From the sublime to the ridiculous...an election post!

How do I love 10 Things About You let me count the ways? The kids who dress as cowboys for no reason, the fact that there is someone who adds "Chill" to his name in the cast (seriously I just noticed this, it is the film that just keeps giving), Alison Janney as the guidance counsellor who writes adult fiction in her office, the "profound" discussion of being whelmed, Health Ledger pretending to sing and dance, a soundtrack that includes classics like Calypso by Spiderbait, the brilliant Julia Stiles in her best ever role, the quotable lines, the rapping of Shakespeare, the random why is there a band on the roof of their school, and of course the introduction of the adorableness of Joseph Gordon Levitt to the world. And that's just the beginning...

And to my point, which is pretty much just so I have some happy to start with before I jump from the sublime to the ridiculous...that is to say the federal election.

With less than two weeks to go, the Coalition is inching ahead as everyone knew it would which means I'll be soon looking for the cheapest plane tickets to New Zealand, or Canada, or anywhere but here. That said I don't know that the alternative is really that much better. Sure the Labor Party isn't lead by someone who would drag this country into a darker era than the Howard years, but on the issues, it appears to be a race to the right. The issues that the left usually focuses on have been forgotten as the environment, education, and social justice struggle to get air space except with policy announcements that cut or mangle any good work done on these areas since the departure of Howard. For me one of the issues that has the make or break issue for any federal election for over a decade has been the issue of refugees and this election marks a true fight for the right to a lack of compassion.

I have blogged about my thoughts on what I believe to be the ridiculous hypocrisy of Australia's deeply engrained racism in the past (read it here- http://clarewoodley.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/more-colourful-shade-of-pale.html) and not surprisingly that post came out of listening to people discussing refugees in the aftermath of drownings off Christmas Island two years ago. The rhetoric of fear of the outsider that colours policies and news reports on this issue saddens me more than I can describe. The fact that news reporters from some media outlets and politicians seem to incapable of referring to refugees not as refugees or asylum seekers though this is what they are but instead choosing to term them "boat people" or "illegal immigrants". As has frequently been pointed out since the Rudd announcement of Labor's new harsher policy, seeking asylum is not illegal and Australia is not just the signatory to but also one of the authors of UN Refugee Policy that clearly outlines this- what is illegal is to overstay your visa but absent from any immigration policy is a discussion of what to do about the hundreds of white people who arrive from middle class countries on holiday visas and then never leave...surely we should crack down on them first. If only the average Australian could take a moment to take the imaginary journey of a refugee (especially as if they have picked up a newspaper in the last ever than they know what kind of situations these people are fleeing), think of being in fear for your life, in fear for the lives of all of those you love- your significant other, your kids, your family, your friends- in fear not just in an abstract sense like fear that they will catch a cold or drive in an unsafe matter but constant unceasing fear that there will be people with guns who will drag them away in the night and shoot them, that if they are female they will be the victims of rape, that there will be insufficient food to feed them, that should they fall ill there will be no way to cure them, that whatever happens your government will not only not help you but will more likely than not they will finance and support those who are threatening you, what would you do? More accurately, what wouldn't you do? Would you flee? For me there is no question, I would be out of there even if it meant leaving my home, my possessions, my country, and winding up in an overcrowded refugee camp. What is that reality like? It is overcrowded, it is often lacking in basic supplies due to the overcrowding, often the corrupt government still holds power over the situation (don't let it sound like I'm putting down the work of organisations like UNHCR but they are under-resourced and unable to stand in the face of the corruption and power of governments in some countries...if you have spare cash to donate to something, UNHCR is a good place to send it), and applying for asylum through governments and UN agencies is hampered by corruption from one and massive backlogs on the part of the other and can take years to be approved. Again what would you do? I have no surprise that people go to extremes to escape this, and I'm just happy that those who wind up in Western countries other than Australia are usually treated with compassion and sympathy for their hardships. I know saying let them stay is a big ask and will take a big adjustments on the part of the average Australian (a great blog post on this that several of my friends shared on facebook following the Rudd announcement is this one- http://christinemead.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/so-you-think-its-a-good-idea-to-welcome-refugees-excuse-me-while-i-burst-your-bubble/) but would you be willing to step out of your comfort zone if it meant that people would be free of unspeakable oppression? And if the answer is no, I really ask you to dwell on why that is.

I'll leave it there on the topic of refugees as it has had plenty of air time everywhere and my comments on the Abbott announcement can be summed up in two words, "new low" (my words when I first heard it were longer, louder and much angrier).

