Benefits Street

[pap]

Benefits Street is a new TV show commissioned by Channel 4, currently hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Anyone seen this? Hitting the headlines today.

 

Those that appear on the show claim that they've been misrepresented; some even fear reprisals.

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/benefits-street-channel-4-documentary-2994242

 

Problem two is that many of the people who have appeared on the show are now getting abuse on social media.

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/benefits-street-twitter-threats-against-2996710

 

OFCOM has already received 100 complaints about the show, but in brighter news for C4, this is their highest rated program for years, snaring 4.3M.

 

Benefits Street. Worthy documentary on the underclass, or tub-thumping exploitative piece of propaganda aimed at right-wing mouth foamers?

[hypochondriac]

They may claim they were misrepresented, but some of what they did was impossible to misrepresent. Things like admitting to benefit fraud and the shoplifting is disgusting.

[Hatch]

Problem two is that many of the people who have appeared on the show are now getting abuse on social media.

 

 

ahh, bless them, hope that doesn't get in the way of their thieving and robbing.

[pap]

They may claim they were misrepresented, but some of what they did was impossible to misrepresent. Things like admitting to benefit fraud and the shoplifting is disgusting.

 

Ok, put it this way. If a TV company did a documentary on your area, how would you feel if they presented the worst residents as representative of the whole?

[hypochondriac]

Ok, put it this way. If a TV company did a documentary on your area, how would you feel if they presented the worst residents as representative of the whole?

 

Only thick people truly believe that some of the idiots on that programme are the norm for people on benefits. I didn't think the show tried to make out that everyone on benefits was like that. I admit I would be a bit peeved if I lived on that street but did have a job and contributed to society. People making threats towards them online should be prosecuted certainly but that doesn't detract from many of their own admissions making them come across appallingly rather than any clever editing techniques.

[hypochondriac]

What it does highlight though is that these people exist and their lifestyles should be stamped out. It's highly offensive to see someone who hasn't worked in a decade talking about getting evicted when they have a 50 inch telly in their lounge.

[badgerx16]

My wife is wondering how much of it is staged by the production company.

[hypochondriac]

My wife is wondering how much of it is staged by the production company.

 

Yes but the point is how do you stage shoplifting? How do you stage when they admit to benefit fraud and when they openly take drugs?

[anothersaintinsouthsea]

Typical of Channel 4 to take a serious issue and then sensationalise it. I don't think anyone on there who is fraudulent or criminal can complain if their wrongdoing is now exposed.

[anothersaintinsouthsea]

Yes but the point is how do you stage shoplifting? How do you stage when they admit to benefit fraud and when they openly take drugs?

 

I suppose by asking leading quations you could easily get people to exaggerate past deeds. Being boring wouldn't get you much airtime so if one was naiive and interested in being on TV a lot one might give the producers what they wanted.

[hypochondriac]

I suppose by asking leading quations you could easily get people to exaggerate past deeds. Being boring wouldn't get you much airtime so if one was naiive and interested in being on TV a lot one might give the producers what they wanted.

 

That doesn't explain the shoplifting and getting nicked for it. Or the shots of the cannabis or the letters shown talking about stopping JSA because of their abuse of the system.

[pap]

Only thick people truly believe that some of the idiots on that programme are the norm for people on benefits. I didn't think the show tried to make out that everyone on benefits was like that. I admit I would be a bit peeved if I lived on that street but did have a job and contributed to society. People making threats towards them online should be prosecuted certainly but that doesn't detract from many of their own admissions making them come across appallingly rather than any clever editing techniques.

 

Not really the point, hypo.

 

There are quite a few working people in that area, as one of the participants pointed out when doing her walk-by of the houses. The programme implies that everyone is on the Rock n Roll.

[hypochondriac]

Well they clearly state at one point that 95% of people are on benefits so I'm not sure that's true.

