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July and August is the season for Prides and gay picnics, celebrating the colourful joys of being homosexual. By and large the Great British Public now accepts these expressions of what the gay community stands for as a normal part of having fun in the sun (or rain).
Forty years ago, the closet door was much more tightly shut. Stalking the land, trying to silence all mention of sex in the media was Mary Whitehouse. One of her cause celebres was to institute an unsuccessful prosecution of The Romans in Britain and its scene showing the simulated rape of an Ancient Briton. If Whitehouse had succeeded in her moral crusade to clean up TV and the theatre, via her National Viewers and Listeners Association, there would be no gay kisses in The Archers, no It’s Queer up North, no gay soap characters, and gay entertainers would not be out. Filth, the story of Mary Whitehouse, was recently shown on BBC2 with national treasure, Julie Walters in the tile role. This was presented as duel between Whitehouse and the BBC’s director - general, Hugh Carlton-Greene. It was a battle of genders, class, metropolitan versus provincial attitudes, and sophistication versus prudery. Whitehouse is always trying to get an interview with Greene in order to press her case for censoring Till Death do us Part and its plethora of ‘bloodies’, Doctor Who and Pinky and Perky, the children’s puppet show.
Julie Walters plays Whitehouse in spectacles that Corrie's Deidre would kill for, seen cycling to church, always in a hat and tight perm. The very stereotype of a 1950s housewife, playing to a baying audience of Daily Mail readers. Walters gives the character a softer, more affectionate, outlook than the reality would suggest- eccentric rather than deeply prejudiced. Alun Armstrong plays a brilliant, unstated role as her hen-pecked husband. Carlton Greene is portrayed as a worldly wise, blasphemer, not overly fond of his wife, patrician and patronising. He is more inclined to challenge conventions than be the executive manager.
In the end, Greene resigns rather than censor Pinky and Perky but the BBC stood firm in allowing the seminal, sixties, satirical programme That Was The Week, That Was. But the camp gay stereotypes represented by Larry Grayson and the racial stereotypes represented by The Black and White Minstrel Show still allowed Middle England to avoid realities for some time to come.
Should we have any sympathy for Whitehouse? Was she a prototype Margaret Thatcher, a necessary purgative for the lazy British whose original steel is tempered with affection though rose-tinted spectacles?
We know that small beginnings in censorship lead to fundamental attacks on basic freedoms in the history of totalitarian dictatorships in our recent history. Whitehouse was absolutely no friend of gays and would have campaigned with vicious enthusiasm for Clause 28, continuing the criminalisation of homosexuality and no civil partnerships. She was a very British version of the fundamentalist right in America. We need to be very wary of crusaders in twinset and pearls.
The deep philosophical issues of the extent to which absolute freedom should be allowed in a democratic society are raised by this programme. The Anglican church's divisions over gay bishops and whether homophobic lyrics by rap artists should be allowed are contemporary manifestations of the debate that Whitehouse started. Should the suburban housewife vote determine the content of TV programmes?
Whitehouse did bring the nascent feminist movement on board over the matter of exploitative pornography but she ignored issues of domestic abuse in her own locality. So how should we deal with the threats of Whitehouse and her supporters? She was harassed by phone calls and stink bombs. The BC tried ignoring her. Spitting Image mocked her. Cultural theories would suggest the view that the arts should always challenge the status quo and be a learning process. In the 60s, punk performed this uncomfortable function.
Perhaps our Prides should use entertainment to raise an awareness of a range of lifestyles. Civil partnerships help to show the normality of relationships. Screaming queens offer both challenge and acid wit to amuse their audiences. However we do need to be constantly vigilant in protesting against bigotry. Maybe we should all stand up to be counted: perhaps at you local Pride, whether you are wearing a nice cardigan, neat suit or a more outrageous outfit, debate the limits of gay pornography whilst enjoying a cup of tea al fresco and raise a toast decrying everything Whitehouse stood for. Yes, she was filth!
Nick Tyldesley
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