The Greens oppose the CPRS not because it is too weak, but because it will point Australia in the wrong direction with little prospect of turning it around in the timeframe within which emissions must peak, says Senator Christine Milne.
Leave Kyle and Jackie alone!
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So I guess that’s it. Free speech is dead. With the hysterical, puritanical, nauseatingly self-righteous reaction to Kyle and Jackie O’s innocent miscalculation, the principles of freedom and democracy that have propped up this sagging hulk called Australia for so many decades have finally given way, and we may as well all pack up and go home and wait to be annexed by China. Look, nobody is saying that what happened on the Kyle and Jackie O show, when they hooked a 14-year-old up to a lie detector, encouraged her mother to grill her about her sex life, uncovered a history of child rape, and then — quite reasonably, given the girl’s vague and incomplete answer — pressed her for further details, was a “good thing”. Nobody is saying it was “positive”, or “life-affirming”, or “indicative of a regard for basic human decency”. Nobody is saying any of these things. But why the vitriol? Why the moral panic? Why the relentlessly vicious attacks on poor Kyle Sandilands? After all, what has he done, really? Has he killed anyone? Has he robbed a service station? Has he beaten up an Indian? Has he forced a young girl to relive the most traumatic experience of her life on live radio? Well, yes, and obviously exculpatory hypotheticals can only go so far. The point is, if we are going to regard ourselves as a civilised society, then we should be embracing the sort of trenchant, witty, socially relevant entertainment that Kyle and Jackie O provide. Kyle and Jackie O are holding up a mirror. As Kyle says, “rape happens”. What good does it do to sweep it under the carpet? Once upon a time we didn’t talk about rape. We pretended it didn’t happen. We allowed a shameful culture of denial that meant that all those poor girls who suffered this heinous crime and wanted nothing more than to tell their story while attached to a polygraph and being harassed by their own mother on a nationally broadcast breakfast program were forced to suffer in silence. If only we had Kyle Sandilands back then, how different our society might have been. The mind, frankly, boggles. And it’s not as if they meant this to happen. Kyle and Jackie O aren’t psychic. They can’t be expected to anticipate every possible outcome. There is no way to foresee something so out of the ordinary as a commercial radio stunt ending in humiliation and trauma. If we start second-guessing such things, we’ll just end up not having any commercial radio stunts at all. Is that a world you want to live in? I sure as hell don’t. And yet apparently that’s exactly what a lot of people do want. People like Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who claims the jocks should have considered the girl’s welfare. This is professional showbusiness , Julia. These people have a responsibility to bring joy and laughter to the lives of millions every day, they don’t have time to go running around worrying about politically correct this and culturally sensitive that and avoidance of breathtakingly emotionally damaging the other. And of course Tim Costello has had a go. Don’t take your unresolved sibling-envy out on these simple radio folk, Tim. Isn’t it enough you’re trying to destroy the pleasure of thousands of Australian pokie-players? As Kyle himself said, it is a shame the media is “using the rape of a 12-year-old to have a go at me”. Indeed, just where do the media draw the line? They probably planned this from the beginning. That they would engineer this scandal — setting up the rape of a 12-year-old two years ago, lobbying Austereo management to initiate the lie detector segment, spending years coaching the girl’s mother in how to be a terrible parent; hell, it was probably the media that fed Kyle’s mother the excessive doses of powerful painkillers during her pregnancy to ensure he would turn out this way — says a lot about the media’s lack of shame and decency and interesting hobbies. So yeah, you can criticise Kyle Sandilands. You can call him crude. You can call him immoral. You can call him vacuous. You can call him a talentless pudding with creepy dead goat eyes who looks like someone’s been rubbing a balloon on his head. But when he sits down beside his lovable, halfwitted sidekick, and turns on that mic, the result is pure entertainment . And in these grim times, isn’t that what we need? Don’t we all need some escapism, some laughter, some — for want of a better word — teenage rape confessions in our lives? Maybe if, instead of judging and moralising and tut-tutting, we encouraged those with big dreams, with artistic souls, with creative visions based on originality and innovation and the revelation of the intimate sexual secrets of children, we could all live in a happier, more harmonious world. I’m praying for it. With Kyle and Jackie O’s help, we just might get there. |
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45 Comments
“trenchant, witty, socially relevant entertainment” Oh give me a break. I stopped reading here.
Thanks for the “hysterical, puritanical, nauseatingly self-righteous reaction” reaction to the reactions, but no thanks.
Ohh Joal, you missed the satire methinks.
Tongue wedged firmly in cheek. At least I hope so.
Ben - I *like* satire, but you laid it on somewhat too thickly this time.
F-ck, more crap on the internet. ‘Socially relavant’ Crikey! I know the internet is not running out of space anytime soon, but these bytes wasted here could have been used on anything else. Perhaps a Kevin Rudd neck tie analysis (he always wears a blue neck tie when he’s giving somebody a bollocking via a doorstop), that banality would surely surpass this appalling attempt at satire.
