English town says deeply shameful tradition is worth saving actually - eviltoast
This town throws pennies at people. They hurt.
youtu.be
The Honiton Hot Pennies ceremony is the result of 800 years of tradition: from when rich people would entertain themselves by throwing scalding-hot pennies o...

You don’t need to watch the video. Tom Scott/None of the interview subjects ever point out how fucked this is, but basically the story is rich sadists would put coins in boiling water and then throw them at poor children to watch them endure injury for small amounts of money as a form of entertainment.

  • Aria@lemmygrad.mlOP
    15·
    1 year ago

    I summarised the video and didn’t do outside research. The point is that they’re celebrating something that should be shameful. They explain the mechanics of how it’s horrible but not that it is or that it shouldn’t be celebrated. The closest they get to a condemnation is saying they’ve adjusted the tradition to be safer.

    • jossbo@lemmy.ml
      72·
      1 year ago

      They didn’t say “and that is wrong”. But I think that’s because it’s obvious. There were a few raised eyebrows or a change to the tone of voice, so it was certainly implied.

      Like if there was a documentary on the slave they might not actually say, “and this was a bad thing”, bevause obviously it was a horribly bad thing.

      • Aria@lemmygrad.mlOP
        4·
        1 year ago

        And so obviously they stopped celebrating it, right? The last line in the video is

        We’re about making certain that these wonderful old quaint customs continue.

        Backed by the sound and visual of Tom clapping.

        If you think I’ve misunderstood this documentary designed to bring awareness of a social ill, then fair enough. In that case my criticism is that Tom didn’t make a video that communicated that well enough, and my criticism of the town remains unchanged.