There is a small but growing subgenre of online content that we in the bunker — until this morning, at least — have become particularly fond of: Americans who cannot deal with the fact that there’s a news website in Australia called Crikey.
We’ve had the good folk at the Maintenance Phase referencing a decent pun headline of ours in their episode about Pete Evans (“and the website is called Crikey! Just to get as Australian as possible!”), then popular leftie Twitch streamer Hasan Piker saying, “That’s gotta be fake, right?”.
Satirical luminary Jon Stewart also earnestly gave us a shout-out on his podcast The Problem (his classification of us as an “agency” makes it funny, giving the impression that we’re Australia’s version of Reuters or something).
But today we have to add a particularly dismal example to the list. In the middle of Stephen Colbert’s hand-rubbing monologue regarding the conclusion of the Dominion-Fox News defamation case, he threw in a gag about Lachlan Murdoch’s now-abandoned lawsuit against Crikey and Private Media. There’s a lot that’s weird about it; the fact he pronounces Lachlan “lack-lan” is the least of it.
After mentioning our name, he takes the obvious joke “How Australian can you get!” by… doing some weird race stuff. The suit has big implications, Colbert says, for Crikey‘s biggest rival (sigh) “Didgerinews” — cutting to a mock-up based on our website, but with more stories about shower spiders. “Tonight’s top story”, Colbert announces, before grabbing what appears to be a yidaki and blowing ineptly through it for a second.
Colbert’s famously a very bright guy, so we’re very surprised he didn’t think this clumsy bit about the Indigenous culture of another country didn’t need a second draft.
It’s not racist. It’s a bad joke.
If you call Colbert racist, it undermines when you call Trump racist.
I think we need a new Godwin’s law for racism.
Correct weight in my view.
I agree that over-using a term devalues it. But there are different forms of racism, and the assertion that Colbert wasn’t being racist here is ridiculously debatable.
Colbert was being casually, unconsciously racist. It’s why his joke was bad, and why he should have a think about it. Trump is malignantly, mendaciously racist. It’s a facet of his monumental, all-encompassing vileness, and part of the reason he should f off and die.
See the difference?
See what I’ve written below about degrees of transgression. Racism, properly understood, is a conscious state of mind, so to talk of “unconscious racism” is like saying “objectively pro-fascist”. (Unconscious bias is another matter.) This is an example of how ultraliberals distort and denature language in their never-ending quest for new excuses to hate people who are on their own side.
Outside the ultraliberal Hall of Mirrors, where the word “RACIST” reliably brings you kudos for having found yet another unlikely candidate for purging, most people read past the word without noticing, simply because it has been so worked to death and so stretched in its meaning that it has become another empty signifier (like “TOXIC”, “game-changer” and “perfect storm”) which goes in one eye and straight out the other. Maybe time to apply a little self-discipline and consign it to a decent period in the sin-bin.
If someone laughed, is it a bad joke ? Or just a bad joke for those who didn’t laugh?
Yeah, just like the other posters – it looks like none of us were that put out by the Colbert references. I definitely thought it eyebrow-raising when I watched him this morning. And if I worked for Crikey I might also have taken it more seriously.
But presumably they do know you’re a reputable news source, since they’re pros. And they are playing the name up for laughs, because they need to maintain their content-to-humour ratio.
Take-home message – thanks for the mention Colbert… but Crikey, you are legends for taking on and beating the seriously dangerous Fox.
I’m gonna go out on a limb, and guess that when there’s less than thirty comments here, there isn’t likely to be a single comment from a member of the group we should all be taking our lead from on whether this is offensive.
And if you don’t care whether indigenous folks are likely to be offended by this sort of thing, then aren’t you just riding the genocide bus? Either we’re continuing to grind them into the dirt, or we actually start paying a bit of respect, at the very least. Which do you think is a better move?
Tip: one of these choices will require some humility, and less speaking for others.
No, not “riding the genocide bus”. They might simply not have thought about it because they had more urgent things on their mind. Such things do happen in the real world outside the Hall of Mirrors.
This exemplifies another of the peculiarities of ultraliberal ideology: it doesn’t recognise degrees of transgression. Either you are 100% on the CORRECT LINE, or you are objectively pro-fascist; using last year’s correct-speak is as reprehensible as the Holocaust.
This all depends whether you’re focusing on intent or effect.
There is a genocide bus, and if you don’t want to be on it, you have to get off it. That you never intended to ride the genocide bus is beside the point when you were born on it.
Same as the ecocide bus. That one is a LOT harder to disembark from…
Well put Kimmo.
You dig yourself ever deeper into the same hole. Ask a Jew what genocide looks like. Ask a Cambodian what genocide looks like. Ask a Koori what genocide looks like. I’m sure none of them will mention using a cultural object without the permission of its traditional custodians. Wrong, yes. Genocide, no.
Hold on a sec, I’m not trying to equate busting out a didge with genocide here… It’s the not giving a crap about continually stepping on the toes of the downtrodden which I equate with being comfortable on the genocide bus.
You think maybe the Palestinians might also deserve a mention?
Making a faux pas is not the same as telling the person who says it’s a faux pas to take a hike, is it.
Mexicans and Brits also copped it. I like Colbert – he’s very smart and very funny and doesn’t need to say such pathetic things. What amazed me was he and his audience live in country where people are being shot for ringing a doorbell, pulling into a driveway to turn around and collect a stray ball. Why poke fun at other people’s traditions, accents, etc when that’s the state of play at home?
Because Americans have this misguided belief in themselves, as you rightly said about the shootings over there..
How many countries in the world have mass shootings in schools, how many countries make a big deal about gun shows( and who would you need a high calibre rifle to shoot rabbits or deer)
Thanks but no thanks, America itself is a joke
Some lighthearted variety ?
Most Americans are aware of the term ‘crikey’ through its use by the late Steve Irwin who, with all due respect, did come across as a bit of a clown (albeit an earnest and sincere one) in his TV shows.
And to be fair to Colbert, there are many Australians who are unfamiliar with the cultural significance of the yidaki too.
‘Crikey’ is actually British origin, but maybe used more in Oz?
And yes, not just Australians, but see people everywhere using real &/or makeshift didgeridoos e.g. street performers and music groups; not quite sure how they are supposed to be informed on any cultural issues or taboos.
Great take. I’d expect Australian’s to be more aware of the cultural implications, comedians in another country – much less so.
No bloody edit function. Please excuse my possessive apostrophe.
yeah – i rolled my eyes at this – not good, but hardly malicious
perhaps have Crikey’s people get in contact with Colbert’s people to try and organise an interview to explain how the story is more than an opportunity for a silly punch line … i’m sure Colbert’s global audience would love to hear about a certain scion’s cowardly bullying
This is a great idea!