REPORTER: Amos Roberts
Gentlemen of Denmark, Thomas Blachman would like your attention.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Are you also the horniest person you’ve ever met? Are you touched by who you are? Do you often touch yourself?
Over six consecutive Tuesday evenings in April and May, Blachman addressed his countrymen about a personal crisis.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): You see, I suffer from too much porn on the one hand and too much politically correct puritanism on the other. But what about the poetry? Where did it go?
Until now, Danes knew Thomas Blachman as an award-winning jazz musician and as the 'X-Factor' judge that audiences loved or hated.
THOMAS BLACHMAN, X FACTOR (Translation): I didn’t vomit when I heard it, so that was positive.
In his new show, Blachman wants to talk about women.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): The female body is thirsting for words. A man’s words. So I approach you with the noble ambition of re-positivising the woman’s view of the man’s view of the woman.
The format of the Blachman show is simple - each week he invites a well-known Danish man, fashion designer, writer, comedian, singer, to a very unusual encounter. Two men watch a naked woman. They start by discussing her body.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): I don’t know if my hand could handle a breast like that.
BRANDT (Translation): I don’t know what the hell to do.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Can you twist your foot to the right?
JUUL (Translation): It is a very beautiful ankle and a beautiful arch.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): That’s a damn nice arse. Look at it for god’s sake. It’s nice to see a natural breast, I don’t know if it was an in-between generation that needed to be so pumped.
The woman's body becomes a catalyst for a discussion about the modern Danish man that sometimes borders on the bizarre.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Women today, where are they finding these men? They must feel very under-stimulated, because where the hell is he? We are heading for a dickless society that they have helped established, with the man hiding in the scenery, apologising for his erection, asking what to do with it.
BRANDT (Translation): Get on your knees, Miss, and we will figure it out.
THOMAS BLACHMAN: Loneliness, we have so much loneliness in this country. I mean, it's ridiculous.
Blachman describes his show as a mix of avant-garde art and social experiment.
THOMAS BLACHMAN: To put two men to the most unthinkable situation, what's going to happen? To put it on screen in people's homes, you know. This idea, I thought, wow, this is crazy. Let's do it. And see what happens because it's needed. To provoke - man is very complex and the masculine view on women is not allowed any more, it’s too dangerous, but we all have it. We all enjoy watching women and we're not afraid of talking about women when we are by ourselves. As soon as one woman appears we just stiffen up.
REPORTER: Did you need a naked woman to have this conversation?
THOMAS BLACHMAN: Obviously, because I mean, how many times have you seen the two men, man-woman talking on the television, but you put in a naked woman - I mean, it is going to change the whole environment.
The female commissioning editor at DR2, Denmark's niche public broadcaster agreed.
REPORTER: How did you react when Thomas Blachman pitched this show to you?
SOFIA FROMBERG, DR2 COMMISSIONING EDITOR: I got it on an email. The first time I read the email, I thought, "This is not possible, you cannot do this". And then I started thinking - well, why not? Why couldn't we do this?
The format was guaranteed to provoke. Everyone before it was broadcast.
LOTTE HANSEN, JOURNALIST: I saw first the trailers that were shown often in Danish television. They were proud of this program. I thought, are we so low in 2013. I actually couldn't believe in it. So I was actually embarrassed because it's a publish service channel.
Journalist and blogger, Lotte Hansen, wrote a formal complaint to DR2 before the show even went to air.
LOTTE HANSEN (Translation): “Dear Chief Editors, I don’t understand why this show exists and I am not willing to give it a chance. I have seen trailers and the concept and that is enough. It’s journalism at it’s worst, provocative for the sake of provocation.
SOFIA FROMBERG: I was surprised because the reaction came before the program had been broadcast. So, it was really an automatic reaction.
Tonight, the final episode of Blachman is screening in homes across Denmark.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Are you still trying to act cheerful?
WOMAN (Translation): Not really.
NINA PFENNING (Translation): I think he is so hot.
FRIEND (Translation): I think he is ridiculous.
FRIEND 2 (Translation): I think so too, but there’s still something about it.
