BBC apology demanded for ‘racist’ show

By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 16:39:00 10/06/2008


Close this MANILA, Philippines -- The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) should apologize for airing a segment of a comedy show last month that was a "racist, humiliating, and disgusting" portrayal of a Filipina domestic helper, a lawmaker at the House of Representatives demanded Monday.

Akbayan partylist Representative Risa Hontiveros also asked the Department of Foreign Affairs to file a complaint against the British government so that the latter would "look into the issue and correct the sickening joke."

Hontiveros was referring to a skit shown on "Harry and Paul" aired on BBC on September 26 that was also posted on
youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL9KrTGx28E.

In the skit, a postman approached comedian Harry Enfield, who was agitated and was shouting at someone, and asked him what was going on.
It turned out that the co-host Paul Whitehouse was seated on a chair on his lawn and beside him was a gyrating young girl in a grey uniform and an apron.

Harry then told the postman that he was shouting at his Filipino maid to do her job and get his friend Paul to mate with her.

He kept ordering the girl to gyrate and dance in front of Paul and even instructed her to "hump him." When an indifferent Paul stood up to go inside the house, Harry scolded the Filipina telling her to get out.

The scene ended with the postman sidling up to the Filipina and whispering to her as they walked off together.

"It was revolting. It was a disgusting and insensitive and racist attempt to satirize a scene of exploitation," Hontiveros said.

She added that the show "trivializes an act of abuse commonly experienced by Filipina workers abroad."

"This has to be corrected, otherwise, it would become easy for other media outfits to use Filipina workers abroad as an object of sexual ridicule. …The media should be a partner against human trafficking and not an unwitting promoter of abuse because of insensitive and racist portrayals of women in trafficking," she said.

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