On stupid things idiots say on television

I realize the Winter Olympics have been over for a while now, but I don't think it's ever too late to write about some broadcasting doings that occurred up there that unwittingly thrust Australia into yet another spotlight over the existence, or not, of its cultural couth. It wasn't as big as the Great Black Face Debacle of 2009, but, nonetheless, stupid things have been said.

Australia's Channel Nine, winner of the chance to broadcast the festivities in Vancouver, sent a guy named Eddie McGuire with the commentating team. Aussie comedian Mick Molloy went, too. In hindsight, Channel Nine might be thinking, it was a mistake. Or maybe not, as the case may be. I will admit to watching only about 25 minutes of the Olympics in total: 20 of them were the opening ceremonies while on the cross trainer at the gym and five were while buying a sandwich at lunch.

During a competition break from the men's figure skating competition, McGuire and Molloy, after watching a video of Johnny Weir's performance, engaged in what they considered to be witty banter that went a little something like this:

Molloy: "They don't leave anything in the locker room, those blokes."

A pretty pathetic exchange at the very least, but, unfortunately, not surprising. What is surprising, though, and probably much more pathetic, was the sentiment in a quote I read from a media analyst who said Channel 9 was "giving what it thought viewers wanted": ''It's childish and homophobic but unfortunately that is what works on Australian television. I think Nine wants Eddie to be controversial because that's what will get viewers.''

Ah, Australia. Homophobia and childishness are only some of what is coveted by the channels competing for the eyeballs of Australian viewers.

I read a commentary, written by a woman who stated up front that she has gay friends and family and, because of that, would be "the first to bristle at any homophobic comments." She pretty much said that gays should just get over it, as "this banter didn't press any of my buttons." Well. As long as it didn't press your buttons. She writes:

All that McGuire and Molloy did was assume Weir was gay and make a few blokey comments along those lines. If that's a crime, then most of Australia would stand guilty as well.

Psh. Yeah. That's all they did. Those silly blokey blokes and their hyper-masculine comments. They were commentators doing their job of commentating. Of course. Apparently, then, they had every single right to disparage the Olympian because of his clothing. Australia, you can't blame these guys for saying what is obviously on everyone's minds.

In fact, you'd have to be particularly thick not to pick up the gay vibe that Weir has gone out of his way to give at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, where he's competed in heavy make-up, and wearing a self-designed black bodice trimmed with pink ribbons.

Thick! That "gay vibe" Weir was giving off clearly reverberated in high definition throughout the land down under eliciting comments much more damaging than anything that could have come from McGuire's and Molloy's mouths. It was a veritable verbal ping-pong game between "most of Australia" and McMolloy. Yeah! How dare Weir wear what he wants. And how dare anyone be offended when people make what are obviously comments anyone in their right mind would say aloud. Thick!

But she finally gets down to the nitty gritty and figures out who is to blame in all this. Why, it's the "thousands of gays they're accused of offending." She who hath gay friends and family continues:

So if making the link between Weir's flamboyant costuming and gayness is the real crime, then who has most trained our brains to commit it? Er, step forward the gay community. You only had to look at Saturday night's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade in Sydney to get some idea of where this stereotype might have come from. Talk about spangles.

Not the spangles! Yep, it's our fault. Shows such as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Will and Grace (yes she cites them) are pretty much responsible for the homophobic outbursts of McMolloy and their ilk. If the gay activist who filed a complaint, she wrote, "is really upset by people assuming others are gay from the clues they freely give, then why doesn't he sue the Mardi Gras dancers for promoting and pandering to this stereotype themselves?"

I'm at a loss as to what to think. When it comes to race and sexuality, and it seems just about very many other social issues, Australia gets a little weird. I won't go into the black face debacle (Surprise! Channel Nine), because having to explain to intelligent left-leaning people why that was offensive still baffles me. It's a generalization, of course: Some of my close friends are Australian, and I bristle at suggestions the lot of 'em are ignorant. But being told I'm "being too sensitive" over this issue pisses me off. They had the ears of millions of people, albeit nowhere near the U.S.'s, which had an average daily viewership of 24.4 million (Australia's population is 21,262,641). As Burns said: "These two men were not out in the backyard having a barbecue with their mates, they're on national television. They've got responsibilities to the broadcaster and to the NSW anti-discrimination act."

No, there were no outright slurs condemning gays to the depths of Dante's Inferno, but their comments are situated on a continuum. It starts with this, a seemingly innocent jocular exchange at the expense of a minority group. It continues with aggressive stares and slurs yelled out of car windows in the dead of night. It continues still with beatings and gang rapes. And it ends in deaths of gays, murdered because they're gay.

All they had to do was leave Weir's outfit out of it.