Big Britain

Johann Hari, on a UK TV show that mocks the vulnerable:

But the blame for Little Britain lies out here in Big Britain. When the show first started, it was not the bile-fest it is today. There was a gentler, absurdist edge to the first series, but it soon became clear that the viewers preferred a comedy of jeering and sneering. The jokes curdled and became poisonous - and Walliams and Lucas were simply giving us what we want. So what does it say about us that we are a nation that pines for gags about stupid, poor people and old women pissing themselves in public?