The other section of this post on election things is a response to the amping up of people who aren't running for office openly telling me how to vote on facebook, twitter, instagram, well pretty much everywhere. And when I say this I don't mean Murdoch as I somewhat expect that, I mean the average Australian. I am quite open in discussions of my voting preference- most people I know are aware that I'm a former Democrats voter who now votes for the Greens- and I am quite happy to answer question about why I vote the way I do and what policies of all parties, including of the Greens, I do or don't agree with. However I would never say to someone I knew, even in the sterile world of the web, "Vote Greens" or use a hashtag to that effect or actually presume to tell anyone how they should direct their vote. When I talk politics, it is to get people thinking, not to brain wash them. I know we live in a hyper public culture, that we don't live in the world of twenty or thirty years ago where even if it was abundantly obvious, you never told people who you voted for but sometimes I think the old way had something going for it. So this is sending a plea out to the land of the internet, please political engaged Australia, let people make up their own minds! Share policies, share ideas, but don't hashtag a voting preference and allow yourself to respect the viewpoints and reasons that others hold that lead them to voting the way they do (unless that viewpoint is, well everyone in my family votes that way, in which case just point them to the policies pages of the major parties (and some of the minor if you feel like including them) and encourage them to think beyond this)- I won't cut you off my facebook/twitter/whatever else list if you continue to talk like that but it is an annoyance to see it so frequently. I saw Malcolm Turnbull out on the campaign trail on the news the other day and as much as I would not vote for his party, I applaud the fact that when challenged he said, and I paraphrase, "You and I have different options and that is fine. People are allowed to think about things differently". 

So I end with a few final points:

Firstly policies for parties if you need them can be found at the following sites:
ALP http://www.alp.org.au/
Liberals http://www.liberal.org.au/
The Greens http://www.greens.org.au/
Nationals (because they are in a Coalition with the Liberals) http://www.nationals.org.au/
The Palmer United Party (because they are running a candidate is EVERY electorate) palmerunited.com

Secondly, if we must have a new PM, can't we have an old one back again? Anyone else keen to see Paul Keating back? The very small part of me that is ever tempted to informal vote would just write "BRING BACK PAUL!" in big letters on every ballot paper I voted on.

Finally know lefties of Australia that the pain will be shared Saturday week if the seemingly inevitable happens...my antidote in the short term will be icecream and wishful thinking and when I say wishful thinking you know where I'm going...  a little bit of this....

 And this...

And this...

'Cause when all's said and done no-one will ever match a fictional president of another country... good night internet people!

Having a rant...but in a good way

Well hello there internet peoples. I know based on my past posts you are probably thinking I'm overdue a rant about the dreadful things going down in terms of refugee policy in Australia, and you are 100% right but I'm going to let that stew especially as I'm still struggling to find the words to express the rage at the Coalition's announcement of their completely heartless take on the issue. Instead I'm going to rant about good things...two of which are the work of some brilliantly wonderful friends of mine...

BUT first the lengthy spiel that has truly been coming for months now, why is everyone so stuck on the violence and the sex in Game of Thrones when it is probably the show with the best politics of difference anywhere on TV? I was a late comer to the amazingness of GoT and The Song of Ice and Fire books. I'm not a fan of epic fantasy most of the time, as it tends to demand a lot from the reader from the outset. I mean I like that you have a complex world with maps and religions and twenty thousand characters and crazy magic, but I don't need to learn the intricacies of the religion and the particular brand of magic in ridiculous detail in the first chapter before I care about any of the characters especially because you've got so many of them that character development is probably going to fall short in the long run anyway. For me, love them or hate them, the characters is what I need to buy the story especially if you are shooting for seriousness and not humour. The other thing I struggle with is the lack of difference in the kind of fantasy that goes into the fantasy that reaches a broad readership...thanks J.R.R. Tolkien! Before the rabid Tolkien fans hunt me down...chill! As a story Lord of Rings and The Hobbit are great and one of the few epic fantasies that I've enjoyed, BUT look at your cast of characters, all of the good ones are clearly white and the women, even the ones with the potential to be strong characters, are sidelined (if you haven't read the books, Arwen, Eowyn and Galadriel were all expanded in the Jackson films, and yes Eowyn does kick butt and kill the Witch King but she doesn't get much glory for it, and after she meets Faramir, she gives up being a shield maiden to marry him!) . Where oh where are the people who aren't straight white men in epic fantasy and when will they get to be the hero or at least get to be interesting villians!

