Disfigured newsreader for Five

Minstadave · 15 Nov 2009 at 12:05

The point is to make seeing people with facial disfigurement more commonplace, if we are used to seeing people with facial disfigurement on TV then seeing them in normal day to day life will be less out of the ordinary and hopefully make them stand out less and make it easier to live a more normal life.

Putting them on the radio would kind of defeat this, for obvious reasons.

As for the OP the whole point is to get these people seen so next time you see the on the street or on tv you are not "seriously disturbed". It's this idiotic attitude that is trying to be countered.

Freefaller · 15 Nov 2009 at 12:06

I don't see what the problem is. These people have had unfortunate accidents or medical conditions but whilst initially it's a bit "weird" to see, you soon get over it, and ultimately if it's the news they'll be reading as long as I can understand what is being said so what?

The more we turn away from such things the more it becomes odd and strange, the sooner we accept there are people with disabilities and disfigurement the sooner it'll be deemed a non-issue.

Dan.m · 15 Nov 2009 at 12:32

Im glad their doing this, shame that i would never watch channel 5 though.

Sin_Chase · 15 Nov 2009 at 12:48

I can see both points of view.

People should be employed on their ability to do the job, however there are areas (such as TV) where more than that are taken into consideration and physical appearance happens to be one of them.

I like the whole idea, I think it should be a good pilot. However, prejudice and so on and so forth does exist, will still exist after this pilot and will always exist. You have to accept this, and as a broadcasting company this should be factored into the whole equation when looking at ratings and whatever targets they hope to meet.

It's unfortunate and "not fair" but that is just how the world is. gambitt's example sums it up pretty well.

dirtydog · 15 Nov 2009 at 12:50

Haven't looked at the pic and don't want to. But I want to see attractive or at least not UNattractive people on television. If someone makes me feel uncomfortable to look at them in any way, I will change the channel. If that isn't PC enough I don't care.

Muban · 15 Nov 2009 at 12:50

gambitt said:
they are supposed to be easy on the eye.

Are you sure about that? Or is that just how men want female news readers to be? I'd say that a large amount of male news readers aren't what would be described as easy on the eye (not disfigured in any way obviously but wouldn't be getting posted in any hot men threads, guilty crushes maybe

).

Perhaps though I will have to accept that I am in the minority that would rather have the news read by someone educated and clearly spoken. Their level of attractiveness really is of no consequence to me.

Sin_Chase · 15 Nov 2009 at 12:53

Muban said:
Perhaps though I will have to accept that I am in the minority that would rather have the news read by someone educated and clearly spoken. Their level of attractiveness really is of no consequence to me.

Well, minority is perhaps a bit extreme. But at the end of the day if the News channel thinks they will lose viewers because of it, and there is another option it's going to be clear cut what they chose.

You might not switch over, but others will. That's the crutch of it.

dirtydog · 15 Nov 2009 at 12:59

It's like that girl who got sacked from being a sales assistant in a clothes shop for having only one arm. Sorry but I'd rather be served by a) pretty girls and b) girls with both their arms :rolleyes:

Again not PC but I bet most people feel the same way. It's about what makes the customer feel most comfortable, not pandering to PC nonsense.

grudas · 15 Nov 2009 at 13:03

dirtydog said:
It's like that girl who got sacked from being a sales assistant in a clothes shop for having only one arm. Sorry but I'd rather be served by a) pretty girls and b) girls with both their arms Again not PC but I bet most people feel the same way. It's about what makes the customer feel most comfortable, not pandering to PC nonsense.

oh.. so because a person had something bad happen in their life like losing an arm he is useless now? i dont see how it's a problem.. i wouldn't mind it my self.. they are the same people as us just not as lucky to have everything "normal" :rolleyes:

dirtydog · 15 Nov 2009 at 13:09

grudas said:
oh.. so because a person had something bad happen in their life like losing an arm he is useless now? i dont see how it's a problem.. i wouldn't mind it my self.. they are the same people as us just not as lucky to have everything "normal"

Where did I say that they were useless? Try not to put words in people's mouths in order to win an argument, it's a weak tactic

gambitt · 15 Nov 2009 at 13:11

Muban said:
Are you sure about that? Or is that just how men want female news readers to be? I'd say that a large amount of male news readers aren't what would be described as easy on the eye (not disfigured in any way obviously but wouldn't be getting posted in any hot men threads, guilty crushes maybe ).

