Fuck off Tracey Spicer

[girliejones]

When you defend racist hijinks, just be careful what exactly you are defending.

This from an opinion piece on news.com.au which, I think, I might stop reading:

A NEW division has been set up within the Federal Police to deal with a scourge on society. The Fun Police will conduct raids on homes across Australia searching for evidence of jokes

Comments

[strangedave]

Link not working.

The Aussie sense of humour also produced The Games, Frontline, TIm Minchin - there isn't just one single Aussie sense of humour. There is a pretty fine deadpan and intellectual streak.

[girliejones]

Yes there is, And it would be nice if that was what was being defended - Aussie satire can be very cutting. This was not actually satire and it saddens me that people like the deputy PM do not know the difference - what exactly was the satire supposed to be of anyway? Black men dancing? Where's the satire of that?

[girliejones]

Link fixed.

[melwil]

I can't believe how many times I've had to explain that yes, it was racist at school. The funny thing was, the students listened, asked questions and considered it intelligently. The teachers (including one of Greek background who dealt with racism as a kid) kept defending the skit. It was one of those times I was happy to speak out, but I hope it doesn't come back to bite like the Nick Darcy one did (anonymous articles left in my pigeon hole because I said a thug didn't deserve to go to the Olympics)

[catsparx]

I am utterly at a loss to understand why Hey Hey was brought back from the grave in the first place. What's next -- Perfect Match and Blankety Blanks? Are there no writers, producers, conceptual artists working in 2009? Could no one come up with any new ideas for a TV show whatsoever?

Not everything old can be rendered 'retro'. Some stuff just stays old.

[thawrecka]

I could not agree with you more.

[benpayne]

I haven't heard any of the commentary mention it, but Darryl did a really bad caricature of a Swedish person earlier in the show which was equally indicative of the fact that Hey Hey is living several decades ago.

Actually, I suspect the Hey Hey reunion was popular for exactly the reason that a lot of Australians have a sense of nostalgia for that olde-schoole comedy. This incident is a timely reminder of why television of past ages wasn't some innocent ideal.