Christians trigger the tolerati into making fools of themselves

Magda Szubanski appears on A Current Affair with Tracy Grimshaw.

There is something about conservative politicians, particularly those of the Christian faith, which triggers the tolerati into making fools of themselves. Last week it was the turn of same sex marriage activist and author Magda Szubanski.

Seizing on an image of Prime Minister Scott Morrison signing condolences for the royal family as his wife, Jenny, stood beside him, Szubanski tweeted “I genuinely thought this was a photoshopped Handmaid’s Tale meme. But no, it’s 21st-century Aussie life.”

In other words, our government resembles that of the fictional Gilead, a theocratic, dystopian society, one where women are subservient to men upon pain of death. Conveniently, Szubanski did not refer to an associated image featuring a seated Jenny Morrison signing condolences as her husband stood alongside her.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Two pictures can be worth thousands more. pic.twitter.com/UJlhKVuCf9

— Andrew Glover (@theandrewglover) April 14, 2021

For Szubanski and her ilk, conservative governments are anathema. As a coping mechanism, they deny their democratic legitimacy by portraying them as totalitarian, hence Szubanski’s risible reference to the Handmaid’s Tale. She herself claimed on election night in 2019 that the Coalition’s return to government had been brought about through sinister mind control techniques.

“You look at Morrison (who) comes from an advertising background,” she told her fellow panellists on ABC’s The Drum. “I know a bit about advertising, and I know that … they do that neuro-advertising, they’ll measure your brain and go straight to the amygdala. And that is actually what they do in order to manipulate you know the — this belief that we are rational.” Huh?

And earlier this month, Szubanski saw conspiracy in an innocuous image of the Morrison family alongside the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. “What’s this little hand signal thingy??,” she tweeted, referring to an enlarged highlight of Jenny Morrison’s left forefinger touching her thumb as she clasped her daughter’s wrist.

What’s this little hand signal thingy?? https://t.co/PkSLOxjLef

— Magda Szubanski AO (@MagdaSzubanski) April 11, 2021

The insinuation was not subtle. As the Chicago Tribune noted in 2019, members of 4chan began spreading disinformation in 2017 that the ‘okay’ sign – as signalled with an encircled thumb and forefinger – was a symbol of white supremacy. By doing so, group members hoped that progressives “would take up the cry that the OK symbol was racist and, in so doing, make themselves look ridiculous”. And as Szubanski has proved, they have succeeded.

Szubanski’s appearance on A Current Affair last week was but a damage control exercise for Nine, which has commissioned her to host next month a revamped version of The Weakest Link. “Firstly, let me ask you ‘are you okay’,” began host Tracey Grimshaw, “because it’s no fun being in a situation like this – a media pile-on – how are you holding up?”

Are you okay, Magda? Are we recovering, pet? On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your suffering, Magda? Grimshaw’s token question about Szubanski’s reference to Jenny Morrison’s supposed “signal” was easily fobbed off. “Oh look that was probably a silly tweet to put out,” said Szubanski. “Maybe it’s a hand signal. I don’t know.” Grimshaw did not press the question.

Szubanki’s assertion “I don’t want Jenny Morrison to be hurt” is belied by the fact she has not deleted the tweet which implied the latter is a white supremacist. And what of her remark “If she’s going to have some sort of influence in public life, I want to know what are her values, what kind of a woman is she”? Put it this way: Jenny Morrison was not the one who donned blackface and frizzy hair in the 1990s to play the character of Sister Daktari in a comedy show.

Magda Szubanski appearing in blackface in the 1990s.

Also, this is not the first time Szubanski has attacked the wife of a political leader. In January, she tweeted that Melania Trump, wife of then President Donald Trump, “embodies that ‘Real Housewives of Oligarchs-chic’ perfectly”.

“She puts Imelda Marcos right in the shade,” Szubanski sneeringly added, referring to the widow of deposed former Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos. Imelda Marcos is a convicted criminal who, along with her husband, embezzled billions from the state. To imply Melania Trump committed similar acts – let alone worse - is incorrect and malicious.