Satire’s hard to get right in the written form, and when it’s wrong it’s really wrong. Ask the naughty boys from ‘The Chaser’. Don’t expect to see them on TV anytime soon. Maybe they could take over from Donut Kyle and Green slimy thing Jackie O on 2-Day. If we’re really lucky.
Ben stick to being an idiot, satirical composition is not your forte.
rape-always good fodder for comedy
Was this supposed to be satire?
Lame.
Not all commercial radio is as appalling as Kyle and Jackie, just most of it. Thousands of Australians continue to mourn the loss of Triple M’s outstanding Get This program which ran from April 2006 to November 2007, and was hosted by the brilliant Tony Martin with co-hosts Ed Kavalee and the late Richard Marsland. The show proved that commercial radio could be both very commercial and very entertaining and very relevant all at the same time. Triple M’s reaction was to can it, despite its high ratings and the fact that the sponsorship the show attracted more than covered its production costs.
I think I agree with the author. I am appalled that the producer of the radio program where a minor was about to the given the third degree seems not to have:
* talked at length with the mother, so as to elicit whatever details existed; it does require some experience to do justice to that task, of course,
* apparently had no plan to exit immediately should things go wrong… like if the kid burst into tears, or named other people slanderously or one of the other likely outcomes,
* dump the program from the 7 second buffer at the end of the first revealing sentence.
High risk radio requires extra-ordinary preparation - there seems to have been almost none.
But I agree, the over-reaction is pretty stupid, particularly with the presenters whose control and preparation would be reliant on the producer.
I just stick to 774 myself, but, as I understand it, this was some sort of a competition? Silly, trivial competition? Not set up for one second to help heal dysfunctional families and traumatized children?
The Producers ought to have had ‘a bit more of a chat’ to the participants - the hysteria and vitriol against Sandilands seems to me to be missing the point completely.
And more, I think it’s REALLY important that we leave this family alone to get some counseling and begin to heal!
I just can’t help but think (I guess I mean hope) that this mother just could not find a way to get this child to speak about her ordeal - and to protect her daughter from herself - SO SAD, so awfully sad.
We must let this family heal and get them off the chatter pages
there’s satire… then there’s trollish shit stirring. you kind of knew that it wasn’t a serious article as soon as “free speech is dead” came up.
he has got one redeeming feature
he is going to punch Dave Hughes
in the throat
Toby you were going well until your last sentence blew it…’But I agree, the over-reaction is pretty stupid, particularly with the presenters whose control and preparation would be reliant on the producer’. Dont think in my 40 years in radio and tv I ever saw a producer do the prep for presenters. Control mmm sort of. In the case of high profile personalities like these two, they would have the decion making role regardless of suggestions from the producer. Remember you are dealing with the stations top stars, highly paid in a prime time slot. I doubt they would sign a contract unless they had a big say in content and control, thats the way the biggies work. Its a networked show tens of thousands of listeners probably higher. No Sanderlands in particular knew where this was heading and decided as a “shock jock” it was too good to let go of. All this leave the poor boy alone crap, doesnt wash, neither does his apology. Look back on his career, on both tv and radio, its in the makeup of the man. a 3 letter word goes a long way to summing dear Kyle up. EGO
“The point is, if we are going to regard ourselves as a civilised society, then we should be embracing the sort of trenchant, witty, socially relevant entertainment that Kyle and Jackie O provide.” - You are joking aren’t you Ben.
A lot better satire than Ben’s Michael Jackson effort….
… but as Crikey pointed out earlier this year, the Australian sense of irony appears to have been carried off in a cardboard coffin.
Oy vey.
There’s nothing quite so sad as satire mistaken.
Nicely done Ben. You had even this cynic going for a couple of paragraphs there.
” a talentless pudding with creepy dead goat eyes who looks like someone’s been rubbing a balloon on his head”.
Jeeze I wish I’d said that.
Love ya’ work, Ben
Oh well, in my defense I will say that, on the internet, “satire” and geniune misguided idiocy are almost indistinguishable unless you know the writer.
I don’t mistake that it’s satire and irony. However, it’s too heavy-handed.
Now of course I’ve read the whole thing, it is kind of obvious… *sigh* yay it’s Friday I believe I’ll have a drink now.
“Free Speech”! I thought only the Yanks had that.
Hey I liked this piece, a good piece of satire, well done Ben !
oh Crikey, why do you publish such nauseatingly self-righteous crap!!! If this is satire, I’m Kevin Turnbull.
Pardon me if I don’t laugh! I don’t find it funny or even smart one bit. Ben, obviously you don’t understand, that even consensual sex would’ve been ILLEGAL! If you’re so desperate for some entertainment, why don’t you go and read or take up knitting or ???
When will some blokes get it through their thick heads - that women are fed up with blokes who think, that you have a right to scrutinize and belittle our lives, sexual or otherwise. If Rachel was an adult it wouldn’t have been funny - she’s still legally a child who had a vicious and revolting assault inflicted upon her. I think you need to take a look at yourself. I’m sure you don’t have too many young women seeking you out to confide in because of your kind and sensitive nature!
Oh Dear, Ben , you entered the lair of the Australian Moral Outrage Hydra. Brave, dude.
