Article Posted April 2007 by Jane Morgan
Jane Morgan is a Lecturer in Media and Literary Studies at Thames Valley University, teaching on Postmodernism and Semiotics Modules. She is a regular contributor to ASPMAI, and is currently writing her first novel.
Morecambe and Wise are one of the best known of all British Comedic Double acts of the 20th Century. During the 1970s and the 1980s their shows achieved viewing figures that were the envy of other broadcasters and their Specials were eagerly anticipated as the Queen’s Speech on Christmas Day.
Apparently when Eric died in 1984 , Ernie was inconsolable. (Holberg, 2004). This led to suspicions by some in the media and press that their relationship may not have been straightforward. Such rumours resurfaced and began to have wide circulation after the death in 1999 of Ernie Wise, and appeared to focus on the fact that the enduring relationship with his erstwhile partner Eric Morecambe, may have had deeper roots than had previously been realised. This has driven some literary and media academics to a radical re-interpretation of their work, and in recent papers such as those by Arndale (2001) and Holberg (op. cit.) , there has been an increasing trend to view their on-screen banter as a ‘jocular homo-erotic manifestation of something much deeper” (Arndale, 2001) . This has caused distress to some of their most ardent fans, who claim that their contribution, unlike those of contempory offerings such as Benny Hill and the Carry On films did not ever have overt sexual overtones. (Morgan, 2007)
A recent re-evaluation of their contribution by the author, has viewed this in this light of the suggestion that their relationship might have been more than just professional. Under that hypothesis, much of their work can clearly be construed to have dubious meanings. Eric would always refer to Ernie as the one with ‘short fat hairy legs’, and privately Ernie would confide that he was the butt of Eric’s jokes “…and other things” (Gower, 2005) . The comedy record made in the 1960’s “Bum oooh! Ya ta ta ta!” , at the time seemed to have an innocent enough title, but for many, following on from the Michael Barrymore affair, such a record might now be construed as a thinly veiled musical analogy in which four men circulate their musical parts within the same passage, echoing what is called in some circles a ‘Daisy Chain’. (Vendura, 2006). This hypothesis is further supported by the fact that one of the four, "Sid", has a falsetto voice, and is clearly the one being abused by the others, while "Dick", is extremely masculine and is the one who intrudes in to the musical passages of the others. (Morgan, 2007)
Another feature of their work is the pervasive and recurring ‘untold’ joke, which occurs throughout their TV performances. This is a reference to “two old men sitting in deck chairs” and would normally be inserted into the banter by Eric, who would apparently want to tell the joke, whereas Ernie would try to prevent him. In fact this joke was written by Eddie Braben, their primary scriptwriter, and was often told to live audiences (Gower, 2005). The joke is very simple and extremely illuminating: “Nice Out” says the first man. “Think I’ll get mine out” says the second. Eddie Braben has been quoted as saying that to the pair, the joke had a triple meaning (Braben 1994). Many academics have attempted to second guess this statement, but Arndale (2001) seems to have come up with the most likely explanation for this. On the surface this is a standard and seemingly simple ritornello device, used to keep audiences amused and guessing. For those who had attended their live shows, Eric and Ernie used this ‘in-joke’ as a reward for audience members, and made them feel as if they had been let into a secret society. However, according to Arndale (op.cit.), the two of them used it at a much deeper level to cement their relationship, as an ultimate 'in-in' joke, private to themselves and perhaps a few others. As was revealed in a recent biography, both of the pair manifested exhibitionist tendencies in private (Gower, J. 2005), and this joke was a favourite, put in for their own amusement. (Arndale 2001)
In many of their comedy sketches, there is a clear indication that Eric and Ernie live together, although in real life they did not. The on-screen relationship portrayed in these scenes can be described as Fem-Dom (Bathhurst, 1996) . This relationship is clearly dominated by Eric, while Ernie is the one who exhibits feminine tendencies. Clearly those scenes, which show them in bed together, cannot now, in retrospect, be seen as purely innocent, although at the time, there were plenty of other comedy situations in which men living together shared a bed. Compare for example the Hancock's Half Hour 'Missing Page' episode.
Perhaps the most famous of their comedy sketches was the ‘morning after’ sketch where they are preparing breakfast. On the radio is heard the sounds of David Rose’s “The Stripper”. To these sounds, Eric and Ernie start to dance. During this sketch a number of different elements can be interpreted as boing intensely suggestive: for example the way in which Eric takes the string of sausages from Ernie can viewed as a 'symbolic act of reciprocation' (Bathhurst, 2004). Similarly when Eric has chopped the grapefruit, the the manner in which Ernie takes hold of the chopper and looks at it, is very reminiscent of a 'metaphor of personal use' (Rowntree & Ashkenazy, 2004) . At least one author have contended that the squeezing of the grapefruit after this episode, can be likened to 'post-orgasmic shudder' (Arndale, 2001). However, the contention that the use of the grapefruit to mimic negro lips, in the manner of Al Jolson, which some commentators of their work found to be racially offensive (Soku, 2002), in this context, is more likely to be a symbolic of a 'hermaphroditic mutual exchange', a term coined by Bathhurst to describe certain homosexual practices.
In retrospect, it can be argued, that many 'male partnerships' can be re-interpreted in this manner, for example Holmes and Watson, Ginger and Biggles. (Palmer & Palmer, 1998) However, such partnership were being written about when such practices were illegal, and it is has been strongly argued (Morgan 2007), that following the Prosecution of Oscar Wilde, the authors (Doyle and Johns) would never have put themselves in a postion of where their work and their personal freedom would be under threat. However, with the passing of legislation in 1968, it became clear that 'consenting adults' were then free to engage privately in such practices, and that any performers who were working in the 1970's and 1980's would have been acutely aware that references in their work to gay activity, would have been taken more or less at face value. The conclusion is therefore that Eric and Ernie were engaging in the ultimate exhibitionism, a displaying of their private relationship in public, but that in their lifetime, they were deprived of the voyeurs to make this satisfying.
Sources for Biographical and Media Information:
http://www.morecambeandwise.co.uk/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/m/morecambeandwise_7774470.shtml
References:
Arndale, C. , 2001, "Bringing us Sunshine: Re-evaluating a cultural phenomenon". Journal of Interpretive and Cultural History, Vol 3 No 2, pp23-31.
Bathhurst, K. , 1996, A Handbook of Sexual Practices, Routledge and Kegan Paul, Boston
Braben, E. , 1994, quoted in "Writing a Legend" , article the Guardian Newspaper , 24th May 1994.
Gower, J. , 2005, The Morecambe and Wise Confidential, Hubris Publications, Lancaster
Holberg, D., Mandinka, R and Graham J., 2004), "A radical interpretaion of some media icons", the , Journal of Creative Counselling and Psychiatry, vol 34, no 3, pp 18-40.
Morgan J., 2007, "Double Acts and Double Meanings: Examining the On and Off screen relationships of some popular figures", 4th Annual Symposium on Popular Media Analysis and Interpretation (ASPMAI), January 13th 2007, Valetta, Malta.
Palmer, J. & Palmer R., 1998, Male Bonding in Literature, Identity, Relationship and Text: 4th Annual Conference of the Textual Science Association, May4th-7th 1998, Nottingham
Rowntree, W. and Ashkenazy, J., 1989, Metaphor, Morality and Semiotics, Penguin Books, London
Soku, V., 2002, Racial Overtones in British Comedy, Journal of Race and Culture, Vol 24, no 2 pp 88-97
Vendura, D., 2006, "Homoerotic musical references in well-known popular songs", Musical Symbolisim and Semiotics , Vol 1 no, 1, pp 30-35
