Mary Whitehouse

Mary Whitehouse (June 13, 1910 – November 23, 2001) was a British campaigner for traditional morals and decency, particularly in television and radio. She was founder and first president of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association.

Backlash

Some of her opponents claimed that she had an ability to be offended by almost anything, pointing to her complaints about the use of the word "bloody", her concerns about the T.V. character Alf Garnett, Doctor Who or the violence in Tom and Jerry cartoons. Of Four Weddings and a Funeral, she famously said "I haven't seen it, of course, but I've heard that the opening three minutes contains a stream of four letter obscenities", after which there were claims that she tended to take any sexualised activity on television or in the theatre as an affront. This was occasionally taken advantage of: the tabloids ambushed her, asking her what she thought of a new children's programme in which children were killed, a reference to Knightmare; she publicly professed her shock, but apologised once she had watched an episode. Her own favourite programmes were Dixon of Dock Green, Neighbours and coverage of snooker.

Related Topics:
Alf Garnett - Doctor Who - Tom and Jerry - Four Weddings and a Funeral - Tabloid - Knightmare - Dixon of Dock Green - Neighbours

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Mrs. Whitehouse became a target for mockery and caricature. One publisher of pornographic magazines named a magazine Whitehouse, apparently in an attempt to annoy her (this magazine's website is the source of occasional shock and confusion to those searching for the official White House web site). British "noise" band Whitehouse also named themselves after her, in mocking tribute, she is the inspiration (?) of Deep Purple's 1973 song "Mary Long" and she is mentioned by name in the song Pigs (Three Different Ones) on the 1977 Pink Floyd album Animals. There was also a BBC TV and Radio comedy series called The Mary Whitehouse Experience. She tried unsuccessfully to get her name removed from the title.

Related Topics:
White House - Whitehouse - Pigs (Three Different Ones) - Pink Floyd - Animals - The Mary Whitehouse Experience

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Sometimes if the cast of a TV programme were congratulated by Mary Whitehouse for producing wholesome entertainment, they took it as an insult. This was the case with The Goodies in 1970. After the first season, the cast of The Goodies were worried that an endorsement from Mary Whitehouse would harm their image. They made it their goal to get a complaint from her. To achieve this, they introduced more smut into their show, but with no response. They even went as far as to feature a caricature of her called "Desiree Carthorse" in one episode but even that got no response. In the end, a sequence of Tim Brooke Taylor dancing wearing just leather underpants triggered a complaint.

Related Topics:
TV programme - Wholesome entertainment - The Goodies - 1970 - Smut - Tim Brooke Taylor - Leather - Underpants

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