My Big Fat Gypsy Legal Threat – Telly Talk
Friday 18th February 2011, 12:54PM GMT.
Telly Talk: The only thing bigger than the dresses on my Big Fat Gypsy Wedding have been the ratings figures, writes Tracey O’Sullivan. The programme has been the surprise hit of the year, attracting millions of fans, and the kind of programme I am normally glued to week after week.
But there is something unsettling, if a little vulgar, about the hordes being entertained by the gaudy spectacle of girls struggling to carry the weight of the dress they are wearing. Even more unsettling is the thought of poring over footage of children in outfits far too advanced in maturity for their tender years. And despite their claims to the contrary this was no responsible piece of television aimed at exploring sensitively a culture we know little about, leaving it undisturbed, but possibly benefiting the viewer with a better understanding. For that see the excellent Human Planet.
No this was entertainment at its very basic. If we have concerns that X Factor and the like set out to humiliate then this programme should have had viewers up in arms.
But, no, they are baying for their next slice of the outlandish and flashy displays. As the title suggests this is what this programme was after – the stereotype rather than the reality.
And the chance to explore real issues – such as the discrimination suffered by many of the travelling community – was missed.
Once producers had plundered the vagaries of this lifestyle for their own purposes they took a closer look at the discrimination issue in the final instalment – almost like an afterthought.
No wonder the gypsy community is now considering legal action amid claims their lives have been ridiculed in a programme they claim is inaccurate and which has left them open to harassment and bullying.
It’s about time the programme sparked some controversy rather than amusement for an army of bystanders who will have learnt very little from this series except to stop and stare and laugh.
And what a shame considering some of the other fantastic fly-on-the-wall programmes Channel Four has commissioned including the excellent One Born Every Minute.
Let’s hope if they revisit it – and I’m sure that they are tempted with those viewing figures.
Maybe this time they will do a better job.
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Such a pity that the series didn’t focus much on gypsies – real gypsies, that is.
Instead, the series has mainly featured Irish travellers.
Until recent years, gypsies were a part of the rural landscape and on the whole, were liked and respected by the wider community.
Alas, times change and very few still live by the ‘old way’.
I personally know several real gypsies – All of them good, decent people.
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I could not agree more – i feel that if you are to portray something then do it right! As it is, the families shown are definately in the minority – and as shown have all been Irish travellers. There are differences, and these differences REALLY MATTER.
Not all Romanies are the same, and this portrayal of the Irish travellers is not the same as one would be of the Romanies that are living in England. . .These gypsies would be the first to endorse the fact too.
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Romany Gypsies are almost a race apart and their title is believed to originate from the fact that in days gone by they were thought to have come from Egypt , in fact they apparently originate from the Indian sub continent or thereabouts and found their way to Europe due to continual persecution. I only saw the TV program once and it was not about Romany folk but about Irish tinkers who are nothing like genuine Gypsies and it is a disgrace to link them with the Romany folk who are , as HM says, usually decent upstanding people.
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Iam from a Romany family and iwas not impresssed with the programme It would have been far better if a proper programme on real gypies way of life had been shown, including
the Applby Fair and what went on in 2010
i was there as i have been for many years
and it was totally out of order the way the
police harassed the gypsies.
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Whether the programme portrayed gypsies or travellers the intent was to scoff at their expense. Shameful TV
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i travled with a large number of romanies and irish gypsies, and they were so lovely to me i learned about there culture and they lerned about mine respect was mutual i had a lovely time
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I am a Romany and I am proud of who I am and where I come from. I stand on my own two feet, have never claimed benefits, have worked all my life, pay tax, etc etc etc and own my own home. People are always amazed when I say that I am and they make me laugh when they say ‘oh you can’t be a Romany because you live in a house’. It is a very funny comment indeed but shows you that people don’t have a clue and they won’t have a clue when programmes like this are shown. The programme was funny in places but not a true picture of what Romany people are. If it was a true depiction of what they are it would not have made ‘good funny television’. The programme needed to go into the history of who we are and where we come from, the same as programmes have done concerning other sectors of society. Only then will it educate those who don’t know the truth – if they want to know the truth of course. Until then we will all be classed with the general reputation of being dirty people who steal scrap metal and will be deemed second-class citizens. Some people do not want to know the truth though because then they may have to review their currently uninformed views. TV producers create these reality programmes but they are not based on the full true picture. I am surpised but pleased that there are no anti-Romany answers here and I agree with everything written so far. There are unsociable, law-breaking people everywhere and the law of averages and statistics show that Romany people are not to blame for all of the crimes. It does annoy me the way people treat us at times but if the TV is showing stuff like this and state paid people don’t change their generalistic views then nothing will change.
