But Roy, or Woy as he'd pronounce it due to a speech impediment called rhotacism which means he is unable to pronounce his Rs properly, hasn't been the topic of headlines for that reason. In fact it is the fact that his inability to pronounce rhotacism other than whotacism that has been lampooned by none other than that respectable British tabloid, the Sun.
Naturally, the Sun has been heavily criticized for putting this out on the front cover of their latest edition - should we have been surprised though that the Sun was going to come out with something like this.
What has been quite surprising has been how vocal the criticism has been towards the Sun from pretty much everyone especially with the reason behind the criticism.
Now I'm not in support of the Sun but I just wonder if there is a lack of consistency when we're mocking those who make fun of people who can't pronounce their Rs and other speech impediments.
What about that skit done by Michael Palin in that Monty Python classic, The Life of Brian, when as Pontus Pilate, he pretty much mocked every single person on planet earth who couldn't pronounce their Rs? Why wasn't any criticism made of the way he said "Welease Wodewick! Welease Woger! Citizens of Jewusalem!" And would Palin, Chapman, Cleese, Jones & Gillam get away with it in this day in age?
Perhaps it's the fact that it's the Sun who's started this seemingly harmless joke, the same Sun that defaced the names of those Liverpool fans who died at Hillsborough in 1989, claiming they urinated and spat at the dead.
But are we guilty of being hypocrites for targeting just one person simply because of their record when really the problem is a lot bigger than that?
Consistency is lacking here I'm afraid. Yes the Sun did it in poor taste but it's not the first time we've poked fun at someone who pronounced Gerrard, Gewward.
One thing positive to come out of it is that more people now know what rhotacism is and are aware of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment