Comments on: Red Symons: …and then nobody laughed

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:15:25 +0000

Louis, my original reply to you was deleted. I resent the fact that you attempted to make me feel guilty by lumbering out the Political Correctness line. I have no intention of apologizing. My comment stands.

Venise

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:31:37 +0000

PS Louis: the last line should read: commercial television audiences having an IQ of ten year children are delighted by the fact that the people who produce these shows have an identical mind set.

By: louis b

louis b — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:34:23 +0000

Venise,
As someone who works in a commercial television and the father of an adult son with a mental illness (who really does has the IQ of a 10 year old) I’m offended by your comments. Next time you need to pass judgement and make generalisations about others perhaps think about who you’re hurting first.

I wont pass judgement on you, as I’m assuming you didn’t deliberately mean to be offensive. But I guess that puts you in the same boat as the Hey Hey performers, doesn’t it?

Louis

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:52:55 +0000

BULLMORE’S GHOST: Yesterday there was an editor going through comments and making notes which was very interesting. I can’t remember which section it was under, possibly the article about The Greens by Bernard Keane. Random thoughts I saw were “Edit: Too much nattering between commentators”. Not the exact wording, of course. “Edit: Very rude description”. And “Edit: You’ve gone way off topic. ” And, ” Edit: (to me at some stage-I was telling the world what I’d like to do to John Howard.) : We won’t tolerate violence”. “Edit: Delete some of the adjectives”.

Please understand, there is no way I am suggesting that you would be guilty of doing these things, I am just trying to remember so I can avoid such crimes.

Cheers

By: Bullmore's Ghost

Bullmore's Ghost — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:59:39 +0000

Venise: Yes it is their space and as I said above I have no issue with moderation per se.

It may well be a machine that flips the “moderate this post” switch, based perhaps on some word hotlist, but I expect that a person then actions the suspended posts.

For instance, my previous post above (about moderation itself) was held up for moderation, too, and this one that I’m typing at 12.57am Wednesday Sydney time may well be, too. Monty Pythonesque.

I say un-Australian because we don’t tend to have secret police in Oz. On most boards/forums/lists the moderator will chime in and comment on stuff that is a problem, rather than simply deleting it without feedback.

I still have no idea why my post in answer to your point 7 was deleted.

Anyway, onto other things.

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 06:47:03 +0000

Bullmore’s Ghost: They would have to have a machine which is a proof reader, highlighting potential trouble spots, or names!!!! It’s names. Ah ha! The answer Kerry, is that you are mixing with the wrong people, the likes of me.

I can’t see it as being un-Australian per se but it is annoying. Still it is their air-space we inhabit. Isn’t it?

By: Barry Cross

Barry Cross — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:24:30 +0000

LIZ45 opened the bidding and wrote….”I’m not a fan of MJ, but it was also insensitive so soon after he died.”

Insensitive to whom?

By: Bullmore's Ghost

Bullmore's Ghost — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:05:50 +0000

Venise: I believe it is the first time and frankly I’m at a loss as to why. I have no issue with the principle of moderation, and I’m up for judicious editing, too, as at least that gives an indication of what “rule” has been breached, but silent deletion without feedback (they do have our email addresses) is pretty un-Australian to my way of thinking.

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:34:27 +0000

GEFO5: And some fell on stony ground.

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:16:13 +0000

PPS: Is this the first time the moderator has flashed you? I think the shortest comment I’ve written was ‘bollocks’, the second shortest was ‘Thank you”, Both comments were moderated.

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:13:32 +0000

@BULLMORE’S GHOST: Thanks for your reply. I suspected this might be the case. Thanks

Cheers

Venise

By: gef05

gef05 — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:51:35 +0000

@Venise

That’s an awfully long response to dodge the point.

By: Three

Three — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:55:08 +0000

Peter Matthews, I just want to clarify your train of thought… If I was to watch a documentary on women and young girls being beaten up (hospitalised) for refusing to perform sex with complete strangers every day and further more they never see a cent of the money generated by their “work” and I was to reflect on society’s gender inequalities that are still real in todays world; Inequalities that affect lives for generations after - would you tell me that this reaction I was having, this sadness, this outrage, was because i only feel comfortable among my own gender? That i have deep issues inside myself with people of the opposite sex? Or would you recognise that i am aware of a social injustice that exists and doesnt just disappear when the next round of kids are born. Would you assume that I recognise the world as being global or would you assume that my compassion for communities far and near was some kind of glitch in my own personality. Some problem I have deep in my psyche?

What if someone were to put a symbol on a tragedy in history? Say 卐? (swastika) In time would that symbol become funny?

By: laura ingalls

laura ingalls — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:07:21 +0000

*Problems more deserving of news coverage.

