What the hell, ABC?

[logansrogue]

Okay, look, I know what you're trying to do with HungryBeast. I do.

It's full of young, snarky, edgy, mostly-white hipsters who are bitching about various stuff. Problem is that they keep hamfistedly handling very delicate situations. Sometimes you hit the nail on the head and it's very powerful (the thing with the actors reading out racist comments from a website) but then you take another subject and just slip over and make a hugely offensive mess.

The "Fake Lesbian: Liberated or Lame?" Where the hell do I start? Lame is an ablist term. There are people (like myself) who aren't lesbian or straight, yet those are the two people you focus on. It goes without saying that I'm as irritated by Katy Perry as some queer folk, but come on.

The Industry of Outrage thingo (I forget the exact title) was joking about offending Coeliacs. And then made the gag that Coeliacs only really suffer from puffiness anyway.

... The fuck? I WISH. I FUCKING WISH, ASSHOLES. Do they even KNOW how hard it is to avoid wheat? And then to make us out to be withered nerds puffing 24/7 on an asthma puffer? I SIT ON A DUNNY SCREAMING MY TITS OFF IN AGONY. Fucking puffiness!

Then there was a nerd bitching and moaning about "Awareness Weeks". And he says, "Why can't we have a "Not worry about anything" Week?"

... The fuck? Can this little fucker even imagine having some kind of problem, be it mental, physical or bad luck in life, that they need help on? And all the time, all the fucking time, the world blithely goes on about its business and doesn't care? And you feel there's nobody to help you?

And for just one fucking week in the year, you might be lucky enough to have someone fundraise for your problem. And in that week, people won't roll their eyes at you if you talk about your condition. People might actually get off their fucking arses and LEARN about something other than themselves.

It's a blessing, you know? It's a HELP. It's called HELPING PEOPLE, motherfucker. And if that gets in the way of your cushy life of not worrying about anything? Boo fucking HOO.

So, big fail, ABC. You're better than this (or so I thought).

Comments

[rm.livejournal.com]

Wait, WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS PROGRAM?

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Ugh, this is a programme that's supposed to be cutting edge but it's pure fauxgressive wank. Here's the URL:

http://hungrybeast.abc.net.au/

The Chasers were bad enough, but these people are worse. They had a "post-race" rap, which blew my mind so hard I haven't had the composure to talk about it cause I will lose my shit way more than I did about the little coeliacs thing. If you need to stand with two of your black friends at the end of your rap and say, "It isn't racist cause these black dudes say so" then ONE IS DOING SOMETHING WRONG. *head-desk* *head-desk* God damn, is it so hard not to be a fucking arsehole in this country?!

[rm.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay, your ABC, not our ABC. I was wondering if I had to fire off a letter somewhere. Still how dreadful (and unpleasantly illuminating to me).

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Hah, sorry to scare you! What's so horrible about this for Australians is that this stuff is on a Government funded television station. It is just NOT on. So I'm going to have to kick up some major stink.

[rm.livejournal.com]

That's dreadful! Even worse really. I'm sort of shocked, but then I always find Australia to be a surprising mix of liberal and conservative (US meanings) policies and viewpoints.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

It is a crazy, crazy place. I love this country but it shits me to tears sometimes. Makes me want to kick things!

[greteldragon.livejournal.com]

As the main token person I know, who is in fact actually lame, I'm unconvinced that lame really is so much of an ablest term. It's always just seemed like, yes this is recognition that this pretty much sucks, as do many other things.

I was going to look into its meanings a little deeper (but most stuff talks about horses), but I need to be at uni to sign into the sites I want to use. And I'm lazy.

Dunno, it bugs me more when people decide its inappropriate because its like, dudes people will just find another group/thing whatever to insult, its how language works. But that I guess is my issue with all this wordy stuff in general. I don't like it.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Thing is, you're not the only "lame" person out there. I think it's better to be safe than sorry with these things. Not that I expect everyone to make this choice, but at least on public TV, they shouldn't use language that might be hurtful.

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

Is it batshit week on Australian TV?

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

I don't know man, I just don't know.

[windtear.livejournal.com]

I just think that the comedy programmers are healthy white cissexual males so they're functioning from that lovely position of privilege that you need to get your butt thoroughly kicked out of before you get that it's not that way for everybody. (I may be speaking from experience there.)

The problem is not that it's suddenly this way, it's always been this way, it's just that they are always pushing the envelope and it's finally that bit too far and the non-physically-perfect, non-white, non-cis, non-males (delete as applicable) are finally hitting back. About bloody time.

I have to admit, I don't watch the ABC's 'comedy' programming and I haven't for ages. I perceive it as just crass these days - I've never liked The Chaser, The Librarians and Summer Heights High had good bits but, like the curate's egg, they were only good in bits, and it sounds like Hungry Beast is more of the same.