Meski, I might agree with you that I was too heavy-handed, but some of the comments here make me think I should have laid it on even thicker. I refer you to exhibit A, Liz45.
Not so much satire as a slightly conceived excuse to bag the living hell out of Kyle and Jackie. Loved it. I’m with Jean - “talentless pudding with creepy dead goat eyes” had me reaching for the Ventolin.
And when it comes to excuses to bag the living hell out of Kyle and Jackie, the more slightly conceived the better, I say.
I know, I’m sick to death of everyone getting up in arms about a common radio stunt? Kyle and Jackie O have paid enough for something they had no way of knowing would happen. They’ve pulled pleanty of stunts like this before and well, maybe only 30% go bad - like bad as in ‘childs sex life exploited for entertainment and serious allegations of rape spill forth in what now appears to be an extremely distasteful and morally repugnant cheap pointless stunt’ type thingy.
So cut them some slack! They’ve got work to do!
To be effective, satire should be an epee or a stiletto, not a bludgeon - perhaps Crikey pays by the word?
Leave Ben Pobje alone!
Sandilands doesn’t need satire, nor would he get it if it climbed up his leg and fucked him. But Ben, if you really must have a crack at it, learn how to apply it with a scalpel, not a rubber mallet.
Sandiland’s first, instinctive response to the girl’s rape revelation: “So, is that your only experience?”.
Any other comment on the man or his actions is superfluous.
‘Sandiland’s first, instinctive response to the girl’s rape revelation: “So, is that your only experience?”.
Any other comment on the man or his actions is superfluous.’
You’re right. I hope you’ve learnt your lesson.
I don’t even understand these comments. Who ever said it was satire?
Exhibit A, indeed.
“Who ever said it was satire?” I’m taking that for irony, because a number of people on here seemed not to get it. Probably Americans. :^)
Half the commenters completely missed the satire and the other half thought you laid it on too thickly. Sounds like a job well done!
I can’t work out which is funnier, the original article or the comments! None stand out individually but the set of them together works better than a piece of finely crafted French absurdist theatre.
As a well-known character is known to say - “My work here is done”
To all of those screeching satire, I say there’s nothing like a bit of irony to tide one over a long weekend. Nicely written Ben.
thanks Ben
Yeh, also would have thought the satire a bit too thick, but obviously not so…
Anyway made me laugh, because it nails the attitudes that usually pass by as acceptable.I laugh because you get at those views and rants i have had to hear for years and years: in a shop when some tired shock jock/mate of the people rants on the instore radio, when i stupidly peruse a news publication etc, etc.
And yes, i too found myself loudly laughing at “You can call him a talentless pudding with creepy dead goat eyes who looks like someone’s been rubbing a balloon on his head”, because you are right, exactly, but I didn’t have the words before.
Anyway, watched The Fisher King by Terry Gilliam on video (!) yesterday and was struck by the uncanny similarities between the the predicament of the movie’s protagonist Jack Lucas(Jeff Bridges) and our Kyle. Thought you might have the connections to get a message to Kyle to watch it. I thought that might help save Kyle from Jack Lucas’s kind of protracted suffering. And that we could get Kyle out hunting for the Holy Grail, before he has to wander the streets of Sydney Town (with a bad pony tail and a Pinnochio doll) looking for redemption.
I love this Ben.I know some people have suggested the satire is a bit heavy, but do they honestly think there’s a place for light satire in this coutnry when some of your idiot readers have taken this on face value?! 2Day FM listeners, perhaps.
Yes, but making satire heavy doesn’t appear to have made some people ‘get’ it. It’s still a gigantic SWOOSH! for them. And a fortnight later, it’s *still* generating comment. Congratulations, Ben
here is the reply to my email to 2DayFM re the broadcast…..
Thank you for your email regarding the lie detector segment on the Kyle & Jackie O Show broadcast on 2Day FM on 29th July 2009.
We are deeply saddened by what unfolded during that segment and understand and appreciate your concerns. Over the past few weeks we have been working with the relevant authorities to ensure the teenager and her family have access to counselling in what is an extremely difficult situation.
Under the Commercial Radio Codes of Practice, licensees are only required to respond to complaints received by letter or fax where a return address is provided. In this situation, however, we have chosen to respond to complaints received by email. If you would like to make a formal complaint please write to the General Manager, Austereo Pty Ltd, Level 15, 50 Goulburn Street, Sydney NSW 2000.
Thank you for your feedback and please be assured that we are taking the events surrounding the broadcast of 29th July extremely seriously.
Yours sincerely,
Jenny Parkes
General Manager, Sydney
So they are taking the broadcast extremely seriously, by reinstating the two lamebrains next week. In reality Ms Parkes and her outfit couldn’t give a stuff. It’s all over now baby blue. Back to making money and oh yes there will be a 10 second delay in case the darlings have to hit the panic button. Sandilands wouldn’t know panic if it crawled up his rectum and tore his tongue out, what a cop out. I await the police investigation with interest but not hope of any prosecution.
10 seconds … reckon they can think that fast?