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RTÉ’S NEW SITCOM which aired last night has received 24 complaints in relation to the portrayal of a transgender woman character in the programme called Nuala.
The new comedy, ‘The Centre’, has been criticised by the Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) who said the character of the assistant manager Nuala Mooney, a transgender woman who is played by Aprés Match’s Gary Cooke is “mocked on every occasion she appears on screen”.
In a statement on their website today,TENI Chief Executive Broden Giambrone said:
The Centre is a throwback to the dark ages of television and RTÉ should do better.Nuala is the stock character of a ‘man in a dress’ played for cheap laughs.
Her appearance and identity are fair game to the other characters on the show and their comments and quips re-enforce every stereotype that exists for trans people in this country
A statement from Bill Malone, Channel Controller for RTE Two to TheJournal.ie this evening, confirmed that 24 complaints on the issue had been made.
The statement said:
The Centre is a comedy full of exaggerated characters. Nualla is a Transgendered character accepted unreservedly by her co-workers and those who use ‘The Centre’, and while comical, is actually a positive LGBT character.The attacks on Nualla come from one source – the repulsive Amanda Menton, who represents all that is wrong with society.
In effect, the exaggerated cartoon character of Amanda Menton is an equal opportunities offender – she insults ALL, she is sexist, ageist, fattest, elitist, bigoted etc. LGBT characters should not be treated differently.
The statement went on to say that the new comedy is supported by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) and features emerging Irish writing and acting talent and ” is exceptionally rare to have such a female led comedy cast”.
Giambrone said that “at no point is the audience laughing with Nuala, they are laughing at her,” adding that the new sitcom “masquerades as edgy by poking fun at minority groups”.
He added, “unfortunately, we see the very real effects of how this type of ‘humour’ contributes to the marginalisation of the trans community”.
Additional reporting Aoife Barry
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I find this truly shocking – 24 people actually watched that show?
Unfortunately I watched it. I found the whole show offensive if only because it was so bad. Absolute muck. I don’t think TENI have anything to worry about. Not many will watch this more than once.
‘…a female led COMEDY cast…’ Spot the mistake….
There’s about 4000 of us in Ireland. You’ve probably driven a trans person in your taxi. We’re just normal people. Btw, don’t use the word ‘tranny’. It’s really offensive
Bill, you’ve probably fallen for the ‘toupée fallacy’.
@Feargal: Exactly.
Yet Mrs Browne offends everybody
Mrs. Browne is different, cause she’s not a trans character and the other characters don’t keep referring to her as a ‘man in a dress’ Besides, the problems arise when the dialogue in a show focuses on the character being trans, rather than showing that transgender is just normal. I myself am trans, by the way. There’s nothing weird about it. It’s just normal
Think Bill Hicks said it best. “So you’re offended. So what”
Go to bed sheena!
What you talkin bout Willis? Sorry Sheena
Suddenly deciding to use the Irish form of your name in your late teens, in a fit of middle class, third level pretension, because all the other Fíachras and Odhrans are doing it too, is also offensive. Or annoying. To someone, I’m sure.
Yours, An tUasal Ó hAipilbí.
Ummmm…. Trans people have an 82% chance of seriously considering suicide. That’s not down to us being trans. It’s cause the wider population doesn’t understand it. I don’t mind being offended, but I do mind the media broadcasting mis-information so that people understand my community even less than they already do!
This argument gets dragged out quite often.
I saw what you did there…
Get a wife…… sorry life
It’s gross.
Meh.
Its a comedy (apparently). Deal with it.
I hate when people go nuts over stuff like this. The amount of times I have seen the sly drunken paddy stereotype in films and videogames…it has never offended me. There are Irish people like that in the real world, just like there are transgender people similar to what is being portrayed in the tv show.
The problem isn’t that we’re offended. I can put up with a lot of offense. The problem is that RTE should stop spreading badly-reached portrayals of trans-people. Our community has astronomical unemployment, suicide, poverty and homelessness, but it’s not caused by us being trans. It’s by the wider population being fed mis-information about what trans is.
As a male I take exception that. My whole gender has astronomical unemployment, disgraceful rates of suicide, almost exclusively the majority of the homeless population and unreal financial stress/pressure. Not that it comes down to numbers at all but the trans community are not the only ones in Ireland having to deal with negativity and problems.
I understand that there are trans people that I walk by on a daily basis and wouldn’t ever know but at the same time I have seen trans people who are 6ft 8, built like Paul O’Connell and project unrealistic notions of what a woman should act like.
I don’t like to see people feeling offended or hurt by something that is in a tv show or film but I treasure the ability to write anything, say anything, act like anything more than I do other peoples feelings. I don’t want to see words, pictures or books banned or censored because someone else doesn’t like it. If you give in now, it will only progress to that stage.
Why would you take exception to that? I understand that life is tough for lots of people. My point is that trans people are a marginalised community and the more that the media portrays us as freaks, the more the suicide rate will rise. Trans people are 24 times more likely to commit suicide. We get kicked out of our families for being ourselves; we get turned away from jobs; we can’t use public bathrooms unless, as you say, we project a realistic embodiment of ‘what a woman should be’.
