Can Channel 4 sink any lower? The TV channel has purchased a painting by Adolf Hitler so that a studio audience may decide whether to allow comedian Jimmy Carr to destroy it with a flamethrower.
In other words, popular television is trolling the Jewish community, all those around the world who suffered under Nazism and anybody who remains in possession of a moral compass. The fate of one of the world’s most problematic and disturbing artefacts will be determined by a studio audience and a comedian. As a symbol of 2022, it’s pretty good.
Who thought this was a reasonable idea? Step forward Ian Katz, Channel 4’s director of programming. ‘This kind of programming is difficult and expensive,’ he pointed out. ‘And probably not a rational, commercial approach.’
There’s no argument there. He then explained the ‘concept’ of Art Trouble. ‘There are advocates for each piece of art,’ he said. ‘So you’ve got an advocate for Hitler. There’ll be someone arguing not for Hitler, but for the fact that his moral character should not decide whether or not a piece of art exists or not.’
Of course. With Holocaust survivors still living, a Channel 4 comedy gameshow is the perfect platform for debating such complex, weighty and painful moral questions. And there should be an ‘advocate for Hitler’. Obviously.