Tracy Ann Oberman’s Faux Victimhood

Right now, some of those blue tick Tweeters who have taken minor thesp Tracy Ann Oberman at her word may be recalibrating their trust in her. Because Ms Oberman has embarked upon a campaign which has developed not necessarily to her advantage. She has called out someone for alleged anti-Semitism. But the someone didn’t go there.

Tracy Ann Oberman

What set Ms Oberman off can be put directly: a Tweeter who has indicated their support for former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has passed adverse comment on her, telling that they had enjoyed It’s A Sin until she appeared on the screen.

That Tweeter did not tag Ms Oberman. So it has to be assumed that Ms Oberman has been searching for mentions of her name before condemning someone for expressing an opinion. “Caroline do you think that YOU may be one of those intolerant bigots that Russell is talking about in [It’s A Sin]. Seems you’ve missed the entire point of the series. You and the rest of this thread. Oh dear” she scolded. And there was more.

She tagged the CST, infamous for recently smearing innocent activists as anti-Semites, and Labour Against Anti-Semitism. And the Labour Party. Not that Ms Oberman is trying to incite a pile-on and get someone into trouble, you understand. She was joined in her endeavour by Jewish Chronicle editor Stephen Pollard. ”This is where we are at: people openly tweeting that they won't watch a show because it has a Jewish actor in it who speaks out against Jew hate. Thus making her point for her”. Circular argument, much?

Eddie Marsan joined in this not-really-a-pile-on. “[It’s A Sin] must have [a] cast of 50 actors, all giving brilliant performances, so tell me what is it about the Jewish actress and anti racism campaiger [Tracy Ann Oberman], that leaves a bad taste in your mouth?” Christ on a bike, she just expressed an opinion. But the blue ticks were, by now, circling.

Emma Kennedy observed the growing molehill and upgraded it to Himalayan status. “I’m absolutely sick of watching the abuse [Tracy Ann Oberman] gets on this platform. And the more people who call it out, the better”. Someone said they didn’t like her. What’s abusive about that? Meanwhile, Ms Kennedy’s rant brought in Kirsty Allsopp.

Who said it? “A rabid Corbyn supporter” bleated Ms Kennedy. Oh, well, free hit time: “There’s a vaccine for that. My Grandmother was bitten by a monkey but in those days the needle for the rabies vaccine was so huge she chickened out. But rabies is a horrible condition, that Caroline should get the jab”. Yeah, let’s all give the leftie a good kicking!

But then some of those who had initially taken Ms Oberman on trust had second thoughts. “I bloody love [Daniel Mays] - when industry people you respect and love stand up and call this racist shit out - then you know it’s going to be ok. I Never want another Jewish actor to feel marginalised or frightened on our industry. Too many are” she opined approvingly.

Sadly, Mays had deleted his Tweet. Then, Janey Godley also withdrew, adding “Am horrified she’s being piled on, it seems unnecessary - I apologise”. And Dileep Rao, who had opened with “People like Caroline should be dragged through the streets … Fuck these people forever” reconsidered, deleted and admitted “I was wrong to write this. I apologize. Without reservation. It was absurdly out of proportion … It was just dumb”.

And while we’re being lectured about Ms Oberman’s anti-racism, perhaps her remaining supporters can explain these gems from her back catalogue. After Liz Hurley had told the world “Ping Pong has spoken her first human word! It's as if one of the dogs spoke-we are entranced”, Ms Oberman asked “Is Ping Pong the Thai help?” Ping Pong was a parrot.

Then, after David Quantick mused, not totally seriously, “we are all pretend Muslims now. Except the real Muslims”, Ms Oberman replied “I'll take your clitoris off for that comment”. Which I’m sure is not at all Islamophobic. So that’s For Some Value Of anti-racism.

In the meantime, the unfortunate Tweeter who had the audacity to express her dislike of Ms Oberman has had to take her Twitter feed private. Not that she’s been the victim of an especially nasty pile-on from a bunch of blue ticks who didn’t look before leaping.

Tracy Ann Oberman just lost a significant amount of trust. I’ll just leave that one there.

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