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It's been a long time since I saw it last, but Fawlty's racism is meant to be backwards even for 1970s standards, so you're meant to laugh at him for idiotic pr
by asveikau 7y ago
It's been a long time since I saw it last, but Fawlty's racism is meant to be backwards even for 1970s standards, so you're meant to laugh at him for idiotic prejudices that often backfire on him. I guess a similar American example of that time period would be Archie Bunker. Fawlty is a little bit less overtly boorish than him.
I guess there are a lot of cheap jokes at Miguel's expense and they don't really fit with what I've seen of Spanish culture. But also Spain was under Franco in that time so a pretty different place too.
- marzell 7y agoYes, I do get all that, and that it is meant to be in jest and actually making fun of Fawlty. I also can't fully appreciate the context... for instance in the UK I've heard it was common in the 50s and 60s for the N word and it's variants to be used but weren't meant to be derogatory (still having a hard time with that one). However, in Fawlty Towers there was a lot of use of several racial epithets, and Miguel's character seemed overtly racist in portraying a clumsy/clueless Hispanic much in the same way as Blacks being portrayed as overly cheerful willing servants in other shows from the past.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]