Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Irony Deficient

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  • mark taslov, in reply to Lilith __,

    begins plausibly and strings you along until that wonderful moment where it becomes too absurd to be borne.

    Sounds like civilization.

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    New Zealand is too small for satire. You'll upset too many people.That sounds defeatist, but it's too small a village.

    Mohammad didn't want himself drawn. I kind of respect that.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    I'm not a great fan of satire - I used to enjoy Not the Nine O Clock News but I can't think of any other satire recently that's floated my boat, to be honest.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Jackie Clark,

    Python?

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • ScottY,

    I'd be pleasantly surprised if any genuinely good local satire turned up on the telly. Public broadcasting seems all but dead in this country, with the exception of Radio NZ, and most decisions seem to be ratings-driven. The most we can hope for are shows like 7 Days, which while occasionally funny don't really count as hard-hitting satire.

    If I wanted to make a satirical show show I'd be borrowing a mate's camera and doing it myself, then posting it on YouTube. It may not get the audience of something on TV1, but if it's good enough and funny enough people will find it.

    West • Since Feb 2009 • 794 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    Anyway I’d rather have a robust press than satire. New century and all.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

  • Phil Lyth, in reply to ScottY,

    It may not get the audience of something on TV1, but if it’s good enough and funny enough people will find it.

    I'd be inclined to say if it is good enough, people will tell people about it. Viral, innit.

    Wellington • Since Apr 2009 • 458 posts Report Reply

  • Phil Lyth, in reply to Lyndon Hood,

    The issue at the top of people’s minds tends to be copyright over source material

    Well yes, and Gareth Hughes' Member's Bill would address that. (I leave it to the reader to decide if the problem is solved.)

    I'd be interested to hear from satirists (yes, looking at Lyndon, Jackson, Joshua and Steve) whether other changes to legislation should be proposed, around slander and libel. Feel free to take offline by emailing me (the little envelope icon at top right of this comment.)

    Wellington • Since Apr 2009 • 458 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark, in reply to nzlemming,

    Ah, but that was before NTNON! I enjoyed McPhail and Gadsby. Until I didn't. I do love NZ comedy, a lot. I think we have some of the funniest stand ups around.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz, in reply to Jackie Clark,

    we have some of the funniest stand ups around

    The good thing about stand up is that it's intrinsically ephemeral and contained. You can be thoroughly offensive (Fritzl jokes, Jimmy Savile jokes, etc) and it will largely stay in the room. It doesn't get circulated around the internet for a vortex of condemnation to build.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Angus Robertson, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    You can be thoroughly offensive (Fritzl jokes, Jimmy Savile jokes, etc) and it will largely stay in the room.

    Or if you'd prefer a wider audience for your one liners.

    Auckland • Since May 2007 • 984 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    Fritzl jokes

    Austrian Fritzl joke by the interesting Manfred Deix. Getting a bit old now, but naturally the Austriches were onto it first.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Scott Chris,

    Political satire at its best:

    Stephen Colbert

    He and his writers on top form with this episode.

    Auckland • Since Feb 2012 • 167 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    The Austocrats...

    ...it will largely stay in the room.

    Unless you are Alan Jones of course...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Unless you are Alan Jones of course…

    Or Michael Richards.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    And, for my blood, it took real balls to run this at the high tide of lunatic Diana idolatry:

    The Late Princess Diana
    An Apology

    I remember when they published that. It was effing brilliant.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • andin, in reply to Jeremy Eade,

    Mohammad didn’t want himself drawn. I kind of respect that.

    You make it sound as if he was a media shy prophet of 1500yrs ago.
    Ever heard of idolatry and how it arose in the Middle east?
    About the same time
    Did no favours to the Bamiyan Buddha statues.

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz, in reply to andin,

    It was a social control thing. Earlier forms of pantheistic belief had a wide range of gods and idols a person could worship. This hindered social control, as if someone objected to the assertions of their priests that an activity was wrong and evil, they could go to another more accepting temple.

    Insisting that everyone follow a single rigidly prescribed religion makes it easier to keep them in check. This was particularly attractive first to the Roman emperors whose empire was falling apart, and later to Arab leaders wanting to unite their people against surrounding groups.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • andin, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    and later to Arab leaders wanting to unite their people against surrounding groups.

    More specifically Mo

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • WH,

    There's a tension between our generous myths of equality and the fact that we spend our lives competing with each other for wealth and status.

    At their best, satire and parody are levelling forces, reminders of essential truths behind economic and social hierarchies. They can be directed towards politics, at power imbalances in the workplace, or pretensions of highmindedness.

    But they can also be used to put someone in their place, to re-assert that some of us are more important than others. There's an extent to which we satirise ourselves, willingly blind to the incongruencies of our own lives and all too willing to highlight the shortcomings of others. It's a pattern you see played out from schoolyard bullying to awkward chats around the water cooler. The truth is that we don't have an equal society because most of us don't actually want one.

    Least endearing of all is the appropriation of personal and cultural virtue by naked social ambition. So much of what was once considered high culture has been tarnished by its association with the grasping and upwardly mobile; the art collections amassed by speculators, David Koch's patronage of the theatre and the opera. The sense that these things are not mere pasttimes but a way of communicating status, serving the same function as a 10 year old's sneer about the poor kid's hand me down jeans.

    Okay. No more time for editing - going to watch the rugby at the Walkie with the Saffas.

    Since Nov 2006 • 797 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand, in reply to Joshua Drummond,

    Well, Mr Drummond, you made a significant step towards reinstating satire in the NZ public consciousness with your "Six Bad Art Plays"' which we attended last evening, in company with a full audience of rowdy Hamilton citizens. Bravo!
    I did, however, fear for the kiwi on a skateboard,

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I'm just going to post a link to this, with no further comment beyond #LOLSOB

    Copyright changes proposed by a member of the Green Party could destroy jobs and is "piss-taking" business, says Labour's Shane Jones.

    It is the latest swipe Jones has taken at the Greens after MP Gareth Hughes voiced support for a Greenpeace spoof of a Sealord television advertisement.

    The mock advert - released online - was dubbed over a Sealord television commercial and criticised what Greenpeace believed were harmful fishing practices.

    Jones, a former Sealord chairman, called it a step too far, and likened it to economic vandalism at a time when jobs were scarce.

    Not content to let the issue die, Jones has now taken aim at changes to copyright law tabled by Hughes, calling them a vehicle for the "Green agenda" to continue "piss-taking" business.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    Was going to reply then wondered if Danyl had already said it better, and yes he has:

    It’s nice to see that Shane Jones still takes a casual interest in New Zealand politics. Bit of a shame the only thing that motivates him is his passionate hatred of Labour’s largest viable coalition partner, and not, say, National Party policy. But after four years of total silence on all of his portfolio areas, his vehement opposition to a satirical ad parodying a company he used to chair, and that paid him $10,000 during the last election campaign is a deft way to remind us all what Jones stands for.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

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