Comments on: Q&A plug: Marcus Westbury and Germaine Greer

By: Jaye

Jaye — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:42:36 +0000

Marcus, at 29 i don’t feel part of the ‘yoof demographic’ anymore either, even though my maturity level has yet to age. I believe you did a kick arse job in that token yoof role.
Greer, I just dig. Bishop could have almost been on any show with her empty rhetoric.
Carr and Sheridan, I won’t waste the space, and I wish they had done the same.

By: B.Lyle

B.Lyle — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 09:29:57 +0000

I admire Greer’s courage in writing about Indigenous males from her perspective, but I have to wonder, based on her Lateline comments(I haven’t had an opportunity to read the book yet, and let’s face it, the public/political discussion will be based more on her publicity work than the work itself), whether it’s wise to start pathologising a racial group as given to rage, whatever the justification might be.

Surely this rage could be used to defend all sorts of rascist situations, from higher incarceration rates, to unemployment, to less favourable housing. It’s not because we’re rascist, see, it’s just that these people as a group, even that nice Noel Pearson, are given to this irrational rage.

By: paul walter

paul walter — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:42:26 +0000

Dont, Marcus.
You should realise from this thread that some folk out are reaching the level of post traumatic stress disorder at the sight of the “New” media in action. You can’t realise what a contrast you made to the some of the hams and media tarts hijacking the process for purposes of self-presentation and obfuscation.
Greer was playing a lone hand in having to deal single handed with morons and philistines until you offered some decent mediation on issues concerning the realities involved with them, which of course salvaged Greer’s and the public ‘s night, at the expense of the bullshit artists.
It was almost like the old ABC, briefly. Issues taking precedence over spiel and actually allowed briefly to “present”on merit- the likes of Dalton and Cameron must have had kittens!

By: Marcus Westbury

Marcus Westbury — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:13:15 +0000

I now realise that the secret to flying below the radar and getting lukewarm but mostly positive reviews is to surround yourself with far more polarising people! I am trying to work out how i can apply this approach elsewhere in life.

By: Nick

Nick — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:45:31 +0000

(thought Germaine)

By: Nick

Nick — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:41:03 +0000

i think she was searching for ‘spectra’…but pretty ordinary to settle on ‘spectre’ after a few moments thought…tut tut silly head girl.

By: glen

glen — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:50:05 +0000

watching it now through abc website

i liked julie bishop’s slip “across the spectre” instead of “spectrum” when talking about how youth have been politically galvanised… lol

By: Pangur Ban

Pangur Ban — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:10:28 +0000

I’d really like to see Q&A feature an episode with a panel made up entirely of Indigenous leaders. But I won’t hold my breath.

Also, was anyone else as bemused as I was by The Australian’s rage against Germaine Greer in yesterday’s edition.

It devoted to her no less than 2 feature articles (one of which referred to her as a ‘contrarian feminist’ and the other a ‘polemicist’), one commentary piece, an editorial, a political cartoon and much of the Cut and Paste section. Much of this print space argued that she was so out of touch (I suppose with whatever The Australian is IN touch with) that she was really not worth bothering about.

By: Pavlov's Cat

Pavlov's Cat — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:08:27 +0000

Greer: some interesting material decades ago, basically a one-book wonder.

Really? How many of her books have you read?

By: Evan

Evan — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:25:15 +0000

Actually, I thought Germaine was sensational on Q&A.

Having her on the panel was a bit like dropping a pirhana into a goldfish bowl: Blood and fins everywhere.