These women are interested in analysing Blachman as well as his female guests.
NINA PFENNING (Translation): He also has this very feminine side to him. That is an adult woman he has there. Very nice breasts.
Nina has a special interest in this program. She herself has already bared all for Blachman.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): You have very beautiful feet. Insanely beautiful feet!
NINA PFENNING: Somebody told me that he was searching for women for a new program on Danish television about naked women, naked women in all ages from 18 to 100 if possible.
Nina, a primary schoolteacher, only found out she was going to be ogled by Thomas Blachman the night before filming.
REPORTER: How did you feel when you found out...?
NINA PFENNING: Mr Blachman? Oh my God. Yes!
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): A stunning natural beauty here. Slim legs and that build.
REPORTER: How did your family react to you being on this show?
NINA PFENNING: My mum, she was the first one calling me. "Oh, it's you". "You're naked". I said, "Yes, mum, it's me". "I need to tell you I'm so proud of you. You standing there on television. You are so beautiful. I'm so proud of you."
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): I believe that a woman’s body is thirsting for a man’s words.
REPORTER: Do you think this is true?
FRIEND: Yes, definitely. The right words.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Which parts of the female body turn you on? Where does your eye come to rest?
STEN HEGELER (Translation): It’s almost always the breasts.
NINA PFENNING: Of course, big surprise.
REPORTER: What do you think of this guy?
THOMAS BLACHMAN: He's a real man. He knows a lot about women, can I tell you.
Blachman's guest is psychologist and sexologist, Sten Hegeler.
REPORTER: Do you think that he's right when he says that a woman's body thirsts for a man's words?
STEN HEGELER, SEXOLOGIST: Yes. And so what?
Now, 90 years old, in the 1960s and 70s, Hegeler pioneered Denmark's sexual revolution.
REPORTER: Can you see why some women were offended by a program in which two men discuss a naked woman who cannot speak back?
STEN HEGELER: I once was in television and there was a fanatic feminist...who spoke about how terrible it was to be a sex object. Then I said “There’s something worse than that.” And she said “What’s that?” I said “Not being a sex object.”
Plenty of people were offended by Blachman. Men as well as women.
MAN (Translation): It’s not okay in a modern society to use someone as a prop.
On this Swedish TV show, guests accused the program of setting back the cause of women's rights.
WOMAN (Translation): He’s saying that the female body is thirsting for the words of a man. I’m thirsting after conversation and the trust of a man towards my intelligence going beyond my sexy body.
REPORTER: Can you see why some women would be offended by a program which seems like a throw-back to the old days, where women were there to decorate rather than to have meaningful roles?
SOFIA FROMBERG: Yes, no, I really can't. If they watch the program, they will find out that the intention of the program is exactly the opposite. This program is a tribute to women. So, no, I really can't see that.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Hey you, there you go.
SOFIA FROMBERG: I think it is important we give another picture of what women really looks like. Today in society female bodies are portrayed in the media as perfect. This program, we show what really beautiful women looks like.
REPORTER: Why can't they talk?
SOFIA FROMBERG: Well, that was a decision from the production company and you know, I could have changed it if I wanted, but I actually thought no, it's fine. They do talk as well. If you notice. They don't talk with words but they talk with their bodies, with their eyes, with their laughter.
THOMAS BLACHMAN: I mean come on, women talk all the time. What a wonderful idea to be quiet for a second. And let the men talk.
BRANDT (Translation): That’s fine, that’s lovely. I must say you have a nice body. Are those your natural breasts? You can’t reply.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): We know the answer to that, don’t we?
REPORTER: We never know who these women are, we never know their names, they are things to be looked at.
SOFIA FROMBERG: Yes, and they are there to be looked at, they are the sculpture in the studio. It would be a problem if we were living in a society where we had huge problems between men and women, but we don't.
LOTTE HANSEN: They shouldn't have done it this way, because the fact is, and that's just so easy to see, that they treat the women as a horse, at a county fair and they discuss how she looked like and then Seguin, "An old horse could also be a good horse".
