Just Beastly

Something that made Hey Hey's attempt at race relations last night even more poignant was the contrast of it and another little program over on ABC1. Whilst Daryl was blubbering through an insincere apology to Harry Connick Jnr and his 'countrymen' I was pondering the episode of Hungry Beast that had aired at 9pm on the public broadcaster. In the one corner we have a heavyweight champion of old - still pulling the crowd but lacking athletic ability. In the other corner we have a lightweight - not yet ready to play with the big boys but certainly fast on his feet.

Hungry Beast is a melting pot of young talent - some of the segments are painfully amateur, some of them are spot on. The interview with Private Benjamin Ranaoudo's family was a really well-done, poignant piece of television. To then change stations and see the abomination of all that is good taste was a serious reality check.

Kate Langbroek said it best this morning on Nova radio - we all know what the swastika means, and although it might not have affected us we still know that it is wrong to make jokes about it and what it represents.

The media is all over the incident this morning and the responses are varied. There's nothing like a media scandal to bring out the racist, ignorant, uneducated masses who have an opinion and aren't afraid to voice it in all it's bad-grammared nonsensical glory.

Case in point, in the The Daily Telegraph, "gazza of pananina (sic)" wrote;

had harry not been on the show nothing would have been said, and everything would of been just pased over instead of a over reaction,

Then there was this gem from "tia-maria of south coast (sic)";

personally dont watch the show but have in the past now and again......... But as far as the "RED FACE" act i looked at the group and they came across in good taste they were dress nicely...... So in saying that Harry Connick Jr. your the one out of step here.....no RACIST by this act group playing of Jackson5 so just maybe the Americians have a bitch of a problem over there we dont .......SO MAYBE HARRY YOUR THE ONE THAT SHOULD APOLOGISE.....FUTHER MORE WHY DIDNT HHIS KEEP THE JUSGES HERE IN AUSSIE LAND AND JUST MAYBE WE HAVE THIS TO TARNISH THE SHOW IN ANYWAY.

Many people agree with Gazza and Tia and are happy to live in their "non-pc" bubbles. The thing is that, much the same as the Kyle Sandilands lie-detector incident, it comes down to the producers - who let the act get past the audition? Surely someone with some sense could see that this might be a problematic "all in good fun" representation of the Jackson Five?

I'm glad I lost interest in Hey Hey and switched over to Hungry Beast - I managed to catch some fresh, new, exciting television before being dragged back to reality by the dinasaurs at channel 9.

Become Good Friends

Let's talk about Neighbours, shall we?

Neighbours is an Australian institution. It's a breeding ground for young actors, writers, sound engineers, cameramen, and any other television production role there is. People like Kate Langbroek and Marieke Hardy have cut their writing teeth on the drama unfolding in Erinsborough and I don't need to rattle off the list of actors and musicians that have sprung from the humble brown-brick that makes up the ironically named Ramsay Street (on account of it actually being a court).

So what are soaps really about? They're basically drama, mostly light-hearted drama. They have to do with relationships, growing up, growing old, growing apart, growing a serious hydroponic set-up in the roof ... - hang on, that's Home and Away, not Neighbours. Basically they are an escape to a happy, sunny street where if you "find the perfect blend" you can overcome most anything. The way stories are scripted means that conflicts are usually resolved either within an episode or within a week. Basically, everything comes up roses - the way it should do in a perfect world.

The reason I've been thinking about soaps is that I read this blog post by Clem Bastow (music writer, radio announcer and blogger among other things) that basically assessed a recent death on Neighbours as being punishment for underage sex. Which - it pains me - I have to disagree with.

A few weeks ago the much loved Didge (Eloise Mignon) died after a dramatic car accident. Didge had recently become a teenage mum with her boyfriend Declan (James Sorensen) and was a favourite on the show among its younger viewers. I have to admit, I watch Neighbours fairly regularly if I'm at home (there! - my dirty little secret is out!) so I'm familiar with the characters and storylines. Neighbours producer Susan Bower had actually pointed out, after the moral-panics raised questions about a teen pregnancy, that the storylines would not glamourise being a teen parent but try to show it as accurately as possible. In fact, the amount of whingeing from Didge about not being able to do the things her friends were doing actually became rather annoying.

My argument for Neighbours though, is not that it reflects reality (because it certainly does not) or that it is a perfectly acceptable moral compass for young people (because it certainly is not) - but that it is not supposed to be either of these things.

Soaps are fantasy - they are fiction. They are only supposed to reflect reality enough that you can relate to them, but that's it. Otherwise it's the fact that they are in no way realistic that makes them so appealing. It's not just the horny teens that get killed off - the wholesome gals and guys of Ramsay Street meet sticky ends too. Case in point, Toadie's (Ryan Moloney) dead bride Dee (Madeleine West) and Libby's (Kym Valentine) cowboy husband Drew (Dan Paris) - who fell off a horse, of course, of course.

There's generally a fair bit of dying to be done in soaps due to the high turnover of characters - and there are only so many times that a character can "move to Queensland" (ie. go to London to do a season of pantos and return a year later to do a guest spot on All Saints). There are also teens having sexual relations that don't end up disemboweled in a farming accident ... case in point Donna (Margot Robbie) and Ringo (Sam Clark) - in fact, Donna was portrayed as a promiscuous floozy not too long ago. She has since "come good" and is surprisingly healthy and happy - until actor Margot Robbie inevitably moves on to bigger and better things of course - in which case Donna will probably die a terrible death.

Basically it's a series of life events - birth, annoying-kid, teen-rebellion, courting, marriage, divorce, illness, death - throw in some crime, adultery and natural disasters and you have the basic life-span of a soap character.

If parents are counting on soapies to teach their kids what is morally right and socially acceptable they need a head-check. Whilst Neighbours is generally wholesome fair for the family, if one relied solely on it for moral guidance one might turn out to be a socially-retarded, extroverted egomaniac, speaking only of oneself in the third person and relying on internal dialogues to find resolutions to problems.

* Coming soon to a blog near you: Neighbours V's Home and Away AND Technical Marvels in Neighbours Post-Editing