Who knows what porn is? Not the Family Association, apparently

In the same edition of the Herald Sun that thought it front-page worthy to advertise that Mary Korp - the woman in a coma after being found in the boot of her car - was a member of a 'sex site', carrying the implication that the paper just might think she was 'asking for it' (whatever it is), there is an opinion piece by Kerrie Allen. Who is she? Well, she's a 'research officer' for the Australia Family Association.

Her piece, entitled 'We don't want Debbie to do Melbourne', seemed to deny that the musical version of the classic porn film Debbie Does Dallas could be humourous or satirical, simply because of its subject matter. 'Since when has exploitation been humourous?' she asks. Dr. Allen asserts that pornography is exploitative (of WOMEN and woman alone, note)and that the presence of the musical in Melbourne is sending a bad message to 'our daughters'.

Now, I don't want to dismiss her point because there are definitely things about pornography that have effects, good and bad, on our culture. However, she's kind of throwing mud everywhere and seeing what sticks. Somehow, even though the musical is not 'pornography' (which, as Bill Hicks immortally told us, no-one can define) - and in fact is just a musical version of the story and not a live sex-show at all - Dr. Allen goes off on a tangent about porn itself. It's kind of like using that the musical 'Assassins' to illustrate that murder is bad.
Bear in mind that the story itself isn't that different from scores of teen flicks spanning decades. I can only conclude that Dr. Allen is using the Debbie does Dallas musical, irrelevant as it is to discussions about the adult industry, to reopen a debate about that which she sees as having only negative effects on that most weak of sexes - the female.

That's right, folks; porn, which pays female actors exorbitant amounts of money for relatively little work (compared to the males), is only abusing 'our daughters'. I am not a very big fan of this positivist shit. Oh, 'our daughters' are being exploited by porn. You know, women are so stupid that they can't make their minds up about anything and even consensual sex is actually rape, since all pornography is exploitative. And only to women.
Give me a break! According to Jim Emerson, quoting a 60 minutes report from September last year, Americans alone spend $10 billion a year on adult entertainment "which is as much as they spend attending professional sporting events, buying music or going out to the movies."
The adult industry wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the huge amount of money poured into it every year by the industry EXPLOITING men. 'Oh, those men know what they're doing!' I hear you say? Well, SO DO THE WOMEN. How about that?

I don't appreciate Dr. Allen's rhetorical questioning that is used where there should be evidence, but isn't. "How many mothers and fathers in Australia would like to associate porn with part of their daughters growing up and becoming women?" This is a straw man argument. She redefines the issue in her terms and then tears it down, as if she was actually saying something.
She also uses that 'research indicates' phrase that is often used to mask unreliable studies. To be fair, Dr. Allen uses this saying 'research indicates no person's understanding of sexuality or experience of relationships can remain unaffected by porn' which is completely obvious and needs no verification since EVERYTHING in the social and cultural spheres cannot help but affect everything else. Sure, porn affects relationships and sexuality. But you know what else does? Catholicism, politics, Disney, Protestantism, Brittney Spears, Archie and Jughead Comics, Guy Sebastian and....*drumroll* FAMILY.
But, let's pick on porn, just because it's such an easy target.

There are a lot of problems with pornography. I grant you this. But polemics like Kerrie Allen's are so extremist that they lump all adult film, literature and entertainment into one category and then label that bad. You will never get the Australian Family Association to admit that there just might be more to sex than lights out, wedlocked and passionless missionary; nor that there just might be more to pornography than 'exploitation'.
Don't be fooled by Kerrie Allen's royal 'We' and arrogant claims to the moral highground, when those morals are corrupted by ignorance, dogmatism and, interestingly enough, paternalistic condescension.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050210/REVIEWS/50211001/1023

Successes and Failures

Success! A man was gaoled this week for murdering his cat. Matthew Gardeniers, 30, was sentenced to 6 months by the Ringwood Magistrates Court for aggravated cruelty. He has a history of violence towards both non-human animals - especially cats - and people alike. If ever I thought that imprisonment could act as a deterrent - which I don't, really -it would be because of this.

