- rant about things seen in the paper
- outline the things I wish to attend
- yet again lament the revoking of my Idol blogging rights
First things first, Caster Semenya. Could they have made more of a mess out of this situation? To be honest I have no idea how the Athletics Federation are going to handle it but I hope they give it due thought and consideration, and that it doesn't just become some sort of running joke. I can appreciate the complication of the situation but at the same time it hardly seems fair that she should be penalized for merely being herself. That identity may not be one that is conventionally laid down by society, but who are they rule on what is normal or what is conventional? If a person identifies in a certain way, that should be a valid expression regardless of supposed norms. The way the article in the Sunday Telegraph started today summed up the whole messed up situation and really set my teeth on edge. It reads: "It was simple enough for [her] rivals at the recent world championships in Berlin. As far as they were concerned, she looked like a man and ran like a man. She was a cheat, and should be barred." But she identifies as female. What would they have her do, compete with the men where she would no doubt feel extremely uncomfortable? Or not run at all, despite the fact that she has a talent and passion for the sport. Should she just fade into the background, someone no one talks about? She has an unfair advantage competing with the women, but she wouldn't exactly fit in with the men either. Her genetic make-up means she doesn't fit the nice boxes society have drawn up in the past and yet, considering that she is not the only one to defy such characterisation, no one ever asks whether modes classification are perhaps the issue here.
Society insists on forcing people to define themselves and place themselves within neat boundaries as ruled down eons ago but whatever person decided to be the voice of reason on the matter of general expectations. Yet we are constantly told that every person is unique. So, the general consensus seems to be it's fine to be unique and different as long as it falls within the parameters of what we're comfortable with. It's archaic. I realise there aren't any easy answers here, I'm not stupid, I just think this whole situation has not been handled very well. I also just wish people weren't so hung up on sticking neat little tags on everything. How bad is this for her, she thinks she's following her dream to compete at an international level and then wins which is no doubt a happy moment for her, only to be dragged into this huge public scene. I noted somewhere that they're blaming the South African Authorities for not picking up on this but clearly these people have no idea what it's like over there. Granted I haven't lived in the country for a while, but I've often found a disturbing ignorance when it comes to certain things. Beyond that, it's been my unfortunate luck to find myself in situations where people can be oppressively misinformed and narrow-minded. I wouldn't want to make a sweeping generalisation about the country, but I am perfectly comfortable in stating its bureaucratic bodies to be ineffectual and incompetent at best. So I have nothing for sympathy for Caster Semenya who has been failed on so many levels and has been forced to go through all this in public. All at 18 years of age. It's madness.
Next up, things I wish to attend. Well, A streetcar named desire at the Sydney Theatre Company mostly. Aaaand I just realised its booked out. Dammit! It's gotten such stellar reviews too. Cate Blanchett FTW. Avenue Q has extended its Sydney run so if anyone wants to go to that, it's cheap on Tuesdays. I want to go to so many gigs I didn't even know was happening. This is what happens when I don't have the internet for a while, I fall completely behind. It's painful since I have no means to feed the desperate gig demon. Tickets for The Used go on sale tomorrow, I just hope there are still some available when I get home for my lunch break. Fingers crossed. Then there's Paolo Nutini, The Offspring, Them Crooked Vultures among many others...and that's not even mentioning Soundwave. Sheesh.
Last point, Australian Idol. I honestly cannot tell you why I feel compelled to watch this show. It is...bland at best, and yet, there I sit. Two or three (it was the year The Black Parade was released) Idols ago, they set up an interactive website for viewers to get involved in. They had an anonymous blogger, supposedly a famed individual within the festival industry, on this site who did the most hilarious, sarcastic write-ups of each performance show. I loved his posts and joined up so I could read/respond. Of course I was unable to resist the lure of another place I could ramble extensively and I started blogging there, making my own observations about the show and offering idiotic advice. I was pretty much consistently the highest rating blogger on that site and exchanged messages with previously mentioned anonymous blogger and the editor of the website. The latter was mostly because of my relentless scathing commentary on the functionality of the website. I didn't actually care all that much about Idol but I had so much fun blogging about it and angering people that I couldn't wait to do it again the next year. As I scrambled onto the site in '07 I realised that they had removed the blogging function from the site. Now secretly, I've always been convinced that this was because of me (if my ego is obstructing your view of the screen just jab it with a pen.) Every year and every performance show since I sit there and moan to my mother that they "took my blog away!"
So yeah, I think I keep watching this show out of habit and nostalgia. I am greatly concerned by the amount of people who keep coming back year after year and are now actually being put through where they were originally rejected. Could it be that the country is running out of talent? I'm fairly convinced the show is on its last legs. We've already gotten rid of Big Brother (thank god) so what's another reality show. Can I just say that you know your bands gone beyond mainstream if it makes it to Idol. Tonight we had Paramore and Fall Out Boy. I have a soft spot for the kid we call Thorpy since my mother decided he looks like Ian Thorpe, he reminds me of every theatre geek kid I've always wanted to be friends with and the first time I saw him perform he nailed 'We are the champions' with jaw dropping magnificence. If you can do Freddie justice, I generally find it quite hard not to appreciate your skills. On the requisite bitchy note...does Ricki Lee not have a stylist?
If you made it this far, well done. Pardon my vastly different subject matters and my lack of smooth transition between them.
Music: There is life outside your apartment - Avenue Q Broadway Cast
Mood: Exhausted
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