Mandy Martin, Puritjarra 2, 2005. For further information on MANDY MARTIN, refer here: http://www.mandy-martin.com/
If there are diverse kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing place, then we need to learn to value the different ways each of us sees a single place that is significant, but differently so, for each perspective.
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looking for something firm in a world of chaotic flux
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goodbye to Australian culture?
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June 29, 2006
An article on Australian culture--or lack of it in New Matilda (subscription required) by Stephen Orr. It is a lament. Orr says:
I grew up in the 1970s and 80s hearing about how Australia used to have a sense of inferiority. How we used to favour English and American culture, saved our whole lives for a trip back to the 'Mother Country,' how our artists and intellectuals fled our shores at the first opportunity. But things had improved. We'd learnt to believe in ourselves, to support our rock bands, read books by our authors and see films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock and Breaker Morant. The ABC was playing Sculthorpe and Meale, Williamson was populating our stages with recognisable Australians, and Don Dunstan was teaching us to cook with chickpeas. We were visiting Bali instead of Birmingham, proudly wearing barbecue aprons with cartoon breasts, laughing at Paul Hogan and, at last, coming to like who we were.
Alas things have changed again.
It seems a lot of people have given up on the idea of delving into our national character---of trying to find out who we are, how we tick, what we value, and what we find funny.So, the good news is, we've become what we always wanted to be -- part of the USA. The lucky country gets lackey. Not that we'll notice the difference. We're mostly American anyway.
And:
You can see it in our music, too. What’s happened to all the Australian acts? In the 1980s, Oz music was all the go --AC/DC, The Angels, Midnight Oil, Men at Work and Cold Chisel, to name a few. The music was on the radio and we had programs like Countdown to give it a push (until Molly eventually became an honorary Yank, flying to the US to interview the likes of Madonna, who'd pat him on the head, Dubya style). Now it’s 50 Cent and the rest of the crew presenting a cleaned up version of life on the streets of LA, or our own Australian Idols---fresh-faced, white-teethed, God-loving drongos that couldn’t play an instrument or write a song if their life depended on it.
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Wonderful insight if the writers frame of reference is only mass media. The writer might want to check out the internet.
Culturally Australia isnt part of the US, I went through about six months culture schock when I first came to the US.
Politically we may lean that way. But the writer is focusing on culture, not politics.
I think the writer misses.
The mass media fare is often lowest common denominator so it appeals to the most consumers. What Hollywood, Disney, NBC etc are pumping out doesn't represent American culture either.