These problems aren’t caused by us. There’s nothing wrong with us. The problems come from widespread mis-information that’s fed by the media.
Everyone has it tough. Life is tough. There are enough social problems in the country already. RTE broadcasting lazy jokes only adds to that. Surely that’s not censorship. It’s just letting everyone know that there are normal people in Ireland who happen to be gay and normal people who happen to be trans. Some trans-men are 5’2, some trans-women are 6’8 and built like rugby players. Regardless, they’re all people who pay their taxes, do their shopping and just want to get on with their day.
Oh cop on, if you think being a cisman is as hard as being trans then you are sheltered as hell. There are definitely unaddressed issues in terms of suicide rates with men due to oppressive gender roles telling them talking about their feelings is weak and girly, but straight white male is still the easiest difficulty setting overall.
It’ll get to the stage where satire will be extinct..idiots.
ah f**k off and stop whinging about nothing
It’s not nothing. It’s nothing to you because you are not trans, and are not affected by this. And couldn’t care less if a show resulted in a trans person being killed if there was a way for that to happen(I’m sure a lot of trans people have been killed due to the terrible stereotypes put out there by the likes of Jerry Springer…).
Why would anyone watch a show with Catherine lynch in it
And then complain that they were offended
Sorry about the Freudian stutter
It’s worth nothing that there are defined limits on what is considered acceptable in comedy. Blackface was considered ‘comedy’ at one point, but is now off limits.
At the same time, this reaction is over the top. Talk about making a mountain from a molehill.
The most offensive thing about this show is how sh!t it is.
*noting
Who says blackface is considered off limits? Character in the league of gentleman was always in blackface, a sketch in Mitchell & Webb is done in blackface. The old style blackface comedy just isn’t considered funny anymore rather than being too risqué. Nothing can be, or should be, considered off limits in comedy. If a joke offends you you either didn’t get the joke, or are free to be as offended as you like if you did get it – but don’t try and tell me that I shouldn’t find it funny because you didn’t like it.
Oh maaamy……this is just a saga nauuw!!
Great point, Silent Majority.
It’s not so much about trans-people being offended. I can put up with a lot of offense. It’s more to do with us having to deal with being misunderstood every day of the week. You know, we have an 82% chance of seriously considering suicide at some point in our lives. That’s not down to being trans. It’s down to thw wider population being fed mis-information about what transgender means. Can’t RTE for once broadcast something REAL about trans people and quit making cheap jokes
How amazingly white are you? Even if Mitchell & Webb did it, blackface is not considerable acceptable by people who are not white.
From your position, nothing should be considered off limits to comedy because it does not affect you. You are speaking from a position of privilege here.
Yes, but Papa Lazarou in League wasn’t black. He was a gypsy circus entertainer, hundreds of years ago, whose makeup was actually stuck to his face and couldn’t be removed a la the Joker.
For God sake have people nothing better or more important to complain about !
ummmm….. Really? The way trans people are portrayed has a massive impact on our community. If more people saw REAL accurate portrayals of trans-characters (i.e. Hayley from coronation st) then we trans-people would be better understood and we’d find it easier to be allowed to get on with our normal, everyday lives. Transition is pretty normal, if you’re a person who happens to be trans
Seriously come on , les Dawson would have loved this
Les was a comic genius , this was more Benny hill but without the laughs
Les Dawson didn’t play a transwoman though. He played a woman.
Don’t think Joan Burton’s going to be too happy about it.
Never heard of TENI before in my life, must add it to my list of wildly sensitive organisations, right beside the IONA crowd but I don’t think they’ll like being next to each other. I wonder if there’d be about 24 staff in TENI ….
Wildly sensitive?! TENI sticks up for the 4000 trans people in Ireland, unlike RTE who can’t do better than make cheap cracks at a marginalised community. Just cause there aren’t many trans people in Ireland, doesn’t mean it’s ok to laugh at us! We’re just normal people too, ya know
IONA crowd are oppressive, TENI are the opposite. I’m sorry you think that the idea of an organisation for transgender rights is “wildly sensitive” but I would suggest that this is because you are a sheltered brat who’s never had to fight for equal representation in the media or rights or any of that shite.
Panti looks rougher than usual.
Ye he seriously needs to check herself
What a coincidence, Lisa Mac’s article gets trotted out to the usual disdain, and then we get this…
Good ol’ Journal, flying the rainbow flag.
You do everything alone ?
Lisa Mac is back?
Had recorded it on Sky+ have just watched 10 mins and turned it off, love Katherine Lynch how on earth did she get dragged into that drivel!
Funny how RTE dismisses accusations of stereotyping by boasting about how the show has a character they describe as someone “who represents all that is wrong with society”.
Also, the statement from them that “Nualla is a Transgendered character accepted unreservedly by her co-workers and those who use ‘The Centre’” is false.
She received grief from one of her male co-workers over Thai women, and even the narrator over hormone levels. Both of which are cheap shots at transgender people.
… of course I’m leaving out the swipes made at her by what RTE are calling the repulsive Amanda Menton.
