Fun Stuff > CHATTER
The Australia Thread
Lunchbox:
Yeah I think Sydney is more of an AFL city (is this where I say 'Carn Swannies'?) but anywhere else in NSW doesn't know what AFL is. They're pretty religious about their League.
David_Dovey:
Yep those folks sure do love their pack-rapes
Lunchbox:
Akima:
--- Quote from: Eris on 15 Nov 2010, 03:34 ---Honestly though, I didn't think that skit was particularly racist. It wasn't funny, but it still was more that they were making fun of her because she had a funny accent rather than her being specifically Chinese.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: David_Dovey on 15 Nov 2010, 13:21 ---I don't know about that Lee Lin Chin parody being racist in the first place. I think it's more playing on her very obvious eccentricities of dress and appearance, and also the cadences of her voice, none of which are because of her ethnicity. She's just a weird bird in general. I love her 'cause of it, it's better than the dozens of cookie cutter pretty young women and square-jawed handsome older gentlemen on every other news program ever, but it's also pretty easy to understand why that makes her a pretty ripe target for parody. Yeah, she talks funny, but less in a stereotpical Chinese way (replacing "r" sounds with "l" sounds or something, I guess?) and more like she's an automaton in a 50s sci-fi flick.
--- End quote ---
Is either of you a Chinese language speaker who learned English as a second (or in Lee Lin Chin's case fourth) language, substantially by formal tuition? Do either of you hear in her voice echoes of Chinese languages with which you grew up, and recognise in her pronunciation sounds you too struggled with? If your answers are "no", what exactly qualifies you to decide whether her "funny accent" is somehow Chinese enough to be regarded as connected to her ethnicity?
--- Quote from: David_Dovey ---Isn't it entirely possible that for the people who wrote and performed that sketch, the fact that Lee Lin Chin is Chinese didn't even enter into their heads?
--- End quote ---
I don't know what went through the minds of those people, but why would I regard their attitudes or intent as decisive? Members of ethnic majorities and other dominant groups generally fail to consider the impact of their words and actions on 'outsider' groups, and automatically legitimise their own views. That's kind of the point.
--- Quote from: Eris ---The way it seems is that you looked at it was that they were making fun of a Chinese lady, that makes it racist and wrong. This wouldn't be an issue for you if the newscaster they were making fun of had a lisp and was white.
--- End quote ---
Actually, I don't regard ridiculing a person with a speech impediment as 'not an issue'. The hypothetical case you mention might not be racist, but it would still be wrong.
Edit: And yes I probably am getting angry (or at least argumentative) on the internet (see below). I should probably delete this, but since someone's already referenced it I won't.
Akima:
--- Quote from: Inlander on 15 Nov 2010, 18:43 ---Okay Tania here's some interesting Australian sports-related sociology for you: Australia has an endemic football code called Australian football, however it is by no means embraced universally in the country. For some reason the east coast states (New South Wales, Queensland, and the Australian Capital Territory) all follow/play the two Rugby codes and have almost no interest in Australian football! In fact the people in those states pretty much all view Australian football as something very strange and "other" and routinely mock it and everyone who follows it! Whereas in the rest of Australia Australian football is pretty close to a religion!
--- End quote ---
There are two kinds of football, one played with a round ball, the other played with an oval ball. They are essentially indistinguishable otherwise. :-D
--- Quote from: David_Dovey on 15 Nov 2010, 18:41 ---Haha yeah, what else are we gonna talk about, our rich cultural history? Hahahahah
--- End quote ---
Hee hee... Yeah! C'mon Aussie c'mon!
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