According to Richard Littlejohn, Britain is an inclusive, multicultural society where racism and oppression is looked down upon, unless you happen to be Jewish. In fact, according to Littlejohn "it's open season on the Jews" and he goes on a journey around Britain to expose the swell of anti-Semitism going unchecked in areas ranging from Muslim extremists all the way to those people on the liberal political left who pride themselves on being "anti-racist".
The title caught my eye and made me interested to see it because, as I have a Jewish girlfriend, I did want to know if indeed there was this massive swell of hatred towards Judaism that isn't being reported. I was interested to the point that I was willing to overlook the fact that Richard Littlejohn was the presenter. Sadly though, this is not something that he allows you to forget as he launches right into his introduction that makes sweeping statements like "it's open season" and others that perhaps should have told me that this was not going to be a particularly even-handed affair.
I'm not suggesting that the film should have had balance in the way that anti-Semitic attacks are reviewed from both points of view but more that it should have looked at the subject from a clam and intellectual point of view. But Littlejohn just pushes his way through the subject with the sensitivity of a drunken yob and the restraint of a crack fiend. The language he uses is deliberately inflammatory and in his style I felt that he completely undercut his central argument by seeming to overegg the cake. I'm sure he will not accept this criticism but for me it is hard to defend the way he clumsily presents his argument.
The choice of contributors doesn't help either. At best we have some people speaking on behalf of community groups but mostly he gets individuals to speak about individual incidents. There is nothing inherently wrong with this as part of a reasoned argument but this film seems to hang a massive importance on their stories. This is at its worst when the film relies on a young man who has been bullied and assaulted who says that he hopes that all Jews realise that "we are not welcome here". It is an emotionally-driven statement that Littlejohn cosmetically dismisses but then also holds up as the centrepiece of his closing arguments. It is a real shame because the increasing amount of intolerance and race and religion based is an important subject, but this terribly pointless "documentary" doesn't do the subject justice as it spits out simple arguments and emotive language in place of facts and reason.
The title caught my eye and made me interested to see it because, as I have a Jewish girlfriend, I did want to know if indeed there was this massive swell of hatred towards Judaism that isn't being reported. I was interested to the point that I was willing to overlook the fact that Richard Littlejohn was the presenter. Sadly though, this is not something that he allows you to forget as he launches right into his introduction that makes sweeping statements like "it's open season" and others that perhaps should have told me that this was not going to be a particularly even-handed affair.
I'm not suggesting that the film should have had balance in the way that anti-Semitic attacks are reviewed from both points of view but more that it should have looked at the subject from a clam and intellectual point of view. But Littlejohn just pushes his way through the subject with the sensitivity of a drunken yob and the restraint of a crack fiend. The language he uses is deliberately inflammatory and in his style I felt that he completely undercut his central argument by seeming to overegg the cake. I'm sure he will not accept this criticism but for me it is hard to defend the way he clumsily presents his argument.
The choice of contributors doesn't help either. At best we have some people speaking on behalf of community groups but mostly he gets individuals to speak about individual incidents. There is nothing inherently wrong with this as part of a reasoned argument but this film seems to hang a massive importance on their stories. This is at its worst when the film relies on a young man who has been bullied and assaulted who says that he hopes that all Jews realise that "we are not welcome here". It is an emotionally-driven statement that Littlejohn cosmetically dismisses but then also holds up as the centrepiece of his closing arguments. It is a real shame because the increasing amount of intolerance and race and religion based is an important subject, but this terribly pointless "documentary" doesn't do the subject justice as it spits out simple arguments and emotive language in place of facts and reason.