[pap]

Don't know either to be honest. They're either misrepresenting this:-

 

She said: “They have shown me pointing at houses shouting ‘unemployed, on benefits’, but they haven’t shown me pointing at the houses where I knew people were working and in jobs.

"I’m really worried about how my neighbours will react if they see it.

“They have edited everything to suit their own needs – taken a positive and turned it into a negative.”

 

Or they're pulling from official figures, in which case the exercise of getting someone to point out who is on benefits looks like a pre-planned move to hit a certain agenda.

[alpine_saint]

I take it from Pap's bristling over-sensitivity about this programme, that the said street under discussion is in Liverpool...

[Lets B Avenue]

I take it from Pap's bristling over-sensitivity about this programme, that the said street under discussion is in Liverpool...

 

Wrong again I'm afraid.

 

Winson Green, Birmingham.

[Tokyo-Saint]

It was originally due to be in filmed in Liverpool but the locals stole the camera equipment and the film crew had to pay someone to 'look after' their van. Therefore the program was moved to Birmingham.

[Unbelievable Jeff]

I haven't seen this yet, but I wonder if it is similar to the program 'Skint' - another Channel 4 program that was on earlier this year. In that they showed the underclass in S****horpe I believe, and their struggle to get jobs etc.

 

It was a decent program, showing a wide range of scenario's (large families, young couples, drug addicts, single mums etc). Half the people were utter scum, whether nature or nurture, and the other half wanted to work themselves out of trouble. One thing I did notice in that program was that those who tried to get jobs, did. Yes it is a small sample size, but in a country where the underclass is growing it is difficult not to generalise and believe this is a common situation on our 'estates'.

[Verbal]

I know the producer of the films, and he's quite old-school documentary, with a distinguished track record. Any documentary or series on this subject is bound to cause a reaction, and then cause the participants themselves to wonder whether they've really done themselves any favours.

 

My criticism of the films is that they don't really add some important context. Although not as bad, Birmingham is Britain's Detroit. It has been heavily deindustrialised since the 1970s and has been plagued by appalling local government for decades which has failed, among other things, even to develop a public transport system of any worth (almost all of it is buses). It also has some severe demographic problems. Far fewer women have jobs in Birmingham than Manchester or even such sloughs of despond as Liverpool. About two fifths of the city's population are in the 10% most deprived areas of the UK. And the place is disproportionately young, which puts heavy pressure on public services.

 

So Benefits Street is really a microcosm of the mess that is Birmingham. When people think of Britain's Second City, they think of Manchester, which has managed industrial change far more successfully. Birmingham was left behind years ago, and the neglect, decay and mismanagement is at least partly reflected in what's been filmed for C4. As local government is set to take the brunt of the next round of government spending cuts, Birmingham will just get worse and there will be more Benefits Streets.

[pap]

It was originally due to be in filmed in Liverpool but the locals stole the camera equipment and the film crew had to pay someone to 'look after' their van. Therefore the program was moved to Birmingham.

 

Shut up Tokes.

 

Anyone with real life experience of these young scallywags knows the real phrase is "mind yer car, mister?".

[Whitey Grandad]

Shut up Tokes.

 

Anyone with real life experience of these young scallywags knows the real phrase is "mind yer car, mister?".

 

Quite common round your way, is it Pap?

[pap]

I take it from Pap's bristling over-sensitivity about this programme, that the said street under discussion is in Liverpool...

 

You're letting the neighborhood down, Alps. Coming across as a council estate loafer who can't be arsed to read articles.

[alpine_saint]

You're letting the neighborhood down, Alps. Coming across as a council estate loafer who can't be arsed to read articles.

 

Which would be right.

[pap]

Quite common round your way, is it Pap?

 

Only really at football matches, sadly.

 

Frankly, the decline in car crime in the city has been a disgrace. We're at number 8 at the moment. The hated local enemy occupies the top spot.

