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March 29, 2024, 01:21:52 PM

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Chris Morris reflects...

Started by astrozombie, July 29, 2013, 02:11:13 AM

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astrozombie

I've been having a Morris phase as of late, re-watched BE, Jam, TDT and literally just finished Four Lions which I must say is just absolutely incredible, forgot how good that was.

Last night I was just watching some Q&A stuff on youtube and such and I always hope he is asked is something regarding the BrassEye paedophile episode, just to hear his accounts of the media lynching he underwent and such.

I know some of the more hardened Morris fans here have attended his Q&A's and all that, was wondering if you guys knew of him ever being asked about it and what he says??

Thomas

I don't have any precise links to hand, but there are plenty of articles on this very site.

I don't know if the interview's in there, but I remember reading that Morris was in France at the time of the paedophile special, and the Daily Something printed full excerpts from the episode to demonstrate how sickening it was. Morris said that was useful, because he read the excerpts and thought they were funny, confirming to him that the Brass Eye team had done a good job.

I also recall that, during one of his Four Lions Q&A's,[nb]speaking of which, is the one conducted by Charlie Brooker available anywhere as an MP3 file?[/nb] he remarked that being labelled 'controversial' was just other people making a mistake. It seems to me that he's just very jokey about that media anger stuff.

danyulx

#2
Quote from: astrozombie on July 29, 2013, 02:11:13 AM
I know some of the more hardened Morris fans here have attended his Q&A's and all that, was wondering if you guys knew of him ever being asked about it and what he says??

I remember 'Brass Eye' being brought up in a few interviews I heard and saw around that time, which Morris was completely open to talk about. I remember Thomas's anecdote about The Daily Mail (claiming he knew people who were working for the newspaper at the time and they all secretly loved the show and apologised to him for putting the boot it), and there was one in which when he was asked about the show, how he came to make it, he immodestly described it as "a full-blown assault on the media, that came out of working in the media" and when he was making it he was telling everyone involved "this is not a program, this is a pogrom". I remember the hysteria the Special caused being brought up a few times, to which Morris's answers were always on the lines of that he took very little notice of it, that it wasn't real, only something that was happening in the fictional world of the newspapers, but if he were corned by an angry mob on the tube or the like - which he never was - it would have been a completely different matter. Also, that the Feedback Reports were the very definite precursor to 'Brass Eye', where he realised he was onto something.

There was a nice answer he gave, as well, to a question where he was asked why he had decided to do so many interviews to promote and talk about 'Four Lions' and why he never had done many before with his previous work, to which his response was, obviously referring primarily to 'Brass Eye': "If you create a satire or critique of the media, why the fuck would you then go gallivanting around the media afterwards to talk about it?"

Unfortunately I have no idea which interviews they were: radio and podcast ones I think. Australian ones I think.

TJ

I do have a lot of sympathy with his stance, but at the same time, having spoken to some of the people involved with the BES over the years, his leaving them to fend off all the flak was an action that left a lot to be desired. The word 'cowardice' was used by one of the cast (no, not telling anyone who it was, so don't PM me asking), and while I think that's a bit strong, there's definitely something in it. If you've got that much courage in your convictions, maybe you should be prepared to answer for them too?

Kane Jones

I just have to say:  Hi TJ, hope all is well!

TJ

Cheers! Don't really 'do' forums any more, but I do still look in here occasionally to see if any new stuff's turned up, hence me spotting this. Wrote a book about Morris et al last year in fact (there's more about it on my blog)...

Kane Jones

Quote from: TJ on August 01, 2013, 10:11:35 AM
Cheers! Don't really 'do' forums any more, but I do still look in here occasionally to see if any new stuff's turned up, hence me spotting this. Wrote a book about Morris et al last year in fact (there's more about it on my blog)...

Cool, will check it out.  It's nice to see you pop up here from time to time.  All the best!

Edley

Quote from: TJ on August 01, 2013, 09:09:06 AM
I do have a lot of sympathy with his stance, but at the same time, having spoken to some of the people involved with the BES over the years, his leaving them to fend off all the flak was an action that left a lot to be desired. The word 'cowardice' was used by one of the cast (no, not telling anyone who it was, so don't PM me asking), and while I think that's a bit strong, there's definitely something in it. If you've got that much courage in your convictions, maybe you should be prepared to answer for them too?

On the other hand, is it not cowardly to bemoan the writer's inadequacy as a human shield when the cast must have had an inkling of what they were getting themselves into? That's before you consider that Morris was the target of most of the ire anyway; refusing to defend himself can't have been easy.

TJ

Most people involved didn't really know what they were getting themselves into; for obvious reasons a good deal of it was made on a 'need to know' basis, and in fact that's partly what resulted in it being delayed as the parents of one of the child extras didn't realise what was going on until the show was announced. But the bottom line for me is that if you want to take the credit, you take the brickbats as well. If they can't get to the figurehead, they start picking on anyone else they can get to. Some early posters to this site even got phone calls at home from reporters...

Thomas

Hullo TJ, I've seen your Rachel Stevens face knocking about in threads of old.

In his Opie and Anthony interview, Morris begins to regale the pair with an anecdote about receiving a death threat, but it's lost to a gaggle of interruptions. Does anyone know the story of that threat?

EDIT - sit back down, it's okay. I've found this.

QuoteDid you not get any negative reactions from Muslims?
No. I mean, it's not impossible to imagine. But I received death threats for playing the wrong Frank Sinatra record when I worked in local radio, so nothing's impossible to imagine.

What's the "wrong" Frank Sinatra record?
Actually, I think it was the wrong version of "Mack the Knife." Frank Sinatra had been requested, and I played Tony Bennett. So perhaps it was understandable.

Thomas

#10
Here's another interview. I'm posting it because I think his expression at 10:25, in response to the interviewer's reaction, is great. 28:00 too. Deserves your glancing -

http://vimeo.com/16595175