All of this sums why, when GoT first aired a few years ago, I was very much in the not for me camp, and why I hadn't bothered with the books.  Then time went by and I started to hear what one often hears about shows on HBO, as people kept going on and on about the amount of sex in the show, to the point where I started to think that it was more of that vein than say True Blood, which I stopped watching after the last season as it had lost all of its quality plotting and storyline, and become just a vehicle for every character to be naked alls the time except when violence was needed. I thought GoT must be wall to wall nudity with no storyline, probably quite exploitative of women and others on the margins of white patriarchal society, and yeah with a little bit of violence on the side just for fun. The problem was that a lot of people I knew who liked it weren't the kind of people who would watch a show that was remotely like that- they were people with better taste than that who liked character driven drama and good script writing. Finally I watched the first episode of the first season in December last year., and I thought hey this isn't that bad. When season 2 came out, I bought both season 1 and 2, and I watched both seasons in a week. Then I started on the books and read them at great speed. Finally season 3 was the first ever season pass I bought on iTunes as I just couldn't wait for more. George R.R. Martin (also what is it with R.R. initials and fantasy writers?) has achieved something amazing in these novels which has been translated brilliantly by the creators of the TV show. The universe of Song of Ice and Fire didn't demand that I learn religions and magic in the first chapter. Yes, there are tonnes of religions but the first book only really mentions three- the Old Gods, the Seven, and the gods of the Dothraki- and only first two of these in any detail (it still isn't much as more comes out in the later books) AND yes there is magic but the most magically things in the first book is the brief appearance of what appears to be zombies in the prologue/ opening scene of the first season of the TV series and the presence of three dragon eggs. Martin allows the characters to develop and allows the reader to care about them before laying the complexities of religions and magic on you, and also has a handy list of them in the back of every novel so you can keep track of them all as yes there are twenty thousand of them.  This got me through the first hurdle but what about the politics of difference? This is a world based on medieval England so the characters are going to be white and men will have the power and anyone who is "different" by society's standard will be sidelined and/or killed, right? WRONG...well on almost all counts as pretty much every principle character is white, except the Dothraki who have tan skin and whom the TV series gives an islander/tribal appearance to (the actor who played Khal Drogo is Hawaiian but I imagine the Dothraki as Maori in appearance) and the people of Braavos who are Southern European both in my imagination and in the TV series version of Syrio Forel, and in the books, there is mention of the Summer Islanders who are black just not featured much, and my favourite people (yet to appear in the TV series but I'm so excited for them to come in the fourth season...just saying the surnames Martel and Sand are the winners) the people of Dorne whom I imagined to be Middle Eastern in appearance but though it appears the TV series has gone with a Latin American/Spanish look. There is this great quote which is in the series but is lifted straight from the books where Tyrion Lannister says "I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and bastards and broken things", and if you add women to the list (which the character definitely does have a tender spot for), and you have summarised one of the shining lights of these books/ this show. There are spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the series though I will stop with the spoilers at the end of the third season and not continue through with what I know from the books except as a hint that it gets better! The interesting things about the universe of GoT (going with the series shorthand as it is easier) is that the characters who make it, those who survive and prosper, aren't the strong physically capable men with legitimate claims to success. The back story to all of the events is the death of several such men- I'm thinking mainly of Rhaegar Targaryen but also I would argue Brandon Stark's death strongly contributes to what plays out in the books/show. The first season cuts through them at great speed, starting in the prologue you lose several men of the Night's Watch (one of whom is from a noble family), then Bran Stark is crippled, then Benjen Stark disappears, then Viserys Targaryen dies (not that he is much of a loss) followed by all of the Stark guards, Robert Baratheon, Ned Stark (it takes a confident author to kill his protagonist), Syrio Forel, and Khal Drogo.  This bears onwards as the strong men continue to get sidelined as Barristan Selmy is fired from the King's Guard, Renly Baratheon is killed as is Joer Mormont and many many men of the Night's Watch, then the novel's/series's answer to the classic leading man, Jaime Lannister is maimed, and then the Red Wedding happens and we say goodbye to Robb Stark and most of the young strong men of the North who went to war with him. The men who aren't obvious on the out- the bastards (Jon Snow and Gendry), the crippled or maimed (Jaime, Bran, Varys, Davos Seaworth, the Hound, and (OK slight spoiler but it was hinted at very strongly) Theon Greyjoy), the overweight and scared (Samwell Tarly), the dwarf (Tyrion), and the wildlings- are too young (Rickon (he is even younger in the books) and Tommen), starting to get too old (Tywin), too gay and also too much suffering from profound grief (Loras Tyrell), too exiled and disowned (Ser Jorah), too clearly nuts (Joffrey- I applaud Martin in creating the perfect archetype bully in Joffrey...urgh Joffrey I despise him and his abuses of women (esp. Sansa) with every fibre of my being...and wait he is a bastard born of incest), or too having given up control for their own lives (Stannis) to be a convenient strong leading man in the world of epic fantasy. The closest you get is one of my favourite characters, the scheming backstabber that is Littlefinger who is more of sideline figure and is also short and heir to nothing.

