Charlie Brooker mocks religion on Channel 4

February 23, 2015 • 10:45 am

Matthew Cobb, who introduced me to the work of Charlie Brooker, describes the man as “a long-standing scabrous British satirist who has an occasional column in the Guardian.” We’ve already encountered one of his associates, the adorable Philomena Cunk, who presents “Moments of Wonder” as part of Brooker’s BBC show Newswipe. (We’ll see more of Philomena later today.)

But here’s a clip from Brooker’s show You Have Been Watching on Channel 4. While that’s a commerical channel, it’s also partly funded by the British Government.  So when you watch the anti-religious clip below, which appeared six years ago on that channel, think about whether it could appear even now on American government-supported stations, either radio or television. Note too that the Ray Comfort/Kirk Cameron “Argument from Bananas” also appears, and the audience finds it hilarious.

I wasn’t aware that there was such a series as Bibleman, which looks like a spoof, but apparently it was for real and played in the US from 2003 to 2011. On that basis I formulate Coyne’s Second Law: “Any sufficiently ludicrous manifestation of religion is indistinguishable from satire.” (I believe this is a subclass of Poe’s Law.)

One advantage that the UK has over the US is that, because of the nation’s smaller degree of religiosity, UK comedians can take the mickey out of religion much more strongly than can American comedians. Could you hear this on U.S. television?:

Brooker:  “. . . and when I say God is a psychotic bastard, I want to make it clear I mean all gods except Allah.”

Yes, George Carlin said stuff like that, but he did it in clubs and private shows, not on national television. Bill Maher does make fun of faith, but late at night and not on one of the three major channels. Perhaps I’ll live to see the day that this kind of satire will be widely shown in my country, but I doubt it.

34 thoughts on “Charlie Brooker mocks religion on Channel 4”

  1. I like Charlie Brooker generally, he’s funny and I watch Screenwipe but I often find I’m frustrated at how soft he is on Islam in particular, yes, at points he’s admitted in jest that he doesn’t say more because he’s a coward but at other times, more seriously he comes across as being dangerously close to an apologist, which I find so disappointing as I do like him. Sigh.

    1. His wife, Konnie Huq, is from a Muslim background, which might also have something to do with it.

      1. Yes, I like Konnie Huq too, I also* wonder if his reluctance to be honest about Islam is perhaps out of respect/politeness to other family members. Annoying.

        *as well as you, Nightglare

  2. On a similar theme, a recent poll about religion in the UK has not been widely reported on American atheistic blogs/websites, so here’s an excerpt:

    “The proportion of people who denied believing in any god rises to 46 per cent among 18 to 24-year-olds”

    Overall: “… 33 per cent said that they did not believe in “any sort of god or greater spiritual power””

    And this might amaze atheists in the US, where no member of Congress is openly atheistic:

    “The poll found that both Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem deputy prime minister, and Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, are viewed slightly more positively as a result of their admissions that they do not believe in God.

    “David Cameron’s avowal of Anglican faith last year appears to have made no difference to his popularity, with a net 12 per cent of Christians saying that it had made them think better of him and 18 per cent of atheists saying the opposite.

    “Stephen Fry’s widely publicised diatribe against a “capricious, mean-minded, stupid God” last month also won plaudits, with 21 per cent saying that it had improved their opinion of him.”

    Link here (original article behind a paywall).

  3. No we don’t have that kind of satire on US broadcast teevee, because it is meant to be a “safe space.” Safe for, you know, stories about the “special victims” of sexually deviant serial killers, “situation comedies” about people being awful to each other, and wholesome athletic competitions where young men slowly turn their brains to jelly for the purpose of selling beer and pickup trucks.

    But lampooning people’s imaginary friends? That’s a no-no!

  4. That is totally hilarious ! I only wish American and Canadian secularists had the guts to make these kind of shows mocking religion and pseudo-science! Maybe one day in the near future, total freedom of speech will be adhered to. Then you can choose to believe it or not without feeling threatened. Thank FSM for Penn and Teller !

