Everybody’s offended
these days. It’s like an exciting new hobby, almost a job. I swear, by this
point I believe there are people actively trawling the Internet looking for
things that would offend them. And in case there’s no Tim Hunt to hurt their
feelings so fucking much, they will find something else.
There’s an old-running
TV show in Britain called Midsomer
Murders. Basically, it’s an idyllic and imaginary county somewhere in
England that thrives on serial killings. Think of a most preposterous murder
weapon – and it’s been done already. By now, the show has sunk so deep into
shameless self-parody that I can’t see why people would bother. And yet I do,
once in a while, just to feel that one-millionth of excitement I got when I first
saw the pilot about a hundred and fifty years ago.
It’s season 17 now (incredible,
I know), and 3 episodes in I realise that something has changed. I can’t quite
put my finger on it, it’s something vague and uncertain, but there’s no way to
shake off the feeling. It takes me another thirty minutes to realise: from now
on, they insert at least one black actor into each episode. It had all been
fine for 16 seasons, and then someone wrote an angry letter claiming offence. I
just wonder how these actors feel about the situation; after all, they are only
making up the numbers.
Really sad. ‘A
disaster’, as Norman Mailer put it. Like there’s no middle ground between
racism and insanity anymore. Like it’s feminism or irony (remember that
excellent Hitchens interview). Honestly, political correctness offends me. It’s
just that I don’t know who to complain to…
