Category Archives: Channel 4

Lost in something?

To all my US readers, reading this on the day, Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, as I said previously, was Transgender Day of Remembrance. Lets just say that here in the UK, yesterday, as far as one TV channel was concerned at least, was Transgender day to forget!

Someone at work told me yesterday that there was a programme on Channel 4 last night, called Trans Kids, and asking if I was planning to watch it. All instinct was to say no, I wouldnt watch anything on TV relating to Transgender issues, as its usually road crash TV, and for me at least, best avoided.

However, feeling brave, or more correctly crazy, and given there was nothing else on, I gave it a try. In truth, the first 20 minutes or so wasnt too awful, and I thought maybe I’d been wrong about C4. No, I wasnt, as from there, the show went very quickly downhill, somewhere towards the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

I had a bad feeling when the presenter, speaking to a couple in their forties, of whom the father of 3 children had transitioned to a woman, she asked her wife, if that made her a lesbian. No, her husband changing gender does not change her sexuality in the slightest, you stupid woman! The wife seemed shocked, said no, just stating that they still lived together, but were no longer a couple. Unfortunately, the presenter couldnt just leave it there, and accept they could happily live together, with no sexual interest.

After this, the presenter went into a lengthy piece about how she was a tomboy as a child, and that maybe she should have become a boy. No, it just meant you were a tomboy type, you daft woman! Thankfully she didnt transition, though transitioning to a human who could think logically might have been a blessing!

After that, the show went into deep dive, going to a meeting of a bunch of extreme feminists, who dont believe that women can be women unless they were born one, the irony that none could see was that one of their spokespersons was a Trans woman, who couldnt see that they wouldnt believe in her. She seemed to think she was the only Trans Woman who was genuine, oh good grief!

Just when you thought they couldnt sink any lower than that, it did. Its fair to say the TV company had set things up so that a bunch of militant millenials, supposedly supporting Trans Women were protesting outside. All very angry, all wearing masks, and naturally the 2 sides came to blows. Mainly verbal, but anyway… Didnt show either side in a good light, and helps to explain why I just do my own thing.

To be fair to the presenter, she did query whether some children starting to transition are doing it all too young. I hate to say it, but the answer is yes. Pre puberty children dont have a clue about such matters, as a life long experience, and should do nothing before the age of maturity, in my opinion, be that 18, 21 or whatever, where you are?

If at that point, you’re sure you should transition, and are happy to go through due processes, fine! But no 14 year old should be making a decision that will affect the rest of their life, before their body settles down hormonally.

Sorry, but next time, I’ll be sensible, and go back to avoiding these shows like the plague.

OK, video time. Lets do something a little out of left field, to match the TV show. It is 20’s, and if I was young enough, I’d love to wear that dress, but…


If I was?

Firstly let me say that I didnt see this on TV last night, only finding out about it after it had all happened. Besides which, given I tend to avoid this sort of reality TV, I probably wouldnt have watched it, even if I had known, given what I’ve since read of her views beforehand. Yes, but for Twitterverse, I might never have known about it, though given the coverage it got this morning, that might have been hard to miss!
So my views are more my own, and as much as I could gather from comments from Twitter, and various media outlets, which may not be all that reliable.

Right, disclaimer over. Thats right, for those in the UK at least, who might know about it, the C4 program last night, A Week As A Muslim, is what I’m talking about tonight. For those elsewhere in the world, well, you’ve seen as much of it as I have!

It seems to be the classic TV take on something like this, take a self admitted non-fan of Muslim people, and get her to live as a Muslim for a week, and film events as they happen. I’m going to use that term, for now. She might have been worse than a non-fan, but as I wasnt witness to that, I’ll leave it there. Part of the reaction against her seems to have related to the fact that she was ‘made up’ to look like she was a Pakistani, which worked both ways, garnering complaints from those who wished to point out that there are white people who are Muslim, so she didnt need to be ‘colored’, and from those who said that it wasnt done in a flattering way to Pakistani Muslims, but as that is Twitter hearsay, I’m not sure how much credence to give to that. None would probably be close to the mark, there are some ghastly views on Twitter, on both sides of the fence!

Of course, as fate would happen, she went to live with a Muslim family in Manchester, and it coincided with the bombing at the Manchester Arena, which led to her realizing, even more, just what ordinary, innocent Muslim people have to put up with from some ‘idiots’! She only faced it for a few days, but for so many more, its a sad fact of life, at all times. So wrong, so sad that there are people like that, but anyway…

For me, I think it would be fascinating to spend a week as a woman in a Muslim family. But yes, I wouldnt make for ‘great TV’ because I’m pro ordinary Muslim people anyway. No, I dont support the terrorist branches, but neither do most Muslim people here anyway! And lets face it, there are some pretty awful right wing white supremacist types around too! Oh fine, she wore a Hijab, but I know that if I was in that role, I would have wanted to go out in a Niqab, or Burqa, just to find out the real truth. Mind, I suspect the reality in Bradford might be different to Manchester, but in truth, no idea.

I have some experience in these matters now, of course. Before September, I’d heard stories of people deliberately ignoring people in wheelchairs, trying to pretend they werent there, but I hoped it was being exaggerated. Sadly, the answer was no, it isnt. When sat in one, people just looked away, had to literally be shouted at, to stop them walking in front of the moving wheelchair, and so much more. All the same, I’m looking forward (hopefully, health permitting) to experiencing ‘Round 2’ in May, in 3 airports (I need to transit going out, direct flight back), I must say.

I guess it might be an actress thing, the challenge of a new role, either in a production, or in this case, a real life situation. So yes, a week as a Muslim would be a very different show with me, but I guess I’ll never know what its like. Unless…?

Equally, of course, if Channel 4 want to consider making a show, a week as a robot, hmm, lol? 😉

The video, massive clue in the title. Live version, a very good one, mind, as I’ve used the original before.