A Demon Of Our Own Design

Let’s face it – there’s a lot of crap on TV. I should know – I watch a lot of it once the kids are sleeping. Actually that’s not quite true. I’m more aware of crap on TV whilst I flick past on my way to a random documentary about a bridge or some nerdy panel discussion on the ABC. Oh and ANTM. Anyway, for those of you outside the country, last week on The Chaser there was a skit about dying kids which set off a moral outrage shit storm to end all moral outrage shit storms. It ultimately lead to an apology, the demotion of a bureaucrat and the programme being removed for a few weeks so we could all think about how we could better spend our taxpayer dollars whilst we basked in the warmth or our own self-satisfaction.

I can certainly understand how people were offended by the skit – there is nothing inherently funny about dying kids. But the skit was so ridiculously OTT that to interpret it as a dig at the kids expense, or charities that help them, is perhaps missing the point. For me, it was a swipe at the cult of celebrity that can surround charities like this – that visiting a kid in hospital whilst the cameras are rolling is just part of your personal branding. Of course I could be wrong about the actual point they were trying to make – I’m sure there are other interpretations out there - but for a second let’s put aside this two minutes of TV and look at it in a wider context.

When you watch The Chaser, or any TV show for that matter you pretty much know what you are going to get. And in many ways isn’t that why we watch TV in the first place? To get a nice hour of flashy, predictable entertainment from the comfort of our own couches? Someone falls in love, someone solves a murder, someone gets voted off the island, someone gets into an awkwardly comedic situation. When you flick to the Chaser you are going to get a skit show about current events – skits ranging from silly to clever, sometimes funny and often controversial. In the very same episode, there was musical parody about Joseph Fritzl and incest. The week before, a skit about the Catholic Church and child abuse. Are these two topics any less ‘outrageous’? For whatever reason this skit managed to ignite the flame but lets not be surprised with what gets dished up when you turn on the Chaser.

I guess what really amuses me most in all this anger is that you can find exactly the same controversial stuff in other shows, in the same satirical vein, which seemingly fly under the radar of the Moral Police. If, like me, you are a sucker for all things animated then you will know what I’m talking about – Family Guy and good old South Park (just to name two). Both shows push the boundaries, both shows have their fair share of ‘bad taste’ jokes and adult material. As I mentioned earlier, when you tune in you know exactly what you are going to get. If this sort of thing doesn’t tickle your nipples, well it’s pretty simple. Don’t watch it. Change the channel. In Australia, codes of practice under the Broadcasting Services Act determine the standards of programming for Television and Radio. They take into account “community attitudes with regard to violence, sex, offensive language, drugs and the vilification of particular groups”.

So whilst there are things on TV like The Chaser which may offend some, there were over a million of us ‘in the community’ who watched the show, who were OK with the content and will continue to watch it when it comes back.

This brings me to my final point. Running along side all of this was the media (both TV and radio) adding fuel to the outrage fire by continually playing the offending clip in news bulletins and talkback shows throughout the day (and it’s still being replayed a week later). In a delicious bit of irony, the skit itself was pulled from the show’s website and further repeats on the ABC. If it was really that offensive to everyone– why continually show/play it? Was there the same outrage about the clips being repeated and discussed ad nauseam? I guess we shouldn’t be surprised if commercial networks put ratings (and profits) over alleged morals…but maybe it’s more a reflection on us as consumers. Are we really that disgusted, or is it more that we all enjoy shouting at the TV and having something to complain about until the next non-news story comes along?

Like any other commercial operation, TV is about selling a product to a consumer. In other words, we are going to get what we ask for. Yes there is crap out there which can be offensive, morally ambiguous, glorifies violence and makes us feel good about ourselves at other’s expense. But folks, this is all of our own choosing – we have the power by tuning in, or tuning out every night.