Tuesday 10 August 2010

Dystopia rising

Just think, in less than two weeks, Tony Abbott could really and actually be the Prime Minister of Australia. Bringing with him Chris Pyne as minister for Education! Eric Abetz, Workplace Relations! Kevin Andrews, Human Services! And there's many more awesomely clever, thoughtful and humane prospects where those came from. I haven't been sleeping too well lately, and the night before last I had RN on at about 2am and the lead item in the news was that Labor had edged ahead by one percentage point in the polls. Can't express the comfort, the relief this brought.

Well, in a couple of hours I am teaching Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the novel. It was my pleasure in yesterday's lecture to introduce a lot of young people to the movie, and if I understood them right, for several it was their first exposure to Marilyn Monroe outside of posters, photographs, soundbites etc. Not all, of course, but surprisingly many. I like to think that students who come to this subject expecting it to be about Seriose Womens Issues are discovering that my definition of that includes talking about what our culture thinks about blondes.
Later on today, three hours teaching the 1993 film of Richard III with Ian McKellen as a gleefully perverted fascist king. I'm not so enthusiastic about that one.

4 comments:

Kerryn Goldsworthy said...

OMG a serious opportunity to teach grammar!

No thanks for this vision of the future, though.

Liam said...

How about;

A frontbench Abetz may be quite Continental,
But Pyney is a girl's best friend...

Ampersand Duck said...

In our household we call him Erica Betz.

I've been having those nightmares too. Thank Ceiling Cat for the internets, the Kiwis don't seem to give a shit.

Ann ODyne said...

oh Anita LOOS - a heroine.
I have a coffee-table type epic book on her. what a woman.
picnics with Aldous Huxley, Paris couture, wit and genius.


(cannot bear to contemplate that HORROR story you opened with.
The W V is 'hausling' and that's what they all are - dirty hauslings.)