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Those legs, they also… were around during the Second World War. I’m completely mad about the life lived in that hand. Can I see your hand?
LOTTE HANSEN: Then they look at the old horse and say, "Look at here, she has some hands, they are really old but have maybe done a lot of work and that's what they discuss". And they should stop this phoney intellectualisation about this, because that's not true. They should just call it what it is. It's a county fair.
MAN (Translation): Now you just have to tell me what you are thinking while you are looking at Andy.
This was a good humoured attempt at a reverse Blachman by a morning television show. Here a naked man is appraised by a female journalist and sexologist.
WOMAN (Translation): Even men think that a limp dick isn’t beautiful, but you are beautiful. Wow. It’s a great morning, this.
Danes pride themselves on being relaxed about sex and nudity, and opposed to censorship of any kind. These 18 and 19-year-olds are being photographed for the new edition of a Danish feminist classic - 'Woman - Know Your Body'. They were quite open to the idea behind the Blachman show.
CHRISTINE DREYER ALEXANDERSEN, CO-EDITOR “WOMAN, KNOW YOUR BODY”: Yeah, I just thought that it might show how different women's bodies can be.
REPORTER: Did it bother you that the program is about two men looking at a woman's body?
GIRL: Actually, I think I found it interesting to hear what men could say about a woman's body, but I think the program is more about Blachman talking.
REPORTER: What is it about Denmark that means that a program like this exists?
CHRISTINE DREYER ALEXANDERSEN: The fact that we don't get offended any more, perhaps.
The young feminists editing 'Woman - Know Your Body', didn't even bother to protest the Blachman program.
CHRISTINE DREYER ALEXANDERSEN: As a woman, you can't say anything unless you laugh about it or show some kind of appreciation of the show that if you criticise it and say, "This is bullshit", then you are just the angry feminist, prudish, uptight, humourless... Man-hating, all this stuff.
FEMALE REPORTER: It's called 'Blachman - a new Danish primetime TV show. It has a controversial premise...
Some feminists may have been unwilling to make a fuss but when the international media found out about Blachman, they went berserk.
EMMA GRAY, HUFFPOST ASST WOMEN’S EDITOR: It is insane. My first reaction was almost how did this ever get green lit, like how does this exist?
Perhaps because Thomas Blachman was an 'X-Factor' judge, journalists assumed he was judging the woman's body.
TYT REPORTER: This guy is an asshole. The female body does not thirst for anything from Mr Blachman.
It didn't help that journalists were too lazy to translate what was actually being said on the program.
FEMALE REPORTER: What kind of things did they say?
EMMA GRAY: I'm not actually sure because the clip is not in English.
FEMALE REPORTER: Probably not very nice.
EMMA GRAY: Probably not very nice things.
SOFIA FROMBERG (Translation): Here’s to Season 21, I am asked a lot about that.
Thomas Blachman is hosting a party for the people who made his show possible. He's thrilled it's become one of the most downloaded programs on Danish public television. But they're furious at the way it's been portrayed overseas.
GUEST (Translation): It’s completely crazy that you can create 800 international articles on the basis of something no one has seen.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Based on a lie. It’s a lie, no one has seen it.
Thomas Blachman is happy to admit he's arrogant and provocative. But he wants the world to know he's also sincere. And he's not a sexist.
THOMAS BLACHMAN: Men have a craziness, that women don't have. We need that craziness. But that requires a liberated man, which is, who don't give a shit about what other people think of him. He's only interested in one thing, to give people something to think about. To express himself, uncensored and that doesn't make me sexist.
ANJALI RAO: Well, that's the end of my work day. My body is thirsting for something, but I can assure you it is not the words of a man. The very provocative Thomas Blachman with Amos Roberts and you can see all of tonight's stories and leave your comments on our website.
Reporter/Camera
AMOS ROBERTS
Producer
DONALD CAMERON
Translator
THORBEN SEIERØ JENSEN
Editors
NICK O’BRIEN
DAVID POTTS
Translations/Subtitling
MARIA BLEEG
Original music composed by VICKI HANSEN
Blachman Footage Courtesy DR2
Gentlemen of Denmark, Thomas Blachman would like your attention.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Are you also the horniest person you’ve ever met? Are you touched by who you are? Do you often touch yourself?