 

http://money.aol.co.uk/2013/08/19/revealed-the-car-crime-capital-of-england-and-wales/

 

Local boys need to pull their fingers out

[Tokyo-Saint]

Scoucers have learnt to travel, that's all pap

[hypochondriac]

Scoucers have learnt to travel, that's all pap

 

In fairness I did notice that the main woman in the program had a liverpool fc coat on.

[Tokyo-Saint]

Haha yeah I saw that too. White Dee definitely has a few scouce links, mentioned she dated baz in the 90s or something.

 

 

*by dated I mean had the horse fed and by baz, I mean Barry and pap round the back of cream and by links I mean kids.

[Hockey_saint]

Only thick people truly believe that some of the idiots on that programme are the norm for people on benefits. I didn't think the show tried to make out that everyone on benefits was like that. I admit I would be a bit peeved if I lived on that street but did have a job and contributed to society. People making threats towards them online should be prosecuted certainly but that doesn't detract from many of their own admissions making them come across appallingly rather than any clever editing techniques.

 

Problem is, there's lots of "thick" people about....I smell a witch hunt coming....all paid and backed by our lovely government.

[pap]

Around 17K people have signed a petition calling for Channel4 to stop showing the programme. The Indy did a piece on this on Wednesday when the figure stood at 3.3K.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/thousands-sign-petition-urging-channel-4-to-drop-benefits-street-9047223.html

 

The next episode is about Eastern Europeans, apparently.

[shurlock]

It was alright - don't think it exploited anyone's vulnerability for a cheap laugh. Certainly no Undateables.

 

Could have done with more context -both personal and macroeconomic- to stop the hypo brigade knocking one off on mock outrage, though there were snippets and clues here and there i.e. the brass monkey and main protagonist, fungi had been abused as a child and that perverse incentives are rife.

 

If anything, the most cringeworthy and dialed up moments were ones showing the cast at their best and most civic-minded- whether it was the zen-like state of 50p man or the two women calling up a job ad in Gumtree only to get a Bearsyesque character at the other end.

Edited 10 January, 2014 by shurlock

[hypochondriac]

Around 17K people have signed a petition calling for Channel4 to stop showing the programme. The Indy did a piece on this on Wednesday when the figure stood at 3.3K.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/thousands-sign-petition-urging-channel-4-to-drop-benefits-street-9047223.html

 

The next episode is about Eastern Europeans, apparently.

 

I saw this week that the bloke who came across really well in it (the 50p man) has received numerous job offers which should change his life.

[KelvinsRightGlove]

It was originally due to be in filmed in Liverpool but the locals stole the camera equipment and the film crew had to pay someone to 'look after' their van. Therefore the program was moved to Birmingham.

 

The only time I have ever come close to going to Liverpool (it doesn't really count at all) was to go to Goodison Park with an old housemate that was a toffees fan.

 

We drove across from Leeds, found an old pub with a kid in a hi-vis jacket directing people to park in the car park - charging a fiver a pop. Come back after the game to find the kid gone, and all the cars parked there with parking tickets.

 

That kid is my hero.

[hypochondriac]

It was alright - don't think it exploited anyone's vulnerability for a cheap laugh. Certainly no Undateables.

 

Could have done with more context -both personal and macroeconomic- to stop the hypo brigade knocking one off on mock outrage, though there were snippets and clues here and there i.e. the brass monkey and main protagonist, fungi had been abused as a child and that perverse incentives are rife.

 

If anything, the most cringeworthy and dialed up moments were ones showing the cast at their best and most civic-minded- whether it was the zen-like state of 50p man or the two women calling up a job ad in Gumtree only to get a Bearsyesque character at the other end.

 

Mock outrage? Give it a rest.

[pap]

I saw this week that the bloke who came across really well in it (the 50p man) has received numerous job offers which should change his life.

 

You mean the one that you didn't wish dead?

[hypochondriac]

You mean the one that you didn't wish dead?

