Caitlin Moran has claimed that TV has abandoned working class comedy.
In an interview with Radio Times the How to be a Woman author observed that as the quality of life for the working classes declined (and continues to decline) it became even more difficult to write comedy centred around their lives and experiences due to the lack of stability brought on by social change, resulting in television steering away from comedy that focuses on the working class.
It is easy for us to agree with pretty much every single thing Caitlin Moran says – the woman is literally everywhere, she’s loud and honest and appears in the Guardian more than the colour blue so it feels like you’re letting the side down when you disagree with her, no matter how quietly you whisper it to your friend.
Now – I agree with Caitlin Moran on a lot of things, including the lack of working class comedy and the need for more of it on television. I think abandoned is a difficult word because it implies that at one time or another there was an illustrious and varied plethora of working-class comedy that now no longer exists. For me (and yes I am but a mere millennial with my avocado toast and Instagram filters and so missed the golden age of working class comedy) this has never been the case, it’s not so much abandonment of working class comedy but a tap that was never allowed to do more than trickle in the first place.
Comedy has the power to transcend all other social boundaries, class included. It is something that makes us fundamentally human, the ability to laugh and to make others laugh. This should be something we do from all areas of human life and experience. There should not just be one or two comedies a year that focus on the experiences of the working-class, but instead a wide variation from all different types of people. It is not enough to just have one or two shows, as good as they might be. It is the same problem that TV has always had – too much of one (usually very white and very middle class) thing.
So she’s right basically, Caitlin Moran is right. So are the 3,000 people that have backed a third series of Raised By Wolves after it was axed from Channel 4. They haven’t backed it because it’s a perfect show, but because that’s what a lot of people want. They want to write, act, film and be a part of working class comedy as well as just watch it – people want to see more variation in comedy and that includes shows that don’t just focus on the same thing that a lot of TV focuses on. We’ve made progress sure but it’s still progress and we’ve still got a long way to go.