So the men are more likely to be outsiders than not from society's standards but what of the women? I would say that GoT has the best collection of strong female characters you are going to see in epic fantasy novel or on TV at the moment...for one thing most of them are still alive and kicking (curse the Red Wedding for killing off Catelyn Stark, Talisa (granted this is just a TV series thing; in the books, Robb's wife is called Jeyne Westerling and she doesn't attend the Red Wedding so survives...spoiler for non book readers), and Dacey Mormont, AND TV series for killing Ros...that said we'd still have lost Lyanna Stark who sounds like she would be have been interesting before the action of novels starts). The list of awesome heroines and female villains (though really it is much more complex than that in the world of GoT thankfully) goes on and on from Cersei Lannister who would do anything for her twin or her children (thankfully in VERY different ways), to Catelyn Stark who though dead now is the most powerful mother figure I've seen in TV I mean she fought a guy with a knife with her bare hands (!), to Margery "I don't want to be a queen, I want to be THE queen" Tyrell, to Ayra Stark the queen of kick butt tomboys, to Ros who granted doesn't exist in the books except a brief mention and is also dead but is an amazing whore with a heart and guts, to Asha (Yara in the TV series) Greyjoy who leads her own army, to Shae another whore with a heart, to Sansa Stark (hush all you haters! Sansa is amazing!) who tracks an interesting journey from silly girl who wants to follow society's rules to abused young woman to who knows what as I can't wait to see what Martin does with her, to Melisandre who effective rules for Stannis, to Brienne of Tarth who is tougher than most knights, and finally to the amazing wildling ladies, Osha and Ygritte, who won't let the fact that they are doubly outsiders get them down.

You of keen sight will see I left someone off...my favourite of all GoT characters, Daenerys Targaryen. She is pretty much sums up the amazingness of GoT women in one hit. Firstly she is the victim of patriarchal society's machinations in her marriage to Khal Drogo (she is so meek, so innocent, and so young (14 in the books) at this point that you are certain no good will come of it), then instead of being crippled by this she gets stronger and starts to become a queen to match her horse king, then she is widowed and abandoned/betrayed by her followers but she still has the strength to take to revenge, then she leads an army made up mainly of the weak, the young, and the old and makes them strong by her strength, then she has the wisdom to reject another mercenary marriage (for those who are only familiar with the TV show another difference is the events in Qarth- she kicks more butt in the TV show as she is not betrayed by Xaro in the books- he proposes despite being gay and she rejects him as it is clearly mercenary, he is also still alive), then she smashes slave city after slave city and frees all the slaves. Basically she kicks major butt, she commands tougher, stronger men without the blink of an eye, and what did I forget...oh that's right, she has DRAGONS! That's right they left the dragons in the control of a woman!

OK so that was long and rambly and I'm sure there are people working on PhDs on it right now but to summarise... don't get put off by the boobs (there are whole episodes where no-one gets naked for goodness sake) or the violence, GoT is where it's at for quality politics of difference as it is the land of successful outsiders and women, and a crappy world in which to be a leading man. And women of the world if you aren't sold by that, the TV show does also have Kit Harington as Jon Snow who has the leading man looks (albeit it young leading man looks) but his character who is nice and outsider-y:

See pretty, right?

OK so flying past the GoT rant...hoping you're still with me... two other things to promo...

Thing one- My friend has just got her first book published and all bias aside it deserves to be lighting the world of Australian YA fiction ablaze. Her name is Claire Zorn (you can read her blog and investigate who she is  here- http://clairezorn.wordpress.com - she rants a little about GoT too...maybe don't go now as the current post has a little wee bit of spoiler for her book) and her book is called The Sky So Heavy. The book is set in the lower Blue Mountains and there is a nuclear explosion in the first chapter which leads to a nuclear winter leaving 17 year old main character and his little brother stranded alone in their house. I'll leave it there but just to say, it's great and you should buy it, buy it now! It might be in your local bookshop or you can get it at the penguin website- http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9780702249761/sky-so-heavy . 

Secondly, another friend, Phil, is trying to crowd fund (well has already been funded but it just get better with stretch goals) a game. It is called Pack of Heroes. I've played it and it is awesome fun! You should throw some cash at it as it only has 27 hours left to get more awesomely funded. Go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1425721404/pack-of-heroes-a-vintage-comic-superhero-card-game and get in on the funding fun!

And that is all from me today, except to say, if you follow my advice and watch GoT and you get through it quickly, I then recommend shows about parents who turn to drug sales to fund their lives after tragedy...I've just finished season 3 of Breaking Bad and I'm also in season 3 of Weeds, and both are awesome!