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We have romany gypsy in my family and in them days travellers were tinkers, respectable just like romany. But travellers are a different breed now,They would only be too pleased to help anyone.But now look at the television programme my big fat gypsy wedding where there was a road accident in chester, they didnt wait like the rest of us would, but drove along the kerb by the accident, just to get past.,Now they have this on tape and was screened primetime,with a film crew in the car with them.Have the police done anything at all. if the elders were alive now they would be disgusted.
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I agree that it would have been better of the programme makers to make the distinction between Romany and Irish travellers (the latter being whom this programme was mostly about). However, in my honest opinion, I don’t believe that they have much to complain about!! They are showing things that actually go on in these communities, it can’t be said that they don’t when it’s there on our screens in full colour. And being honest again, I had no problem with them tearing down the ILLEGAL site that they had lived on for a number of years, simply because they had done the usual of parking up, building and then applying for permission. Not how it works I’m afraid. I felt desperately sorry for the young girls who are little more than slaves, removed from school to clean caravans all day. And as for the ‘grabbing’ words fail me. I’ve read in so many places ‘this doesn’t happen’, hmmm seems to me it does. But the travellers do themselves no favours by taking part in this programme as it doesn’t show them in a good light at all, and tbh, I don’t see how it could be any different if that is the sort of behaviour they engage in.
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I am a romany gypsy from Oxfordshire and would like to point out that the gypsy girls I know are definitley not slaves, and as for your comment about schooling, one of the biggest reasons gypsy girls are taken out of school is because of the whole sex education thing,Gypsy girls don’t believe in sex before marriage. Therefore unlike the non gypsy community,that seems to be over run with single teenage mothers. the gypsy girls are respectable.
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I am a Romany and I am proud of who I am and where I come from. I stand on my own two feet, have never claimed benefits, have worked all my life, pay tax, etc etc etc and own my own home. People are always amazed when I say that I am and they make me laugh when they say ‘oh you can’t be a Romany because you live in a house’.
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I have watched the programme my big fat gypsy weddings, And can see both sides But what got me was the episode that they portayed on the site which was being demolished. I take the stance that they pay no income tax nor national insurance, they build these lovely bungalows and streets, again if we wanted to build any thing we have to get planning permission and building regs from the local councils. And if we did not comply we to these rules, they would have them demolished. Again they pay no council tax. Generaly they are a law to themselves. start paying like the rest of the community has to, then we will think more of them, and there will no divide between us and them.
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Romany Gypsy And Prod! Don’t No Why People Treat Us Like Dogs Because Were Not We Are Human Beans At The End Off The Day!
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Im a Romanishel/Sinto in Norway and last night i watched it on tv here.
Many real Gypsies/Romanischals have been here and we norwegian Romanishels always apretiate their visits!
On the other hand also irish travellers/pikeys come here and they usualy =problems and bad behaviour!
Also here we have a group of people called “Tater/Tatars” who is the norwegian pikers!
Media must be more serious in their knowledge and research and dont mix this two very different peoples!
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So the very same people who insisted they have the final say over what was broadcast in the programme are now complaining it showed them in a negative light and therefore might sue? ‘m sorry but you can’t have it both ways.
The show gives you a clue in the title as to its slant – My Big Fat Gypsey Wedding, not The Lives And Culture of Romany Gypsies. The film the title was nicked from is a comedy look at a ‘foreign’-style wedding, so did anyone really expect this to be anything different?
The only thing I do agree with is the fact it did not even feature gypsies, but Irish travellers – a very different breed. In one episode, the groom refused to be filmed because he was ‘concerned it would affect his scrap metal collection business’. Hmmm, I wonder why?
I have little doubt they knew exactly what they were getting into, given there had already been the one-off pilot show and the series was pretty much exactly the same.
To bleat about it now just because they feel it has influence negative opinions on their race seems pretty pathetic to me.
At the end of the day, the actions of many of those on the show are what influence those opinions, such as the arrogance and lack of respect for anyone but their own parents by the young lads concerned.
If I felt sympathy for anyone it was the young brides themselves. Many of them appeared to have been pushed into the marriages and didn’t seem to happy about it.
I’m sorry but they agreed to take part, had final say over what went into the shows and therefore that leaves you little reason to moan in my book.
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i quite agree. they would not have let it be broadcast without first viewing and vetting it – and they did – as regularly the narrator quipped “the groom didn’t want his face to be seen” etc etc.
typical of their culture and NOT true romany gypsies, just irish travellers.
and before you jump on the bandwagon, i have irish parents…
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OH dear, two very gullible posters here, of course they had the final say before transmission in la la land yes .
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