Szubanski is an Officer of the Order of Australia, the abbreviated title of which she includes in her Twitter handle. Is admittance to this august league dependent on the nominee vilifying and defaming conservative figures on Twitter in the name of tolerance?

I ask this only half in jest given some of those honoured recently. Take for example author and former Sydney Morning Herald columnist Mike Carlton, who has made vile remarks about female conservative journalists and politicians. And then there is social commentator and feminist Jane Caro, who received her gong in 2019 only months after she disparaged half of Australia in expressing her disgust at the result of the federal election. Saying she wished she was a New Zealander, a half-cut Caro tweeted she was extending her “two rude fingers” to the “truculent turds who voted to turn us backwards”. Who can we expect will be honoured on the Queen’s Birthday list for this year – Clementine Ford, perhaps?

“If I have any gift that I hope I can give to this country, it’s an ability to use words,” Szubanski told ABC’s Q&A audience in 2016. What a pity this wordsmith is incapable of uttering the phrase “I apologise”.

The ABC needs to learn resilience from Bluey

According to her ABC profile, Bluey, from the popular and award-winning animated television series of the same name, is a dog who “loves to play and turns everyday family life into extraordinary adventures, developing her imagination as well as her mental, physical and emotional resilience”. If only Bluey could be trained to teach resilience to those employed at the national broadcaster.

When I was a kid, like 10, I thought Fawlty Towers was funny because, Manuel.
Then I watched it again as an adult, and I found it racist and unbearable.

— Beverley Wang (@beverleywang) June 12, 2020

“As a parent of colour, I am always conscious of the presence — or absence — of diverse representation in kids’ pop culture,” wrote ABC journalist Beverley Wang last week. She is a fan of Bluey, but nonetheless sees problems in the show’s depiction of characters. “Where are the disabled, queer, poor, gender diverse, dogs of colour and single-parent dog families in Bluey’s Brisbane,” she asks.

Racism from unimaginative white men in the media is so boring and predictable. But the burn is they GET A PLATFORM AND $$ for their tiresome shit while others struggle and work their butts off for opportunities.

— Beverley Wang (@beverleywang) August 14, 2020

About time too I say. These glaring omissions should be obvious to all, but privilege blinds many of us to these realities. I regret the cartoons of my childhood such as Roadrunner and The Wacky Races served not as exemplars in diversity indoctrination but rather to make me laugh with delight. We must not repeat this mistake with the young of today.

In resolving to be a better ally, I decided to use this week’s column to pitch my ideas for a diverse Bluey program.

Ideally, the new season would begin with Bluey’s teacher, Mrs Retriever, announcing that Mr Dingo will conduct a Welcome to Kennel ceremony for the benefit of the class. “This is just silly,” says Bluey. “Can’t you see he’s a Yorkshire Terrier?”. An outraged Mr Dingo leaves without performing the ceremony. He later lodges a complaint with the Australian Canine Rights Commission, and Bluey is forced to apologise in a mediation session presided over by Ms Chihuahua.

Or how about a gender diverse episode featuring Beatrice – formerly Barry – the British Bulldog? “This is a biological fallacy,” says Blue’s friend Chloe. “How can you take ‘Beatrice’ seriously when a certain attribute stands out like – well, stands out like the proverbial?”

My third pitch would be a new character, Vanessa the German Shepherd. Seeing that she is in a wheelchair, Bluey asks her why she is incapacitated.

“I have just been told I have rickets caused through a Vitamin D deficiency,” replies an annoyed Vanessa. “Seriously, what sort of idiot raises their dog on a vegan diet?”

Wang, incidentally, is the author and presenter of the ABC podcast “It’s Not a Race”, which is described as “ground breaking” and acknowledged “for opening up new conversations on race and identity in Australia and beyond”. Such is her enthusiasm for Bluey, she readily admits that certain episodes make her cry.

Having read Wang’s plans for Bluey, and realising we paid for her to write that, I nearly burst into tears myself.

What execs fail to understand is the inherent hostility to POC of a white dominated work place.

— Beverley Wang (@beverleywang) August 17, 2020