  5. I think I posted this in reply to another post many months ago, but as far as fictional television series are concerned, this attached clip from “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” is the only extended example I know of where an atheist (Matthew Perry’s character) goes on at length about the idiocy of religion. Okay, “South Park” and “The Simpsons” have had their fleeting satirical barbs, but has there been any other lengthy attack on religion on par with this “Studio 60” clip? If so, I’d like to know about it. It’s too bad that the montage is ruined by the “show me something” moment at the end. Still, this is a lot of fun.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqlNc-Zj50o

    Meanwhile, up in Canada, there was a series by Ken Finkleman called “Good God.” The show depicts George Findlay, a character Finkleman has played for many years, as a news director at a religion-soaked, right-wing news station. I wish they would air it here. Here’s a taste:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOWJclKUFPo

    And here’s a behind-the-scenes featurette:

    2. The music alone lets you know early on in the Studio 60 clip that it’ll end with the atheist starting to change his mind and believe. It doesn’t count as an attack on religion in my book if it ends with the atheist starting to accept religion.

      Personally, I’m not sure it gets any better than Jean-Luc Picard. Short, perhaps, but very sweet.

  6. The host seems entirely too strident. Darn. I seek atheists that have only a socially acceptable quotient of stridency. I mean, good gawd he is openly ridiculing theistic claims. Has the man not heard that this is frowned upon by our world leaders?

  7. “Any sufficiently ludicrous manifestation of religion is indistinguishable from satire.” (I believe this is a subclass of Poe’s Law.)

    If it’s a subclass of Poe’s Law, wouldn’t it be better to call it Coyne’s Corollary?

    1. I love David Mitchell! He was characteristically hilarious in this one too – like when he says “plumbing angel”. I love how he always gets worked up and angry – I remember on QI Stephen Fry once told him that he had missed his “angry answers” or something like that.

  9. I am impressed that someone over there had to watch episodes of Bibleman in order to select samples for viewing. Yikes.

      1. Is it just me, or is religious programming usually… really bad?

        Seriously. Even their big budget stuff is simply terrible film-making, regardless of the religious nature. There is plenty of religiously-inspired music and art I’ve found I can enjoy, but I’ve yet to find anything on film that doesn’t make the Star Wars prequels look good by comparison.

  11. Why do you feel the need to pretend atheism is controversial and that the mainstream media wouldn’t allow it? Lots of mainstream shows/comedians make fun of religion. It just annoys me because Christians do the exact same thing (specifically I mean that they also pretend their beliefs are controversial and the mainstream media wouldn’t allow them).

    1. Why do you feel the need to be rude? You clearly don’t live in America to ask such a question; and you clearly didn’t read the post in which I said that some comedians in America do mock evolution, but not on state-sponsored media. You do know, don’t you, that Americans would rather elect any other minority group as a President, including gays, than an atheist.

      Only someone who is blinkered can say that atheism isn’t controversial in the US (and of course to many Britons as well). And seriously, do you think that Christianity is just as controversial in both the US and UK as is atheism? Have you been on Mars for the last two centuries?

  12. I wonder what Jerry (and readers) think of Black Mirror. I’ve only watched two episodes, I think it’s relatively good but I think a lot of the good reviews have more to do with it being different (which is fine) than how good it it. But again that’s just the first two episodes.

  14. Earlier episodes of The Big Bang Theory poked fun at young earth creationism through Sheldon and his mother. Most of the characters seem to be atheist though I think this has softened in later episodes.

  15. I remember when SE Cupp was on Real Timeshe said that everyone attacks Christianity in the media and Bill replied, “no, it’s just me and a couple cartoons”. 😀 So True.

  16. Joanthan Miller’s “Atheism: A Rough History of Disbelief” was originally broadcast on BBC4 in 2004. It was then broadcast on PBS in 2007 but only after a title change removing the word “Atheism” from the title and for some reason swapping ‘Brief’ for “Rough” and in my area it was shown on Saturday at 2:00 a.m. PBS will occasionally present a program critical of religion but they would rather you didn’t watch.

    Committed Christian and perhaps the last of the truly liberal PBS hosts (who recently retired) had Miller on his PBS program in advance of the series’ U.S. debut.

    The series is available all over youtube and the Moyers interview is available on vimeo and on billmoyers.com.

  17. When that lady said the angel was at the bottom of the bed, why did they show him coming out of the closet? I would rather have some creepy winged imp peaking over the base of the bed. Or better yet, underneath it!

  19. George Carlin did a riff again god on the first SNL show in 1975. Not easy to find, but here’s a low quality version.

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