Brian was gobsmacked, Deirdre was keeping out of it and Gloria couldn't see what all the fuss was about. This is obviously highlighting a very important issue and one that Coronation Street hasn't really covered in the past, mainly due to the lack of a regular group of black characters.
So far, this story is working for me. Yes, it is covering a big issue, but in my opinion it is not yet issue-led. The writers are managing to make this all about the characters, and as this involves Lloyd, it is bound to be good. Craig Charles is one of my absolute favourites in Corrie and this should give him a chance to shine.
It will also be interesting to see the wonderful trio of Eileen, Steve and Lloyd tackle some serious material. They have great chemistry and I love the lighthearted banter, but it will be great to see how this changes things between them.
However, I for one will be interested to see where the writers take this storyline in the coming weeks.
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16 comments:
So far it's not really racism, just a misunderstanding about a term used...but it's good to see Craig Charles get serious for a change.
Would love to see a proper racism story in Corrie one day, or perhaps something to do with Islam considering what's going on around the country. Now might not be the best time to tackle that - or perhaps it's the perfect time?
The actual term Paul used seemed fairly innocuous, but they obviously didn't dare have Paul using any of the words that are likely to provoke such a reaction in the real world.
But as long as it leads up to Paul's departure that is good enough for me. He showed more backbone in defending his dubious comment that he has done in his entire time in the street.
Great storyline. The reactions of Paul, Lloyd, Gloria, Brian and Sophie are totally believable. However, I do not think slow, slightly dim characters like Eileen and Jason would react like that. I think, in real life, they would have sided with Paul, not because of who they are, but because they wouldn't know too much about the seriousness of racism. Let's remember Jason is an oafish builder, not a lily-livered church-goer like Sophie. Same with Eileen; given she often speaks her mind without thinking something through, I think she would have more likely agreed with Paul.
The irritating thing about the storyline is, even though we know Paul is leaving, I can imagine once the racism storyline is over, it will be forgotten, when, we all know, if this was real life, Lloyd would fester and never forgive Paul!
An interesting side-point is the Sky Digital preview for last night's show said the street was divided, but I can't remember anyone who backed Paul. Gloria questioned the fuss, but that's not backing Paul.
Stupid storyline his daughter is a grown woman she should realise that he didn't mean it he is only playing daddy now because he was to much off a drop kick before to be a father that's why Mandy didn't bother to tell him he had a kid
stupid storyline Lloyd should grow up and stop kissing his up to his daughter even her mother is sick of her
It's early days what I think about the storyline I need to watch it a bit more to get into it. It's good that Lloyd has got a good decent storyline I hope it goes down really well and keeps me hooked.
Are you sure Paul's still going. I wondered whether they'd had a change of heart.
Agree Graeme - the tiny fireman is an obnoxious part of this story - withering on about the hoax callers and now the whole world is against him because of what was said in the Rovers, sob, sob. For me he can't leave soon enough!
Loving Lloyd, Steve and Eileen in this story and Brian - too bad he's leaving, a lot of potential there.
I don't think Eileen and Jason's reaction is surprising, given that Jason's father is black. And Eileen did say that she also was subjected to racist remarks when they were together. What I find strange is that Paul doesn't seem to get why Jason is not on his side in this.
So, Paul doesn't want to apologise Lloyd because he thinks that if he did he'd be admitting to racism. Lloyd won't apologise to Paul because he doesn't think he has to because Paul was - without a doubt - guilty of casual racism.
So, it's a matter of stupid pride. Clearly, Paul needs to recognise that he was guilty of a casually racist remark that gave offence to three of his neighbours. That they were offended is confirmation indeed that what he said was casually racist, and there should be no argument there.
So Paul needs to admit this to Lloyd (and to himself) and offer him an unconditional apology. Lloyd will then, I feel sure, apologise for labelling him racist. Paul's clearly no racist in the Nick Griffin mould,, but he does need to learn a lesson about the corrosive effects of unthinking casually racist language. If he apologises, it's leasson learned, we can be friends again and we can all move on a little wiser.
Simple.
This does not fit Lloyd's character..at least not the one I've been watching the past few years. Lloyd would have shrugged it off..given as good as he got and moved on. It's a moronic storyline driven to garner viewers and IMO it reeks.
In the end I guess it's not really about the racism but about not saying sorry when you've offended someone. Even Lloyd has said that he knows Paul is not a racist. It's just one big thing blown out of proportion.
I'm a white woman married to a black man and we have children. We've discussed this issue and my husband has said we wouldn't have kicked off over it because it doesn't surprise him that people still use lines like that. If it's his friend, then he knows the intention behind it was not racist. A simple "not cool man" would have been the end of it. We've been on the receiving end of racist remarks, to us there's a difference between them and what Paul said. But everyone has their own reasons for their responses.
That being said, I'm surprised Mandy was the voice of reason in this one. I always had her pegged as the one who wouldn't let it lie and Jenna as the one who would try to calm everyone down.
After Paul made his careless remark, and Jenna said "Excuse Me?" he then said he didn't realize they were there. To me that indicates that he knew what he said was a racial slur. If he were not being racist he would have retracted the comment and apologized immediately. The writers have tried to dilute this story, first by choosing an outdated, relatively innocuous expression for Paul to say, then by showing that Paul was stressed and pressured at work, to excuse his poor judgement.
There are a lot of residual expressions still around, that people use without considering their offensive origins. Unless the people being insulted speak up and point out the derogatory nature of these expressions they'll continue to linger in the language. Jenna was right to be offended and Lloyd was right to call Paul on it.
Anonymous 10:25...I agree. Paul's reaction when he realised Jenna was there is a clear indication that he knew the remark would be offensive to a black person and that he would not have knowingly used it in front of them.
It was a surprisingly complex, nuanced and realistic depiction of racism, which is not what we normally get when we see racism on TV. I'm properly impressed with it.
It's being handled in the usual unrealistic soap opera way. I'll be disappointed if this is what finally breaks Paul and Eileen up after everything else that's gone on (death of Paul's wife, the anxiety of being the partner of a firefighter). Characters should have many different sides to them, what Paul said is offensive...but it should not define him. If the writers can't find a way for Paul, Eileen, and Lloyd to work it out, then it's a rubbish story. It will basically be an "oh, we need to write the Paul character off the show, lets give him some racist undertones...look he's BAD now, out you go Paul!" and Eileen will be like "how could I have been so wrong about Paul, dodged a bullet there". Stupid.
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