KING LAWRENCE:
“Like they said” whimpered Lawrence “I’m pathetic (sobs). And untalented (sniffs). And a coward of a lion (sobs some more. Beat). Maple?! You’re supposed to tell me I’m not!”
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
Well, this is slightly awkward.
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
He’s been sobbing for the last hour. You’re probably wondering what happened. Well before we ask for your help, let me tell you how we got here…
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
The Dinner Diner was in jovial spirits for Charlie the Cheetah’s seventh birthday. The whole cheetah family were washed and groomed, ready to celebrate the special night.As monkey waiters placed Charlie’s birthday antelope on the table, the cheetahs pounced on it, devouring it with loud scoffs and slurps and burps. But sitting nearby was a family of giraffes, who found this very distasteful.
MOTHER GIRAFFE:
“Look at them” said the mother giraffe, “They have no table manners. They’re behaving like, well, animals!”
FATHER GIRAFFE:
“Don’t look, Horace” said the father to his son, “We can’t have you picking up disgusting habits like that.”
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
The Cheetahs couldn’t help overhearing the loud and offensive comments the giraffes were making. They slowly stopped eating, losing their appetites, feeling very self-conscious and hurt.
DAD CHEETAH:
“Ignore them, Charlie” said Mr Cheetah to his son,
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
But Charlie wasn’t in the mood anymore. He burst into tears.
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
Outraged, the cheetah family took this matter directly to King Lawrence: .
DAD CHEETAH:
“The whole evening was completely ruined by the giraffe’s comments” complained Mr Cheetah. “They caused great offence saying that we were messy eaters. Charlie hardly touched his birthday antelope ”.
KING LAWRENCE:
“This is very disturbing” said King Lawrence: . “We can’t have animals talking freely and saying whatever they want, making other animals upset”.
MAPLE:
Maple began to say “Sir, that could be quite tricky to-” but she was cut off.
KING LAWRENCE:
“Maple, fetch my robe” said King Lawrence: , “I feel a kingdom-wide decree coming.”
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
Animals gathered from far and wide at the watering hole to hear the King’s new decree.
KING LAWRENCE: (singing)
All creatures, critters, come gather aside,
Here’s a new law by which you must abide
You will never ever cause each other offence
And you’ll follow this law if you have any sense
I’ll make it kingdom law, with a stamp of my paw
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
So, King Lawrence: made it law that animals must never say anything that could cause offence or upset, in an effort to restore peace to the Savannah. But it wasn’t quite that simple…
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
Later that day, at the Savannah sports field, animals of all shapes and sizes were exercising. Lions were lunging, crickets were cross-training, and an elephant was exercising in the water.
ZEBRA 1:
“Shall we play cricket?” asked Zuki the Zebra, to her friend Ziggy.
ZEBRA 2:
“No, cricket’s boring!” exclaimed Ziggy.
CRICKET 1:
“Thanks a lot!” retorted a cricket.
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
Across the playing field a group of crickets misheard Ziggy and thought she was calling them boring.
CRICKET 2:
“I find that very offensive” said the second cricket. And remember the King said no one is allowed to cause offence.
CRICKET 2:
“Boring?” said the first cricket to the zebras, ready for an argument, “You have no idea how much we do to keep this ecosystem alive. Jumping here, hopping there, there’s no lazy lyin’ around for us”.
LUCY THE LIONESS:
“Who are you calling a lazy lion?” said Lucy the lioness while holding a near perfect lunge“We’re up at 5am, Rushing here rushing there… apart from Lenny over there, I’ll admit he’s a lazy one alright !”
LENNY LION:
“Excuse me, when you get to my age you need all the sleep you can get.” said Lenny the Lion, chiming in to defend himself.
LUCY THE LIONESS:
“Who asked you, Lenny?” replied Lucy the Lioness. “Always poking your silly nose in!”
EDDIE ELEPHANT:
“I don’t have a silly nose” bellowed Eddie the Elephant. “It’s actually very useful as a snorkel”.
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
The whole sports field was now in chaos, as all the animals were offended by comments that weren’t intended to cause upset.
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
Later, Charlie the Cheetah and his family went to the cinema, to make up for his birthday meal that had been ruined. He was so excited to see the “The Man King” on the big screen. However, as they sat down, they realised they couldn’t see the screen because they were sitting behind a group of incredibly tall giraffes. The same giraffes who ruined the birthday meal!
MUM CHEETAH:
“Ask them to move” whispered Mrs Cheetah.
DAD CHEETAH:
“No, they’ll kick off”, replied Mr Cheetah.
MUM:
“Fine, ask them to swap” said Mrs Cheetah.
DAD:
“But that could offend them, which we aren’t allowed to do”, said Mr Cheetah.
MUM:
“We can’t ruin another night for little Charlie’s birthday” stressed Mrs Cheetah.
CHARLIE:
“Mum, Dad, I can’t see the film” complained Charlie, getting upset now.
SNAKE:
“Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” hissed a snake, trying to watch the film.
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
Too afraid to cause offence, the cheetahs sat behind the giraffes for the entire film, unable to see. Maple the Meerkat witnessed the entire event. She needed to speak to King Lawrence: about this right away… well, after the film had finished.
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
That afternoon, there was a commotion at the watering hole. All the animals were protesting against the King’s decree to not cause offence. Maple found King Lawrence: and explained it to him.
