward to Graham once again occupying a leading position amongst his comedy writer peers, where he belongs!
I have been listening to him for a year or so now, and often wonder what it's going to be like when the dust settles and he's at some event with the ones who didn't dare speak. Will they just pretend their treatment of him never happened? I'm glad he didn't back away, because he's smart and eloquent and brave. Sometimes it costs a great deal to speak the truth, it has certainly cost him a lot, but I believe we need the example of people with that kind of courage to inspire our own (usually smaller) acts of courage.
Probably! People this much in the wrong usually do not repent. And now it’s Roisin Murphy’s turn to be publicly flogged. I hope Graham and JK and PP and Rosie Kay have all gotten in touch with her and given her support behind the scenes.
So, so true. I despair.