”Careful now. “Down with this sort of thing.”
Father Ted is the latest programme to come under the spotlight for its portrayal of certain stereotypes amid a wave of shows and movies being shelved for apparently displaying racial sterotyping.
It has been trending on Twitter with fans of the show expressing their support for the comedy.
However, others have said that the show targeted Father Jack’s mental health and the depiction of a Chinese person was racist in Are You Right There Father Ted in series three.
Show founder and writer Graham Linehan upon the show’s 20th anniversary in 2015 told the Guardian that ”Craggy Island also began to function as a microcosm of Ireland. The episode in which Ted accidentally offends the island’s hitherto-unseen Chinese community was based on “really nasty racist convulsions” that accompanied unfamiliar waves of immigration. “Ireland’s 1950s happened in the 90s,” says Linehan. “It was really disappointing that you’ve got a reputation as the friendliest people on Earth, but as soon as it’s put to the test you fail. So there’s a lot of frustration about Ireland in Ted.”
Ardal O’Hanlon who played Father Dougal also said that “Ted had a profound effect on Irish culture,” “and sometimes I even think the show did priests a favour by humanising them. There’s something intrinsically sad about men without women.” Maybe that’s the irony of this most determinedly non-ironic comedy. By setting out to lampoon that disappearing Ireland in all its ridiculous glory, Father Ted preserved it for ever.”
