Why So Serious

The wonderful performance by the late Heath Ledger in the movie 'The Dark Knight' brought about the question that to me seems to be appropriate right now. Perhaps not being asked in the same maniacal manner as his Joker character, but none the less, the sentiment is the same.

"Why so serious?"

This weeks media seems to be absorbed by the Paul Henry saga which I have already blogged about. My original thoughts and feelings about the whole event remain as I have already stated.

I wonder if there is a matter of taking ourselves far to seriously. How has one man and one comment said in the stupidity of the moment caused such an up-roar, and as it seems not just domestically. Are we so petty that we've let this happen?

We tell Irish, Scottish, Blonde, Maori, Island, Indian jokes all the time. I've told hundreds of them over the years. I've heard self deprecating humour from all of these and other ethnic groups. We here and in many other lands enjoy the performances of the Laughing Samoans. Are they not considered racist because they are poking fun at themselves and are we racist for laughing at another culture?

I understand completely the need to respect peoples cultures and names but sometimes you just can't help having a chuckle. Indian government Minister Sheila Dikshit? Who is not going to have a go at this one? Sometimes I wonder if parents give kids names which for sure are going to cause some stir. I believe it is pronounced Dixit of course but unless you had been initiated in the correct pronunciation, you could blow it easy. Even the Governor Generals name...Anand Satyanand is prone to being said incorrectly.

Having had friends who worked at call centres I have heard all sorts of names. Rholinda Crapp is one. Dabig Potti is another. Alison Gator...you just need to look at the phone book and you could have all sorts of fun. Are we then racist if we have a chuckle at a name from another ethnic group sounding funny?

Are we homophobic if we do not agree with the homosexual way of life? I love and respect my friends who live that way however my own personal view, as well as my religious beliefs do not align with an agreement with living that way. Does that mean I am homophobic?

Am I against blondes because I like a good blonde joke? Am I racist against Irish people because I tell Irish jokes? Hardly.

According to the all knowing Wikipedia, racism is defined as "the belief that the genetic factors which constitute race are a primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race".

When Mr Henry made his ill-advised comments on TV on Monday morning with the Prime Minister I find it hard to believe that he was expressing a notion of superiority. A notion of stupidity sure but I do not think he was intentionally placing himself in a level of superiority.

I would consider those in that category to be a part of the Neo-Nazi or KKK, or other radical groups of a similar vein. None of which I think Paul Henry belongs to, affiliates with or falls into the category of.

On the Stuff website there was a report of two young women from Wellington who felt that Henry's comments had stripped them of their national identity. (See http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv/4215154/Paul-Henry-opponents-complain-of-abuse). It is amazing what some have allowed one person to do by some stupid comment. Strip ourselves of the feeling that I am a New Zealander. I think that is something of a scapegoat excuse.

I often wonder if we even have a serious national identity? I some times envy other nations. Just simply by their anthems there is a sense of a national identity. Regardless of the internal politics or the issues of the past of some similarity, there is at least a sense of national identity and unity. Ours? To stop pissing people off we had to make it a rule that our National Anthem is sung in two languages.

Now Mr Henry has resigned from TVNZ but will it be enough? Prime Minister John Key says that it will bring closure. I don't think it will. I think its as useful as disqualifying a driver. They still are able to drive as has been proven time and time again. You can take someones lisence from them but they still know how to drive. Paul will still have a mouth to use and an opinion to share. Which is really, all he did.

He wasn't discriminating on purpose...it was something said in the moment which was really dumb and it hit a sensitivity bone that pokes out far too much in our society these days.

So...Breakfast TV will have a new look. Imagine, if Sunrise kept on TV3, they might have a shot now with Henry gone.

The Latest Paul Henry Saga

My writing has a tendency to land me in trouble with people whom in general I share similar views with, but from time to time I go against the grain of what may be considered popular opinion. My personal view on the Treaty of Waitangi is one of those matters, but this may be another. But as a writer of sorts you take what comes when you put your opinion out into the forum of the public. Same will it be with this I guess.

