OnDusk

My grandson has reached an age where he will ask his daddy to call me so he can get on, he wants to share some news. It’s either a question and a quick chat, or it's to tell me that he is disappointed.  I coo at him and talk about being happy about something that he can do or look forward to. His latest disappointment – he can’t make films and put them on youtube.  Both parents said no.  A definite 'no' from both of them.  He knows there are rules about online spaces, and some rules are non-negotiable. My grandson is under 10 years of age.  I haven’t posted a photo of him for years, and what made it into my social media feed was blurred or taken from the rear. He only watches shows with permission and is only on-line when under supervision.   He is a sensitive child in some ways, robust in others. He has a great sense of humour and he is smart as a whip.   He got the idea of filming his own shows. ‘Documents’ he called th...

I was a country kid so I grew up on ABC. If you are of the same era, you know what I mean. Pretty much sun up and sun down screenings of shows imported from the UK. Many of the shows from the 1970s and 1980s still stand up or maybe it’s nostalgia.   Fawlty Towers, The Good Life, Yes Minister, To The Manor Born told me a lot about England but mostly they made me laugh.   They were comedies set in a far away place with little resemblance to home.  They didnt make me feel blacker or invisible.  I watched them because they were funny and sometimes they were funny even when they were sad.  They did something to my insides.   I remember when it began to jar a little amongst cultural gatekeepers, the frissons of resentment that somehow we weren’t proud of local content. I cant think of any shows of comedic note that were produced in Australia around that time. Seriously. I can’t. Then and now I’ve never watched a tv show because I thought I had t...

Romper Stomper – The Series, Season 1 on Stan Midway impressions The series makes Romper Stomper, The Movie look like a masterpiece. I knew all about the controversy of the movie first and then the series, not because I was interested in a fresh round of outrage.  I was interested in where the story went after the movie ended.     It’s hardly surprising that I have high thresholds for violence on screen.   I have lived in Australia all my life. Blaming a tv show or a movie for that matter for the violence and hate that some will bear down on others is only part of the story.   It can contribute but it’s not in itself enough.    Rancid masculinity is manifest in a myriad of ways, in places town and country, and in people rich and poor.   If the concern is that it is enhanced by violence and dehumanization pouring out of screen into people’s homes, then why don’t we start with a campaign to eliminate porn?   Or Game of Thro...