Failure! The UN recently released its report on Darfur, saying that while 'serious crimes' have been committed, it's not genocide that's happening. The US, disagrees. Which is interesting, considering that the US is 'one of the 135 signatories to the Genocide Convention, committing it to prevent, stop and punish this crime against humanity' (allafrica.com). So, the UN cares but has strategically made sure to not label it genocide (the cynic presumes so there is no legal obligation to intervene); while the US IS calling it genocide, but is effectively saying '...but we're not gonna do anything about it'. This was echoed by Bush's State of the Union address which condemned Iran and North Korea (come on, man: One war at a time) but had nothing to say about Sudan.

Success! I made it home in time to see Desperate Housewives tonight, but that does not lessen the blow of this...

Failure! I finally watched the first season of Twin Peaks, only for it to draw me in and make me need to see the rest of it, only to find that not only has the second season not been released on DVD yet, but that my local video outlet does not have it on VHS. Damn David Lynch and Mark Frost.


http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=37170
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4222899.stm
http://allafrica.com/stories/200502040880.html
http://www.moviehole.net/news/4403.html

Yes, you do owe me something, actually

Well, today is the 28th anniversary of the hanging of Ronald Ryan: the last man to suffer capital punishment in Australia. I was pretty shocked to find that the law wasn't even amended to abolish the practice until 1975 or so.
In a week where the Victorian government is rushing to pass legislation to ensure sex offenders leaving prison would wear electronic monitoring devices; and in a week where an Australian citizen is still potentially on death row, there is much to discuss with regard to legal, moral and criminological ethics.

But for the moment I'm going to talk about comedy. Since it has been in the forefront of my mind of late anyway, as I attempt comedy writing, I may as well vent. The Comedy Channel are now showing repeats of Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. How this show is even survived more than one series I don't know. It is a veritable train wreck and, like a true train wreck, entices me to drive by slowly and watchits every gory detail.

The first problem is that all the guests on the show are stand up comedians. Not social commentators or smart, funny raconteurs but comics. Comics who constantly try to sway whatever the discussion is about to an area where they have material from their show, so that they can appear off the cuff and pithy. It's even more embarassing when these suspicions are confirmed when one actually sees one of these comics (note the use of that word instead of 'comedians')doing stand up.

If Nick DiPaulo is not the unfunniest man on television, it's only because he's not on every episode. Why are they still calling the show '4 rounds of smart comedy'? Firstly, it barely rates as comedy except in a GenX postmodern 'so bad it's good' kind of way. And it sure 'ain't' smart. They are as fiercely anti-intellectual a group as I've seen outside a football club.
The comics are so desperate to get out bits from their routines (as advertisments for their shows)that whatever issue they are talking about is never argued properly at all.

In truth, the only reason I watch it is because, as bad as it is, I love to see Greg Giraldo kick arse. For those of you who have heard that song "Underwear Goes Inside the Pants" (which pretty much takes Giraldo's Comedy Central special and puts an electronic beat behind it), the guy talking is Giraldo. He's not on every episode but if he was, Tough Crowd would be almost worth watching. Not only is he smart, informed and very funny, his jokes are never rehashed from his routine and thus more genuine.
My favourite rally was between Giraldo and that bufoon Dennis Leary. Leary was arguing for the war in Iraq, saying that every time the US has had a problem with another nation they've gone to war. Giraldo goes 'Yeah, just like that big Russian war we had'. (Ok, Baudrillard would say that the Cold War was World War 3, but you get the point).

I also today was reading the Hack Comedy FAQ, which is very interesting, especially for people like myself who is sick and tired of hearing the same crap over and over.
Let's just hope that there are some good acts at the Melbourne Comedy Festival to restore my faith in original comedy.


http://www.dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050117/ENT05/501170308/1046/archive
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/comedy-faq/hack/

Rift Gone; Smugness remains

Well, this is nice. John Howard has visited Bnda Aceh and declared the rift between Australia and Indonesia over.
According to ninemsn news he said:
"The whole response to the tsunami has been a reminder of the common humanity that we all share ... when you have tragedy you forget differences.
"You forget differences of race, or religion, of ethnicity, of nationality, the uniform you wear. The only aim you have in a sense is to deliver comfort and assistance."

Well, there's nothing like a big tragedy to relieve middle class guilt and make us forget that there is an Australian citizen on death row in Indonesia.

Way to go, Mr. Howard. Boy, I feel proud to be an Australian.

(Ok, that's cynical. We have helped a lot of people. So, how about one more? Or would that make that sublimated tension between cultures that doesn't exist anymore come to a head? Hey, cynicism, what are you doing in this bracket?)

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=36983