Attenborough Betrays His Age, Snubs Gay Animals

[hadespussercats]

Yeah while we are on the subject. You ever watch those documentaries where Dawkins gleefully butchers animals with his pals? Well some humans are vegatarians, why don't we see them dissecting a carrot?

?

What are you talking about?

There are documentaries about botany, where we see plants in section and on slides and such. But I don't think that's what you're talking about.

Not sure though. Are you mad we never hear about gay radishes?

What I am talking about is that no matter what you create, perform or exhibit someone somewhere will complain it isn't inclusive of whatever bee they have in their bonnet. Imagine for example someone complaining that a documentary about the history of the Scots during the time of Calgacus, didn't have enough about the plight of disabled lesbians in it. I'm sure there were disabled lesbians in that era, I'm sure their plight might be fascinating however it's not about that. I accept that homosexuality, polyamoury, gang rape, paedophilia, incest, necrophilia, murder for fun, parasitosis and cannibalism are all part and parcel of the "majesty" of nature, there are documentaries I've seen about almost all of these things. I'm not sure people are that interested in being exposed to all of that in an early evening light entertainment documentary with the kids.

Same point I made earlier, that went over some folks heads.

If you'd made that point, it wouldn't have gone over my head. As you can see.

[FBM]

Anybody mentioned the appeal to nature fallacy?

[Ayaan]

Feel free to ignore me, but I'd like to add something. Throughout most of Attenborough's career, what do you think the odds of getting funding for such a documentary were? And on the slim sliver of a chance he got the funding, what are the odds that it would have gotten on the the air? It might be possible now to do such a thing, but I doubt he would have found much support for it 20 or 30 years ago.

[FBM]

Damn good point, Ayaan. Gotta remember the economic angle. TV, documentaries or not, is ultimately all about making $$$.

[hadespussercats]

Feel free to ignore me, but I'd like to add something. Throughout most of Attenborough's career, what do you think the odds of getting funding for such a documentary were? And on the slim sliver of a chance he got the funding, what are the odds that it would have gotten on the the air? It might be possible now to do such a thing, but I doubt he would have found much support for it 20 or 30 years ago.

Was the fellow berating him holding him to task for his whole career, or just the new works?

Edited to add- Ayaan, you know Zilla has actually told me several times to ignore his posts and his advice, and not to expect his posts to make sense.
I wouldn't extend that to anything you've written.

[Ayaan]

Feel free to ignore me, but I'd like to add something. Throughout most of Attenborough's career, what do you think the odds of getting funding for such a documentary were? And on the slim sliver of a chance he got the funding, what are the odds that it would have gotten on the the air? It might be possible now to do such a thing, but I doubt he would have found much support for it 20 or 30 years ago.

Was the fellow berating him holding him to task for his whole career, or just the new works?

Edited to add- Ayaan, you know Zilla has actually told me several times to ignore his posts and his advice, and not to expect his posts to make sense.
I wouldn't extend that to anything you've written.

The article only mentions three documentaries, the oldest of which was made in 1993. However, I kind of get a feeling that Mills would love to tar all of Attenborough's documentaries with that brush.

Thanks, but I did drop in on page five of a discussion that looked to be going pretty strong. Besides, I never post with the expectation of a reply. Just seemed to be worth mentioning that most of Attenborough's work was done in another era when such things would have never seen a penny of funding or made it on the air even if such funding was found.

[cronus]

Animal behavior is far more messy than a sickly sentimental Attenborough documentary would ever portray. Interspecies sex isn't even discussed ever for example. That may be to do with a fear of losing funding in the early years of his career but not now.

[Ayaan]

Attenborough's documentaries are trying to explain a complex subject to a wide range of people. They have to be simplified to some degree. Besides, even if Attenborough had wanted to make a documentary about homosexual behavior in animals, you are missing the point that for most of his career, it would have been impossible to get on the air. What network is going to fund a documentary that it can't air? I doubt he pays for them out of his own pocket.

Such a documentary is more likely to get funded now, but there are still plenty of places where it wouldn't get a split second of air time. Sadly one of those places is the US.

[Clinton Huxley]

The important thing is that Dr Mills got his name in the papers.

[Clinton Huxley]

Now, I'm gerneally in favour of eccentrics being given research funding and I'm against a purely utilitarian approach to dishing out the taxpayers hard-earned but sometimes.....

Dr Mills:-

Key Research Interests
Research interests - popular television forms, in particular comedy; especially interested in the sitcom, both historically and institutionally, as well as its national and international inflections.

[Clinton Huxley]

Of course, it may be that Dr Mills, in the course of his "research", discovers a revolutionary new form of sit-com, one that renders all previous sit-coms obsolete and enables Blighty to snatch victory in the great comedic arms race with Merkel's Germany.

[klr]

Of course, it may be that Dr Mills, in the course of his "research", discovers a revolutionary new form of sit-com, one that renders all previous sit-coms obsolete and enables Blighty to snatch victory in the great comedic arms race with Merkel's Germany.

Joke War II?

[Audley Strange]

Weaponised sitcoms? I thought he was involved in genetically modifying them to make them easily watchable in the harsh and impoverished third world.

[hadespussercats]

Now, I'm gerneally in favour of eccentrics being given research funding and I'm against a purely utilitarian approach to dishing out the taxpayers hard-earned but sometimes.....

Dr Mills:-

Key Research Interests
Research interests - popular television forms, in particular comedy; especially interested in the sitcom, both historically and institutionally, as well as its national and international inflections.

Considering how much time people spend watching sitcoms, I can see why it might be a subject worth researching. And lots of researchers are curious about comedy.

[JimC]

Now, I'm gerneally in favour of eccentrics being given research funding and I'm against a purely utilitarian approach to dishing out the taxpayers hard-earned but sometimes.....

Dr Mills:-

Key Research Interests
Research interests - popular television forms, in particular comedy; especially interested in the sitcom, both historically and institutionally, as well as its national and international inflections.

Considering how much time people spend watching sitcoms, I can see why it might be a subject worth researching. And lots of researchers are curious about comedy.

Maybe so, but it doesn't exactly qualify him to be a serious academic commentator on wildlife documentaries.