
How a comedy slogan became a symbol of protest - mastazi
http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2017/02/father-ted-going-america
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RangerScience
I feel like there's a new kind of protest now, that's almost more of a party.
It started with Anonymous' birthday protests - where people brought actual
cake to Scientology centers - and then the Occupy movements took it a bit
further.

There are still classic protests - the women's marches are a great example -
but it's like there's this idea now that a protest can also be a fun event.

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sandworm101
My grandmother hated that show. She said she disliked how father hacket (the
old drunk) was treated. But i suspect some of the catholic humor struck a
little too close to home.

For those who liked it: check out "black books" which the makers did between
father ted and the it crowd. Same humor. Same trio of characters. Same irish
bits. One of the writers said he did all he could to avoid another "drunk
irish" character ... but it couldnt be avoided and does crop up in all three.

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pinewurst
Father Ted is a great, great show, btw, well worthy of watching every episode.

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jmkni
Worth re-watching with the directors commentary also.

Linehan and Matthews are two very smart guys!

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Zikes
"<Insert Irreverent Thing Here>" is the new symbol of protest. Every protest
I've seen has had a slew of various comedic signs and slogans.

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godshatter
My favorite is "They said there would be cake."

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a3n
As always, the cake is a lie.

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jaimebuelta
From the same show, I´ve been remembering the line "I heard you're a racist
now, father" quite often these days...

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zkL91LzCMc&t=1m14s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zkL91LzCMc&t=1m14s)

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boyce
I'm in the process of registering a semi-satirical political party and "down
with this sort of thing" was the first official slogan I listed - it's so
ingrained in the culture here now

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97-109-107
Relevant read Can Jokes Bring Down Governments? Memes, Design and Politics. by
Metahaven [http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17797884-can-jokes-
bring-...](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17797884-can-jokes-bring-down-
governments-memes-design-and-politics)

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aaron695
FYI: It's “Down With This Sort of Thing” from Father Ted, for anyone feeling
to lazy to push the web button above.

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rmchugh
My guess is that it's Irish emigrants carrying the placards. It's sort of an
in joke.

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AimHere
Possibly, but no need to assume the placard-bearers are Irish. Father Ted was
a joint Irish-British production and was very well-received in the UK when it
came out.

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rmchugh
It was a regular fixture on student demos in Dublin about 10 years ago, never
really saw it on British demos.

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aantix
Of all the varied protest signs that have made an appearance, this article
makes it to the front page of Hacker News?

What is it with developers and their obsession with European comedy?

\- Monty Python

\- UK Version of the Office

\- Eddie Izzard

\- John Oliver

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alexkavon
I can't speak for everyone but the main difference between American popular
comedy and European comedy is that the European comedy is drier requiring more
thought and understanding. Thus making it more attractive to me as I enjoy
that level of effort.

Disclaimer: I run a comedy group and am a software developer.

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eru
You should try German comedy. English is too full of puns, so makes humour too
easy.

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labster
If you think English has too many puns, I suggest you try Japanese. So many
words with the same or similar pronunciations, it's just beautiful.

True story: Larry Wall went into an Indian restaurant in Tokyo. He pointed to
the bread and asked the waiter, "Naan desu ka?"

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khedoros1
Was there a convenient picture of a panda for the waiter to point to in reply?

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labster
^_^

Not sure, I wasn't there. Larry told the story to me at a YAPC::NA when we
were having a conversation about multilingual puns.

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seanp2k2
If you're into Japanese puns, bread, and anime, Yakitate Japan will be right
up your alley, and the whole series is legitimately available to watch free on
YouTube:
[https://youtu.be/Tyb7ri8EcOo?list=PLrrh84y760v8QyC5bDENLId-P...](https://youtu.be/Tyb7ri8EcOo?list=PLrrh84y760v8QyC5bDENLId-
PNqNDpOgG)

~~~
DanBC
Sadly not available everywhere:
[http://imgur.com/a/oxIgt](http://imgur.com/a/oxIgt)

(UK).