I never thought I would work on devoting a blog to Paul Henry, in anyway, shape or form, but his latest comments do stir something in the soul.

For one, and I cannot explain this, but I do not feel the uproar most of my countrymen are feeling. I completely agree that his comments were indeed offensive. Said in the heat of the moment or just out of sheer stupidity I don't know and I'm not going to judge, but for me personally, I think the postlude is proving worse than the act itself.

Yesterday, Unite Union and accompanied by the (radical at the best of times) Global Peace and Justice Auckland, fronted by radical John Minto protested outside the TVNZ offices in Auckland demanding Henry's sacking from his position. But I take Minto as seriously as I do Russell Norman or Peter Bethune. He's always good for a protest. He'd protest against the production of cheese if he could find a good enough reason, and Unite? well, they are firey at the best of times for any reason at all.

I wonder. Did Unite and the GPJA protest outside Hone Harawira's office, or the Maori Party HQ, or Parliament when the Northland MP stated his kids would never marry a pakeha? Did they protest outside Paul Holmes home when he did his cheeky darky slant on then UN Secretary General Kofee Annan? Why aren't they outside the bases of Skinheads or even the Mongrel Mob or Black Power?

One issue I believe is the thing that is at the core of the issue that no one wants to admit in our overly PC culture way of viewing things. Racism is in our society. I'm not talking about the kind of racism that is panned off as an excuse for so many Maori children failing in schools or the over representation of Maori in prisons...those particular issues unfortunately are as much if not more so about the choices people make that lead them there as it is about the ethnic backgrounds of the individual. I'm talking about the attitudes of some, some New Zealander's

Our culture supports racism to a degree. The case of the Metropolitan club in Manurewa not allowing a member of the Sikh community (whom they had invited to give a speech or they were giving an award to him) not to wear the Turban he wears as a part of his culture and beliefs. We claim to be a multi-cultural society, enlightened, understanding and tolerant. When in many instances, the opposite is true. Maybe more true than we want or are willing to admit.

We live in a world (New Zealand) that even now tolerates the 'I'm Maori, I deserve a hand-out' mentality. Where the current generation is being forced in more than monetary terms to pay for the wrongs of the past, of something that began as a race issue, Maori V Europeans.

I recall years ago my first wife's step father had a bit of a streak in him when the comment came back to me later that he said to her, 'you're not marrying one of those are you?' Yes, I felt somewhat offended by it, but I didn't call for his head on a platter. I felt sorry for his attitude. It for me is no different here. I feel sorry for what was said and the attitude it reflected at the time.

I can't say personally, that I have looked into the life of our respected Governor General. I knew he was a honourable man who's position is justified by his experience. However, without looking a little more I wouldn't have known that he was born in New Zealand. I do not know the rules around the appointment of a Governor General, and would assume that they have to be a born/naturalised New Zealander.

I do not remotely agree with Paul Henry's statements or even the way he expressed them. I agree even less with the rage that has come in the wake. It shows the hypocrisy of some groups when a member of parliament can say things like this, and no one calls for his head, and yet, a New Zealand born European can say something as blasé as 'he dosent look like a New Zealander, and he's being looked to be lynched.

What does a New Zealander look like? To be honest, we don't have a typical look...unless of course you are looking for someone like Jeff the Maori from Brotown. Do we have a typical look?

I cannot construe Mr Henry's comments as overly racist. He didn't call him a punjabi, dairy owner, or a cheap skate fruit store owner. Were his comments ignorant? Yes, very much so. Just plain dumb? Sure thing...but there are, have been, and will continue to be a lot of things said and done, a lot more racist than Mr Henry's comments on Breakfast TV, as long as our society continues to add fuel to the fire providing an atmosphere where it can grow. I believe he is far from being a bigot...if you take the true dictionary sense. There are others to whom that title could easily be given.

I felt his on air apology on Tuesday was heart felt and truly contrite and that takes a measure of a man to do that. But what has been latched onto here is a radical view of racism. The (no pun intended) black and white of it. It does no one any good.