Over six consecutive Tuesday evenings in April and May, Blachman addressed his countrymen about a personal crisis.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): You see, I suffer from too much porn on the one hand and too much politically correct puritanism on the other. But what about the poetry? Where did it go?
Until now, Danes knew Thomas Blachman as an award-winning jazz musician and as the 'X-Factor' judge that audiences loved or hated.
THOMAS BLACHMAN, X FACTOR (Translation): I didn’t vomit when I heard it, so that was positive.
In his new show, Blachman wants to talk about women.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): The female body is thirsting for words. A man’s words. So I approach you with the noble ambition of re-positivising the woman’s view of the man’s view of the woman.
The format of the Blachman show is simple - each week he invites a well-known Danish man, fashion designer, writer, comedian, singer, to a very unusual encounter. Two men watch a naked woman. They start by discussing her body.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): I don’t know if my hand could handle a breast like that.
BRANDT (Translation): I don’t know what the hell to do.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Can you twist your foot to the right?
JUUL (Translation): It is a very beautiful ankle and a beautiful arch.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): That’s a damn nice arse. Look at it for god’s sake. It’s nice to see a natural breast, I don’t know if it was an in-between generation that needed to be so pumped.
The woman's body becomes a catalyst for a discussion about the modern Danish man that sometimes borders on the bizarre.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Women today, where are they finding these men? They must feel very under-stimulated, because where the hell is he? We are heading for a dickless society that they have helped established, with the man hiding in the scenery, apologising for his erection, asking what to do with it.
BRANDT (Translation): Get on your knees, Miss, and we will figure it out.
THOMAS BLACHMAN: Loneliness, we have so much loneliness in this country. I mean, it's ridiculous.
Blachman describes his show as a mix of avant-garde art and social experiment.
THOMAS BLACHMAN: To put two men to the most unthinkable situation, what's going to happen? To put it on screen in people's homes, you know. This idea, I thought, wow, this is crazy. Let's do it. And see what happens because it's needed. To provoke - man is very complex and the masculine view on women is not allowed any more, it’s too dangerous, but we all have it. We all enjoy watching women and we're not afraid of talking about women when we are by ourselves. As soon as one woman appears we just stiffen up.
REPORTER: Did you need a naked woman to have this conversation?
THOMAS BLACHMAN: Obviously, because I mean, how many times have you seen the two men, man-woman talking on the television, but you put in a naked woman - I mean, it is going to change the whole environment.
The female commissioning editor at DR2, Denmark's niche public broadcaster agreed.
REPORTER: How did you react when Thomas Blachman pitched this show to you?
SOFIA FROMBERG, DR2 COMMISSIONING EDITOR: I got it on an email. The first time I read the email, I thought, "This is not possible, you cannot do this". And then I started thinking - well, why not? Why couldn't we do this?
The format was guaranteed to provoke. Everyone before it was broadcast.
LOTTE HANSEN, JOURNALIST: I saw first the trailers that were shown often in Danish television. They were proud of this program. I thought, are we so low in 2013. I actually couldn't believe in it. So I was actually embarrassed because it's a publish service channel.
Journalist and blogger, Lotte Hansen, wrote a formal complaint to DR2 before the show even went to air.
LOTTE HANSEN (Translation): “Dear Chief Editors, I don’t understand why this show exists and I am not willing to give it a chance. I have seen trailers and the concept and that is enough. It’s journalism at it’s worst, provocative for the sake of provocation.
SOFIA FROMBERG: I was surprised because the reaction came before the program had been broadcast. So, it was really an automatic reaction.
Tonight, the final episode of Blachman is screening in homes across Denmark.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Are you still trying to act cheerful?
WOMAN (Translation): Not really.
NINA PFENNING (Translation): I think he is so hot.
FRIEND (Translation): I think he is ridiculous.
FRIEND 2 (Translation): I think so too, but there’s still something about it.
These women are interested in analysing Blachman as well as his female guests.
