martes, 28 de febrero de 2017

It is a big deal, actually | MercatorNet

It is a big deal, actually

Deconstructing a video promoting the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

Michael Cook | Feb 28 2017 | comment

Today is Shrove Tuesday. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. And Saturday is Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. So we’ve well and truly entered Lent.

This year’s theme for the world-famous parade of LGBTQI sexualities is “creating equality”. How do the BTQI crowds feel about being squeezed out of the name of the event? Unequal, probably.

Nonetheless, a commercial made by the Gay Mardi Gras organisation to promote “marriage equality” has been wildly successful on Facebook. In less than a week, “The Big Deal” has chalked up 2.2 million views.

It’s not hard to see why. It was made by an award-winning Australian advertising guru, Armand de Saint-Salvy, so the production values are superb. It’s heart-warming, affirming, cheerful and ironic -- all winners on social media.

But let’s take a closer look at the video.

It depicts a birthday celebration for Dad in typical suburban Aussie backyard, with mum, sister, son and boyfriend, and grandma. There’s a paling fence, a Hills hoist clothesline, plastic chairs and a fold-up plastic table. After “happy birthday to you”, everyone reaches for sauce bottles and drowns everything edible in barbeque sauce.

Then the gay son stands up, nervously clears his throat and comes out of the closet: he declares that he likes tomato sauce (ie, for American readers, ketchup) and always has. His dad, deeply distressed, rushes into the bathroom, takes a deep breath and strides out like a tank.

The wide-eyed family scatters, thinking that he is about to murder his son, but he gives him a bear hug instead. Mum hugs the boyfriend. The gay couple kiss and we see that they are wearing wedding rings.

It’s OK to like tomato sauce because “A simple difference shouldn’t be a big deal”. For this average Aussie family, a gay marriage is perfectly normal.

But if you take a closer look at the video, there are a few details that undermine the “marriage equality” theme.

How about its view of women? Flying prominently on the iconic Hills hoist are Mum’s bras and undies. What sort of frowsy Mum leaves these out at a family gathering? We get a glimpse of the sister picking her teeth with her fingers. And senile old grandma doesn’t get the joke at all. You get the feeling that the creator of the video really doesn’t respect women.

And how about Dad, an overweight, lovable Homer Simpson with a tiny party hat? Nowadays he’s tame, but the family knows that he could explode. You get the feeling that the gay community views older heterosexual males as bubbling cauldrons of repressed bigotry and homophobic rage.

And how about the food? Part of the joke is the barbie itself, and the lamb, bangers, and white buns. No tofu. No bulgogi. No guacamole. No smoked eggplant. No rocket salad with walnuts. No salad at all, in fact. Just lots of meat. And sauce.

Scratch the surface and you see that Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is sneering not only at the traditional view of marriage but at the uncouth Australian families who treasure it. Respectable people support #EqualLove and live in the inner city. Then there are the boofheads who don't. They live in ticky-tacky bungalows in the vast sun-baked sprawl surrounding Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

Not only is “marriage equality” not marriage, it’s not even equality. “Prejudice is prejudice, and right now this is a reflection of that,” de Saint-Salvy, the commercial's producer, told Buzzfeed.

Abso-bloody-lutely. Couldn't agree more.

What do you think? Here is the YouTube version of the video. (Most of the hits are on Facebook.)

Michael Cook is editor of MercatorNet.

- See more at: https://www.mercatornet.com/conjugality/view/it-is-a-big-deal/19418#sthash.nrBbbML6.dpuf

I have just realised that all of today's posts are about media of various kinds.

Shannon Roberts highlights an online tool for tracking "the decomposition of the American family over time". Robin Taylor, from the app-maker Rakkoon, discusses a more sophisticated way to use SnapChat. I have critiqued a Facebook video about the gay Mardi Gras in Sydney. And Margaret Somerville reminisces about those old-fashioned things called books.

But the most important news is linked to our lead story. Our associate editor, Zac Alstin, has just published his first novel, To Create a World. It’s a fantasy aimed at a middle-grade audience about a boy who enters a hidden, magical world to find a cure for his sick sister. In his article, he explains why he's sure that fantasy novels are worthwhile.

Enjoy!

Michael Cook
Editor
MERCATORNET

It is a big deal, actually

By Michael Cook

Deconstructing a video promoting the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Read the full article

Are fantasy stories worth telling?

By Zac Alstin

The spiritual significance of fantasy themes.
Read the full article

Lessons from a Rabbit, a Cat and an Otter

By Margaret Somerville

Three books that nurtured my respect for and love of animals and nature.
Read the full article

Yellow: making Snapchat even more addictive

By Robin Taylor

A new app which is both popular and dangerous for teens
Read the full article

How the American family has changed

By Shannon Roberts

A new interactive tool.
Read the full article

Peter Singer interviewed about, well, everything

By Michael Cook

Criticisms of the utilitarian philosopher Peter Singer are often based on books or articles published decades ago. Here are his latest views.
Read the full article

Euthanasia and Alzheimer’s: Canada takes a step in the wrong direction

By Aubert Martin

Supporters of 'aid-in-dying' already want to expand the law
Read the full article

Parenting partnerships add to the web of lies about families

By Andrea Mrozek

Websites bringing together people solely to produce a child exploits a modern malaise.
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I have often criticised Peter Singer, the Australian who may be the world's best-known philosopher -- although that is a race with very few living entrants. I imagine that significantly more people know Lionel Messi, for instance. Anyhow, many of those acquainted with his ideas find them appalling. But since Singer has been on the world stage since 1975 or thereabouts, they tend to quote old articles and old books.

An interview with him was recently published in a sympathetic ethics journal. There, all in one place, all of Singer's ideas about topics like euthanasia, abortion and infanticide are on display. Unfortunately, they have not changed. Read all about it below.

However, I dislike painting Singer as an intellectual blackguard. In person he is polite and kind. And I remember an incident a few years ago which speaks well for him.

Student politicians at the University of Sydney wanted to ban a pro-life club. They consulted Peter Singer, expecting him to endorse their position. Instead, he wrote back to say: “I have been an advocate of legal abortion since I was an undergraduate myself, when abortion was illegal; but I am also a strong supporter of freedom of speech. A university, in particular, should be a place where ideas are able to be freely expressed.” He deserves to be thanked for his open-mindedness.

Michael Cook
Editor
MERCATORNET

Peter Singer interviewed about, well, everything

By Michael Cook

Criticisms of the utilitarian philosopher Peter Singer are often based on books or articles published decades ago. Here are his latest views.
Read the full article

Euthanasia and Alzheimer’s: Canada takes a step in the wrong direction

By Aubert Martin

Supporters of 'aid-in-dying' already want to expand the law
Read the full article

Parenting partnerships add to the web of lies about families

By Andrea Mrozek

Websites bringing together people solely to produce a child exploits a modern malaise.
Read the full article

The revolutionary vision of Jane Austen

By Gillian Dooley

Is Austen’s popularity starting to undermine her stature?
Read the full article