 

As usual you are making little sense.

[pap]

As usual you are making little sense.

 

Why did you tune into Benefits Street then, hypo?

[hypochondriac]

Why did you tune into Benefits Street then, hypo?

 

Because someone told me about it and I wanted to view it for myself before forming an opinion.

[CB Saint]

Around 17K people have signed a petition calling for Channel4 to stop showing the programme. The Indy did a piece on this on Wednesday when the figure stood at 3.3K.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/thousands-sign-petition-urging-channel-4-to-drop-benefits-street-9047223.html

 

The next episode is about Eastern Europeans, apparently.

 

Bet the producers are rubbing their hands together with glee. Nothing like a bit of public controversy and outrage to boost viewing figures.

[shurlock]

You better put your house up for sale the Indians are coming!

[benjii]

Around 17K people have signed a petition calling for Channel4 to stop showing the programme. The Indy did a piece on this on Wednesday when the figure stood at 3.3K.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/thousands-sign-petition-urging-channel-4-to-drop-benefits-street-9047223.html

 

The next episode is about Eastern Europeans, apparently.

 

Approximately one third of one percent of the consolidated audience figure and lots of media coverage guaranteed.

 

As someone else said, I bet the producers and Channel 4 are chuffed.

[pap]

Approximately one third of one percent of the consolidated audience figure and lots of media coverage guaranteed.

 

As someone else said, I bet the producers and Channel 4 are chuffed.

 

I'm sure CB Saint is correct. All publicity is good publicity. It was a good point he made there.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

Well they clearly state at one point that 95% of people are on benefits so I'm not sure that's true.

 

Child benefit? Working tax credit? Old age pension?

[Hockey_saint]

Child benefit? Working tax credit? Old age pension?

 

Don't be silly, no one in their right mind in this current government would allow for the same type of program on OAP's...they're the tories main voters!....maybe the other two however.

[Saint in Paradise]

Don't be silly, no one in their right mind in this current government would allow for the same type of program on OAP's...they're the tories main voters!....maybe the other two however.

 

Not for much longer if the Tories steal their bus passes

 

Oh yes and the O.A.P. is NOT a benefit it is however an Entitlement as the O.A.P.s have paid

into it over many years.

[Whitey Grandad]

Not for much longer if the Tories steal their bus passes

 

Oh yes and the O.A.P. is NOT a benefit it is however an Entitlement as the O.A.P.s have paid

into it over many years.

 

Well said SIP. There's been a deliberate campaign for some time to try to get pensions redefined as benefits.

[Saint in Paradise]

Well said SIP. There's been a deliberate campaign for some time to try to get pensions redefined as benefits.

 

Perhaps M.P.'s pensions should be re-classed as a "benefit" then in years to come it could be reduced rather

than just keeping constantly being increased?

 

Yeah I can see that happening :rolleyes:

[Barry Sanchez]

The Beveridge report was not designed for this, I have not even seen the program but can assume what its about and what it alludes, our softening of our attitudes for decades has led us to this, not all are like this of course but some are and that has to be addressed.

Work for dole is a start, not undercutting businesses but helping charities and people that require it.

[Whitey Grandad]

The Beveridge report was not designed for this, I have not even seen the program but can assume what its about and what it alludes, our softening of our attitudes for decades has led us to this, not all are like this of course but some are and that has to be addressed.

Work for dole is a start, not undercutting businesses but helping charities and people that require it.

 

I agree.

[pap]

A very good article on the show, which argues that Benefits Street would never have been made if our media was in a better place.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/benefits-street-a-healthy-media-would-stand-up-to-the-powerful-and-wealthy-ours-targets-the-poor-and-voiceless-9046773.html

[saint si]

Large families are passed off as typical, even though just 190 out of the 1.35 million claiming an out-of-work benefits have 10 kids or more.

 

I'm being a little picky, but 10 kids isn't where i'd set the bar for a "large" family!