NINA PFENNING (Translation): He also has this very feminine side to him. That is an adult woman he has there. Very nice breasts.
Nina has a special interest in this program. She herself has already bared all for Blachman.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): You have very beautiful feet. Insanely beautiful feet!
NINA PFENNING: Somebody told me that he was searching for women for a new program on Danish television about naked women, naked women in all ages from 18 to 100 if possible.
Nina, a primary schoolteacher, only found out she was going to be ogled by Thomas Blachman the night before filming.
REPORTER: How did you feel when you found out...?
NINA PFENNING: Mr Blachman? Oh my God. Yes!
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): A stunning natural beauty here. Slim legs and that build.
REPORTER: How did your family react to you being on this show?
NINA PFENNING: My mum, she was the first one calling me. "Oh, it's you". "You're naked". I said, "Yes, mum, it's me". "I need to tell you I'm so proud of you. You standing there on television. You are so beautiful. I'm so proud of you."
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): I believe that a woman’s body is thirsting for a man’s words.
REPORTER: Do you think this is true?
FRIEND: Yes, definitely. The right words.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Which parts of the female body turn you on? Where does your eye come to rest?
STEN HEGELER (Translation): It’s almost always the breasts.
NINA PFENNING: Of course, big surprise.
REPORTER: What do you think of this guy?
THOMAS BLACHMAN: He's a real man. He knows a lot about women, can I tell you.
Blachman's guest is psychologist and sexologist, Sten Hegeler.
REPORTER: Do you think that he's right when he says that a woman's body thirsts for a man's words?
STEN HEGELER, SEXOLOGIST: Yes. And so what?
Now, 90 years old, in the 1960s and 70s, Hegeler pioneered Denmark's sexual revolution.
REPORTER: Can you see why some women were offended by a program in which two men discuss a naked woman who cannot speak back?
STEN HEGELER: I once was in television and there was a fanatic feminist...who spoke about how terrible it was to be a sex object. Then I said “There’s something worse than that.” And she said “What’s that?” I said “Not being a sex object.”
Plenty of people were offended by Blachman. Men as well as women.
MAN (Translation): It’s not okay in a modern society to use someone as a prop.
On this Swedish TV show, guests accused the program of setting back the cause of women's rights.
WOMAN (Translation): He’s saying that the female body is thirsting for the words of a man. I’m thirsting after conversation and the trust of a man towards my intelligence going beyond my sexy body.
REPORTER: Can you see why some women would be offended by a program which seems like a throw-back to the old days, where women were there to decorate rather than to have meaningful roles?
SOFIA FROMBERG: Yes, no, I really can't. If they watch the program, they will find out that the intention of the program is exactly the opposite. This program is a tribute to women. So, no, I really can't see that.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Hey you, there you go.
SOFIA FROMBERG: I think it is important we give another picture of what women really looks like. Today in society female bodies are portrayed in the media as perfect. This program, we show what really beautiful women looks like.
REPORTER: Why can't they talk?
SOFIA FROMBERG: Well, that was a decision from the production company and you know, I could have changed it if I wanted, but I actually thought no, it's fine. They do talk as well. If you notice. They don't talk with words but they talk with their bodies, with their eyes, with their laughter.
THOMAS BLACHMAN: I mean come on, women talk all the time. What a wonderful idea to be quiet for a second. And let the men talk.
BRANDT (Translation): That’s fine, that’s lovely. I must say you have a nice body. Are those your natural breasts? You can’t reply.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): We know the answer to that, don’t we?
REPORTER: We never know who these women are, we never know their names, they are things to be looked at.
SOFIA FROMBERG: Yes, and they are there to be looked at, they are the sculpture in the studio. It would be a problem if we were living in a society where we had huge problems between men and women, but we don't.
LOTTE HANSEN: They shouldn't have done it this way, because the fact is, and that's just so easy to see, that they treat the women as a horse, at a county fair and they discuss how she looked like and then Seguin, "An old horse could also be a good horse".
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Those legs, they also… were around during the Second World War. I’m completely mad about the life lived in that hand. Can I see your hand?
LOTTE HANSEN: Then they look at the old horse and say, "Look at here, she has some hands, they are really old but have maybe done a lot of work and that's what they discuss". And they should stop this phoney intellectualisation about this, because that's not true. They should just call it what it is. It's a county fair.
MAN (Translation): Now you just have to tell me what you are thinking while you are looking at Andy.
This was a good humoured attempt at a reverse Blachman by a morning television show. Here a naked man is appraised by a female journalist and sexologist.
WOMAN (Translation): Even men think that a limp dick isn’t beautiful, but you are beautiful. Wow. It’s a great morning, this.
Danes pride themselves on being relaxed about sex and nudity, and opposed to censorship of any kind. These 18 and 19-year-olds are being photographed for the new edition of a Danish feminist classic - 'Woman - Know Your Body'. They were quite open to the idea behind the Blachman show.
CHRISTINE DREYER ALEXANDERSEN, CO-EDITOR “WOMAN, KNOW YOUR BODY”: Yeah, I just thought that it might show how different women's bodies can be.
REPORTER: Did it bother you that the program is about two men looking at a woman's body?
GIRL: Actually, I think I found it interesting to hear what men could say about a woman's body, but I think the program is more about Blachman talking.
REPORTER: What is it about Denmark that means that a program like this exists?
CHRISTINE DREYER ALEXANDERSEN: The fact that we don't get offended any more, perhaps.
The young feminists editing 'Woman - Know Your Body', didn't even bother to protest the Blachman program.
CHRISTINE DREYER ALEXANDERSEN: As a woman, you can't say anything unless you laugh about it or show some kind of appreciation of the show that if you criticise it and say, "This is bullshit", then you are just the angry feminist, prudish, uptight, humourless... Man-hating, all this stuff.
FEMALE REPORTER: It's called 'Blachman - a new Danish primetime TV show. It has a controversial premise...
Some feminists may have been unwilling to make a fuss but when the international media found out about Blachman, they went berserk.
EMMA GRAY, HUFFPOST ASST WOMEN’S EDITOR: It is insane. My first reaction was almost how did this ever get green lit, like how does this exist?
Perhaps because Thomas Blachman was an 'X-Factor' judge, journalists assumed he was judging the woman's body.
TYT REPORTER: This guy is an asshole. The female body does not thirst for anything from Mr Blachman.
It didn't help that journalists were too lazy to translate what was actually being said on the program.
FEMALE REPORTER: What kind of things did they say?
EMMA GRAY: I'm not actually sure because the clip is not in English.
FEMALE REPORTER: Probably not very nice.
EMMA GRAY: Probably not very nice things.
SOFIA FROMBERG (Translation): Here’s to Season 21, I am asked a lot about that.
Thomas Blachman is hosting a party for the people who made his show possible. He's thrilled it's become one of the most downloaded programs on Danish public television. But they're furious at the way it's been portrayed overseas.
GUEST (Translation): It’s completely crazy that you can create 800 international articles on the basis of something no one has seen.
THOMAS BLACHMAN (Translation): Based on a lie. It’s a lie, no one has seen it.
Thomas Blachman is happy to admit he's arrogant and provocative. But he wants the world to know he's also sincere. And he's not a sexist.
THOMAS BLACHMAN: Men have a craziness, that women don't have. We need that craziness. But that requires a liberated man, which is, who don't give a shit about what other people think of him. He's only interested in one thing, to give people something to think about. To express himself, uncensored and that doesn't make me sexist.
ANJALI RAO: Well, that's the end of my work day. My body is thirsting for something, but I can assure you it is not the words of a man. The very provocative Thomas Blachman with Amos Roberts and you can see all of tonight's stories and leave your comments on our website.
Reporter/Camera
AMOS ROBERTS
Producer
DONALD CAMERON
Translator
THORBEN SEIERØ JENSEN
Editors
NICK O’BRIEN
DAVID POTTS
Translations/Subtitling
MARIA BLEEG
Original music composed by VICKI HANSEN
Blachman Footage Courtesy DR2