MAPLE:
“It is very hard to judge. Different comments cause offence for different animals. And some animals won’t speak up for themselves in case they offend someone”.
LAWRENCE:
“Are you saying my decree is a failure?” growled Lawrence. “That offends me, Maple. Criminal!”
MAPLE:
“That’s my point my lord” said Maple in defence. “Who decides what is offensive and what is not offensive?”
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
King Lawrence: understood now. He addressed the animals at the watering hole.
KING LAWRENCE:
“I understand my decree wasn’t the raging success I believed it would be” declared Lawrence. All this ‘taking offence’ is the problem! So, I will be announcing a new decree giving everyone the freedom to say what they like” he bellowed…
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
Which of course meant it was time for him to sing.
KING LAWRENCE: (singing)
Hello dear friends and listen close,
I have a change to my decree.
Offence is fickle and can get us in a pickle,
So you are all permitted to speak free…
Speak free, speak loud, a new law I’m proud
To declare with the stamp of my…(interrupted)
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
But the animals started shouting before he could finish the song.
CHORUS:
Your song is rubbish!Get off the stage!King Lawrence: can’t sing!
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
It was pandemonium; animals were speaking completely freely and causing offence. The cheetahs told the giraffes their necks were too long, a zebra told the monkeys they’re too noisy at night, and Maple even told her partner that they snore too loudly. And King Lawrence: … was nowhere to be seen.
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
Maple searched everywhere until she eventually found King Lawrence: in the throne room.
KING LAWRENCE:
“Leave me alone!” cried Lawrence. “They said my song was rubbish and I can’t sing…I’m so offended”.
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
And here we are. Lawrence’s first decree was that no one should say anything that upsets people and causes offence. Similar to what the philosopher John Stewart Mill said…
People should be able to speak freely, as long as they cause no harm to people.
SIR STEPHEN FRY:
It’s difficult to know what will cause harm or offence, as people are offended by different things. It’s important that people can express their opinions and say what they think, but does this mean they can say ANYTHING they like? Should we make sure we don’t offend anyone, or should we be allowed to offend others? Is there anything we should NEVER say? Over to you…
Video summary
In this illustrated story narrated by Sir Stephen Fry, a community of animals living in a fictional savannah try to navigate some tricky philosophical questions.
After Charlie the Cheetah’s birthday meal is ruined by hurtful comments made by a family of giraffes, King Lawrence the Lion orders a decree stating that animals must never say anything that could cause offence or upset.
This decision leads to a number of incidents in the community and a commotion at the watering hole, with the animals protesting against the King’s decree. Luckily, his trusted advisor Maple the Meerkat, offers a voice of reason and tries to explain to the King the error of his ways.
Sir Stephen Fry explains how the issue of offence has long been debated by philosophers. John Stewart Mill thought that people should be able to speak freely, as long as their words cause no harm. However, it can be difficult to know what will cause harm or offence, as people are offended by different things.
This video is from the series Fantastic Philosophy.
Teacher Notes
Key Questions
Before watching the video:
- Should everybody be allowed to say what they want?
- Is there anything we should never say?
During / after the video:
- If what you say offends someone, should you stop saying it?
- If what you say offends someone, does that make it wrong?
- What should the cheetah family have done in the cinema?
After the video:
- Should people be able to say what they like on social media?
- Was John Stuart Mill right to say we can say what we want to so long as it doesn’t cause any harm?
- If you were King Lion, what decree would you make?
Philosophy and Meta-Cognition
The term ‘metacognition’ is often translated as ‘thinking about thinking’ (Flavell 1979). In primary schools it is becoming more and more popular as children are encouraged to think about their own learning more explicitly.
The Global Metacognition Institute recommend the following metacognitive questions you might ask your students that might lead to deeper philosophical reflections, questions and/or discussions.
- How do you know that's a better answer than the alternatives?
- How strong is the evidence on which that claim is based?
- Is that something you are 100% certain about or is there any room for doubt?
- How might you challenge that idea?
- Why might other people claim that the opposite is true?
- What would good evidence to support that claim look like?
Philosophy and the KS2 English Curriculum:
Fantastic Philosophy will facilitate teachers in achieving the aims of the English National Curriculum for KS2, particularly:
- Teachers should therefore ensure the continual development of pupils’ confidence and competence in spoken language and listening skills.
- [Pupils] must be assisted in making their thinking clear to themselves as well as to others and teachers should ensure that pupils build secure foundations by using discussion to probe and remedy their misconceptions. Pupils should also be taught to understand and use the conventions for discussion and debate.
Philosophy and Religious Studies:
There is no set National Curriculum for Religious Studies, but Fantastic Philosophy will facilitate the teaching of Religious Studies by helping to show children that there are different perspectives on the same topic, all of which may have valid arguments. It will help teach essential skills of listening to others' perspectives, and showing respect for different views.
Philosophy and PSHE:
In a world where children are increasingly exposed to social media and fake news, Fantastic Philosophy helps them develop critical awareness and evaluative skills. It teaches them to identify weak arguments and develop their own viewpoints.
More from this series:
Is it ever right to lie? video
Sir Stephen Fry narrates an illustrated story set in a fictional savannah asking whether it's ever right to lie?
Do adults always know best? video
Sir Stephen Fry narrates an illustrated story asking do adults always know best? Or are there times when children can even teach adults a thing or two?