By: laura ingalls

laura ingalls — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:06:24 +0000

Yeah, Red Symons. I agree with everything you have said here. Honestly I don’t understand why this has been an international news story. There are real problems out there.

By: Peter Matthews

Peter Matthews — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 10:35:25 +0000

My first response to the act was they were taking off the Jackson 5. I never saw the racial overtones. Mainly due to the fact that it was the Jackson 5 and they are black. The funny part was that they were taking them off badly which had nothing to do with thier race.
In my opinion the only ones that see racial overtones are people who have issues with other races within themselves and don’t feel comfortable outside there own racial group.

Political correctness causes racial problems, as it highlights the visual differences between people instead of celabrating the differences.

By: Bullmore's Ghost

Bullmore's Ghost — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:32:08 +0000

I note that my attempt to reply to Venise’s point number 7 above is annotated “Your comment is awaiting moderation.”

What’s the story? Mr Symonds becoming a bit touchy?

By: Bullmore's Ghost

Bullmore's Ghost — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:28:56 +0000

Venise asked: “7. I don’t know if the egregious Darryl Somers runs to dress-rehearsals. Questions?”

Red Faces segment “acts” are auditioned in advance by HHIS producer Jack Strom. I believe in the case of the subject Jackson Jive act that auditioning was done via a submitted DVD of a performance of said act at a recent University Revue, in which case the offending act approached the show for revival, not vice versa.

By: Bullmore's Ghost

Bullmore's Ghost — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:08:53 +0000

Venise asked: “7. I don’t know if the egregious Darryl Somers runs to dress-rehearsals. Questions?”

Somers is a control freak. He rehearses everything. All his spontaneous “off the cuff” banter is scripted and/or rehearsed (as was Graham Kennedy’s) and most of it is so old that long dead vaudevillians would recognize it.

The Red Faces segment “acts” are auditioned by producer Jack Strom. I believe in the case of the subject Jackson Jive act auditioning was done via a DVD of a recent performance of said act at a Uni Revue.

By: Be The Change

Be The Change — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:51:40 +0000

Who are speaking for when you say that it wasn’t offensive to Australians? I’m an Australian and you don’t speak for me.

By: jude

jude — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 05:02:34 +0000

Agree Red, shouldn’t be a big deal, and wouldn’t have been if not for Harry Connick. It would have gone unnoticed if not for him. Sure it wasn’t offensive to Australians. But not very funny either…..speak to Darryl about that.

By: Three

Three — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:46:55 +0000

Red, perhaps “Australian’s are largely not” racist in your view because you, your colleagues (your bubble) are generally apathetic to the negative effect racisms, subtle or otherwise, have on community over time. Could it be that this issue’s general irrelevance to your usual life has possibly shaped that opinion? There’s a larger Australia out there. Many of us actually do care.

By: Mr Pastry

Mr Pastry — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:46:29 +0000

@Bullmore’s Ghost - your comments are quite teasing, there appears to be genuine inside knowledge. Who dared unlock the capsule and unleash the cursed Somer’s egomonster, did they think there was treasure inside the capsule and there would be no price to pay if it escaped. Perhaps Channel Nine should employ the services of an Exorcist next time, as time capsules are too easily compromised.

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:06:13 +0000

@GEFO5: Not totally. He was merely doing the right thing by the American press. The fact that he really meant it not isn’t germane to my points. So I’ll briefly re-state my points.
1. Australian television commercial stations are programmed for an audience of 10yr olds by ten year olds. Any arguments thus far?
2. Oz TV is sponsored by big commercial companies who with endless market research know their audience to be a bunch of half-wits, sponsor half-witted programs. Questions?
3. Darryl Somers is a yesterdays man. Questions?
( I make the point that as a seldom user of TV-I don’t happen to have the mind of a 10 year old and therefore watch as little of it as possible- I haven’t seen the program. I saw the film clip.)
4.Australians suffer from a desperate cultural cringe which used to be directed towards England. As England’s power declined and America’s power increased we switched to cringing to America. Questions?
5. Oz has its own form of racism. Questions?
6. Therefore we need to ignore imported racism and concentrate on the evil which exists here. Questions?
7. I don’t know if the egregious Darryl Somers runs to dress-rehearsals. Questions?
8. But somewhere along the line someone should have asked themselves..”Hang on, Minstrel shows are no longer done in America-and the country we love is America-I wonder why?” Having asked themselves this question I can only assume the act would have been dropped. Questions?

That’s about it. On a personal note: From my various travels I venture to suggest that the only country whose television is worse than Australia is Portugal!

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 03:28:52 +0000

IMPERATOR: Having read your excellent comment several times there is, however, a question which seriously worries me. Neon leg-warmers?