kidattypewriter

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Boo hoo brouhaha

I don't know what it was exactly, but between the one millionth time the video of Penny Wong crying popped up in my feed and the one million and oneth time the video of Penny Wong crying popped up in my feed, something snapped. What is it with the news media and the news media audience and pictures of politicians crying? But then again, it's a confusing issue. On the one hand, I think my life would be greatly improved if I never saw a politician crying again. On the other hand, who's to say what benefits could come to all of us if our feed was full of all politicians crying, all the time? It certainly wouldn't be any worse than what the media is full of at the moment (and the media is certainly full of it). 

Everyone cries, of course, and politicians cry too. Bob Hawke cried. Kevin Rudd cried. And now Penny Wong cried, too, when the results of the plebiscite rolled in and it became clear the 'yes' side had won the same sex marriage plebiscite. And she just happened to be standing in  front of the camera and the camera just happened to be recording her and the ABC just happened to take that footage and post it up on the internet as a news story (HEADLINE: politician's eye glands still in working order) and thousands of Australians just happened to watch it with such regularity that it just happened to appear in my feed again and again and again.

Humans are generally sympathetic sorts, of course, and there is just something about a video of Penny Wong crying that makes others cry. It's probably something to do with her being a likable politician who obviously has feelings and emotions like normal  people. Though why those normal  people would want to click on a video of Penny Wong crying for a second, third, fourth, or one millionth time is another question entirely. Sometimes normal people aren't very normal at all.

Maybe, in future, just as sitcoms get made with a laughter track, soap operas will get made with  a weeping track made principally of the sound of  Penny Wong crying, and played every time a break up or a death happens, so normal people might be able to sympathise in that way normal  people do and maybe even cry the tears of normal people as they do every time that recording of Penny Wong crying is played.

Not that I'm saying Penny Wong should cry full time. Don't be sad, Penny! Australia is a thriving modern nation with great economic prospects and a fantastic manufacturing sector! And you only need to do it once!   

Why... why are you looking at me that way, Penny Wong? I.... I didn't mean to. But the mainstream media made me do it! No, no... really! Ayieeeeeeeeeeeeee! 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Tim,

I hope this doesn't come across as offensive, but it seems to me that most of your issues boil down to a deep-seeded cynicism. I'm not just referencing your writing here, but also some of your comments on other pages - e.g your views on virtue signalling.
Are you okay? Are you getting enough person-to-person contact with others? I know that there have been times in my life when loneliness manifests itself as cynicism. You appear to have a great distrust for people, or perhaps people that you cannot relate to. I promise I am writing this comment genuinely, so please shed the snarky voice you may be reading with - perhaps imagine someone you love reading this to you.

It is quite absurd that you would assume that Penny Wong's tears were fake, or staged, or exaggerated. I don't think I need to spell out to you why she might be crying (hopefully you aren't so disconnected from society that you would understand why she would be crying - let me know if you're not and I'll explain).

I think in the future, before you begin lamenting about the ulterior motives of others, maybe just consider: what if this person is genuine? Not everybody has ulterior motives. Maybe it has been engrained in you that they do, I am unaware of your life or anything you may have been through.
All I am suggesting is that there are ways for someone like yourself to get to know people better - join a sport team, a knitting club, a book club - I'm not sure what your interests are. Modelling your life or your views after shock jocks will not lead to happiness.
There is an underlying sadness and longing in your writing, and I promise you that there are things you can do to remedy however you may be feeling about the state of the world.

I hope I have not upset you in anyway,

let me know if you need to chat more.

TimT said...

Hello. I'm sorry I missed your comment.

I quite like being an old grump. :)

Who are you?

Email: timhtrain - at - yahoo.com.au

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