When I say easy on the eye I don't mean good looking, I mean innocuous. Like someone you pass in the street and don't even notice.

A newsreader isn't a highly skilled job, they only need to be articulate, confident, presentable and able to think quickly under pressure. It's not like Five scoured the land to find the best newsreader and it just so happened the best one they could find was also disfigured (on a side note I wonder how long it will take the PC crowd to change "disfigured" to "differently featured").

They can deny it all they want but it's nothing more than a publicity stunt.

dirtydog · 15 Nov 2009 at 13:15

gambitt said:
When I say easy on the eye I don't mean good looking, I mean innocuous. Like someone you pass in the street and don't even notice.

Yes and for what it's worth, most British newsreaders are pretty ordinary looking, they aren't bimbos and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Earth[Tera].bin · 15 Nov 2009 at 13:16

Fair play to FIVE and the presenters for having the courage to do this. In my opinion the main handicap people with disfigurements have to deal with is overcoming the attitudes of others.
Granted, it's natural to stare and feel uncomfortable when seeing someone disfigured.To laugh and mock or even look away in disgust is another thing though.Mind you in my opinion these type of people probably project this attitude into every aspect of their lives.

grudas · 15 Nov 2009 at 13:16

dirtydog said:
Where did I say that they were useless? Try not to put words in people's mouths in order to win an argument, it's a weak tactic

part of your comment meant it...

I'd rather be served by a) pretty girls and b) girls with both their arms

if she can serve you she can do the job.. it's not customers preference who serves them or how the person looks now is it? i'd love to see you in that persons place when getting sacked..

how useless would you feel then?

dirtydog · 15 Nov 2009 at 13:18

grudas said:
part of your comment meant it... if she can serve you she can do the job.. it's not customers preference who serves them or how the person looks now is it? i'd love to see you in that persons place when getting sacked.. how useless would you feel then?

Useless means someone is unable to do anything. Few people are useless.

Appearance and how a shop assistant or waiter etc. makes you FEEL is part of their job. If you feel uncomfortable with them then they aren't fulfilling one of the crucial parts of their job description.

Biohazard · 15 Nov 2009 at 13:30

Not being funny but I wouldn't want to have to look at that face very often.

Personally I wouldn't watch it again, I find the face repulsive.

I can't help my feelings or reactions either.

Minstadave · 15 Nov 2009 at 13:53

Biohazard said:
Not being funny but I wouldn't want to have to look at that face very often.

Personally I wouldn't watch it again, I find the face repulsive.

I can't help my feelings or reactions either.

Your reactions are engineered by society, if you'd seen people regularly with any kind of disfigurement you'd not react in the same way.

I know if I was disfigured (as we all can be) then I'd much rather society was accepting of me, than the current situation where we are condition to reject anyone who isn't "normal".

Just as we are increasingly intolerant of racism we should also take steps to become intolerant of this reaction to disfigurement or disability.

And you can help your feelings and reactions, as we all can.

gambitt · 15 Nov 2009 at 14:04

Minstadave said:
Your reactions are engineered by society, if you'd seen people regularly with any kind of disfigurement you'd not react in the same way.

Just as we are increasingly intolerant of racism we should also take steps to become intolerant of this reaction to disfigurement or disability.

The issue with that is that disfigured people are an extreme minority. You can't compare it to racism because in this country we are used to seeing people of different races. Back in the "old days" when there were only a handful of people from other races in this country, they too were treated differently. But now there are more of them and we see them everyday, we don't even notice.

Minstadave said:
And you can help your feelings and reactions, as we all can.

Strongly disagree.

Minstadave · 15 Nov 2009 at 14:05

So it's ok to be racist provided there's just a few of them around?

gambitt · 15 Nov 2009 at 14:06

Did I say it was ok? I said that's the way it was when there used to be only a few of them around.