It’s typical RTE shite..
Ya think they would learn there lesson with fair city..
Ah, if only my dear Amazonian angel!
I am sorry to say that the gutters outside the theatrical establishments of Ireland are a veritable throng of wooden actors, shrill “comediennes” and self important writers who think they are the next Arthur Miller.
There is no shortage of mediocrity among the luvvies.
@sarah….
Lathering Lynch wrote it
TENI chief executive Giambrone said that “at no point is the audience laughing with Nuala, they are laughing at her,” …..its more likely that at no point is the audience laughing ………
Good publicity, but what about doing something really shocking on the show; Just as a publicity stunt, get one of the characters to smoke a cigarette. :-) Plain packaging, of course.
I cannot believe people are making a mockery of this, I thought Nuala looked lovely and how dare anybody laugh at her given the huge strides we as a society have made since miss panties nobel cause received worldwide acclaim for anybody that listened to it,.
Mocking Nuala just shows how intolerant society is towards men that just want to wear dresses & look like women , I for one will not laugh at Nuala no matter how silly people think he was portrayed ., I’f team panti show her how to apply her make up .. lets see how the shallow minded people of the ring wing conservatives laugh then :-).
There are about 4,000 of us trans-people in Ireland. It’s terrible that RTE never present us as people, just laughing stocks. We are just people trying to get on with our day. Look at the way Hayley was portrayed in Coronation st. She was a trans-woman, but treated as a WOMAN, rather than ‘TRANS’. By the way, the media wouldn’t be so fascinated by gender transition if people knew how boring, slow and drawn-out the process actually is. It takes about 5-10 years and, for the most part, it’s rather dull and uneventful. Not just ‘a guy wearing a dress’. We’re just trying to get on with our day.
Katherine I mean
Lathering Lynch was funnier :)
Good analysis and an enjoyable read.
“RTÉ and The Centre and its writers don’t make trans people look bad. They just make themselves look bad.”
Burn. LOL.
If it offends, then don’t watch it again. There you go easy.
Except it’s not easy – whether I watch it or not does not change the fact that these media portrayals influence public perception of trans issues and ultimately affects our legal rights.
We’ll be protecting people who have a fetish for dressing as cosplay characters next. You go to a job interview dressed as Darth Vader and then sue because you didn’t get hired.
If you want to indulge yourself in selfserving fetishes, expect to get some pushback.
@johngahan:
How about this for pushback?
Flaunting your prejudice by describing trans identity as “a self serving fetish” is precisely the stereotype that I and many others object to being reinforced by RTÉ in its show.
I have zero difficulty with any character being the object of humor, but when the joke panders to the lazy stereotype that you clearly believe is true about trans people, it amplifies risk for a minority that already suffers heightened violence and marginalization.
In a way I should thank you john, because your comment is proof of the need to complain about this unfunny show.
Max – for some people the urge to cross dress is fetishistic. Unless done for someone else’s enjoyment, then it is selfserving. Nothing wrong with that, but it is hardly a human rights/antidiscrimination issue.
I take your point though that there are those with gender identity issues who aren’t dressing up for the thrill of it, but instead just to feel comfortable with themselves mentally.
I suppose the T in the LGBT is the category that society is still a bit underappreciative of.
It was the worst load of garbage I’ve seen in a long time. It was an insult to every trans person in Ireland and by extension caused problems for a trans friend of mine directly within their family yesterday. That is the sad effect of “comedy” of this type on a marginalised community and a marginalised human being. That is not what I pay a TV licence to our national broadcaster for. There will be others in the same position I’m very sure. Please make your concerns known to RTE.
Dear Frank… You are missing the point completely.. You obviously have never been abused spat on physically attacked in the street, by ignorant yobs because of your identity, or struggled with gender binary when you don’t fit the pattern. Mocking a minority of whatever hue is wrong and perpetuates the stereotype within wider society.. I won’t be watching it any more but that won’t stop abuse happening to trans people, by those who don’t know any better.
Didn’t see it – don’t want to see it – Catherine lynch = not funny. I think that’s where the problem lies here, it probably just wasn’t funny – end of argument.
It’s quite funny the fact that people are complaining about the portrayal of a trans character because it’s the laughing stock of The Centre.
Shouldn’t we then complain about the portrayal of the Traveler community, the fact that the first communion is all about money, the TD who allegedly had a fling with an underage girl and many other things. Why aren’t people complaining about that?
If you don’t like it don’t watch it.
How about the ‘Wrestlers’ ad where the two kids catch their parents in a middle of the ‘wrestling scene’?
The ad is still on, surely that’s more offensive.
There are ads or programmes I don’t like so guess what I do? I DON’T WATCH.
Get a life, TENI.
The only criticism that any comedy show should get is to whether it’s funny or not. By it’s nature comedy is going to offend some people.
For fcuk sake !
The Centre is really an awful show. It is an equal opportunities insulter. It is not funny; there are no characters just stereotypes. Its handling of the Transgender character is proof enough of this. And can anyone solve the mystery of why Katherine Lynch keeps getting shows on RTE, she is not funny.
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