tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post6239645739760675199..comments2024-02-18T19:36:43.844+11:00Comments on theatre notes: La Mama, funding and freedom of speechAlison Croggonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-28531632332270925352006-11-05T23:13:00.000+11:002006-11-05T23:13:00.000+11:00Thanks for your flexible figures, Paul. I thought ...Thanks for your flexible figures, Paul. I thought a democracy was about servicing an entire community, and the 50 per cent or so who are interested in and support the arts, according to that survey, seem a sufficiently significant part of the community to be worth considering in any society that calls itself a democracy. <br /><br />I have no interest in sport, and no problem with supporting the Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-11429188295671583712006-11-05T14:22:00.000+11:002006-11-05T14:22:00.000+11:00Thanks Jana for that lucid comment.Thanks Jana for that lucid comment.Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-4428376181007753412006-11-05T13:10:00.000+11:002006-11-05T13:10:00.000+11:00Another brave Anonymous poster, reducing complex i...Another brave Anonymous poster, reducing complex issues to personal smear. Yes, Anon, I do this blog for nothing. Though I do get free theatre tickets.<br /><br />I also work as a writer, and I work fucking hard for the money I get. It may be news to you, but writing doesn't involve sitting around in a yellow silk dressing gown with a feeble hand pasted to a pale forehead. And I am certainly not Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-2512268080201608292006-11-05T12:47:00.000+11:002006-11-05T12:47:00.000+11:00There is a privatization of society present in ren...There is a privatization of society present in renaming <i>public funds</i> into <i>taxpayer's money</i>, and then dividing the society into givers&takers. also reasonably incorrect, as self-proclaimed givers drive on tax-funded roads using subsidised fuel to get to work, only to feel robbed by someone else when they pay tax later. in medieval cities, that happy tax-free world, citizens were Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-26098702149681593592006-11-05T12:38:00.000+11:002006-11-05T12:38:00.000+11:00You say you are not given any handouts to write th...You say you are not given any handouts to write this blog but I notice from my latest Copyright Agency newsletter I helped send you off on a junket to somehwere in the uk. I'd love to know how much money you are just given and how much you actually earn like the rest of usAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-52009025054018609182006-11-05T11:46:00.000+11:002006-11-05T11:46:00.000+11:00PS It's also worth noting that the arts that are b...PS It's also worth noting that the arts that are being cut or facing cuts (like the Community Cultural Development Board, or La Mama itself, or Queensland's only Indigenous theatre company) are often those which in fact provide access to communities which otherwise do not have a cultural voice. Make no mistake, the rich will always have their art - and <i>their</i> cultural voice - because they Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-23377726015421260052006-11-05T11:28:00.000+11:002006-11-05T11:28:00.000+11:00Evilpundit, believe it or not, we actually agree o...Evilpundit, believe it or not, we actually agree on something: "whether money should be spent on police, soldiers, hospitals or actors -- that of course is determined by the elected government". We disagree about the mix.<br /><br />Where the Tim Blair crowd and the US blogging shut-ins who support him get my back up is where you simply shout down anybody who disagrees with your "solutions". WhatBen Ellishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16654820455368893078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-78032830489215280782006-11-05T10:47:00.000+11:002006-11-05T10:47:00.000+11:00Which "public", Evilpundit? There is a sizeable pu...Which "public", Evilpundit? There is a sizeable public that loves the arts. I often see full houses in my travellings, with people who look quite "ordinary". But to get past personal perception, which is pretty useless, it would be good to get some facts on the table.<br /><br />One third of Australians strongly supports the arts, for reasons of enjoyment and a range of intellectual and emotionalAlison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-84822648873694452542006-11-05T09:46:00.000+11:002006-11-05T09:46:00.000+11:00Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman do very good Ameri...Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman do very good American accents and at best live here part time. They are part of the American film industry. <br /><br />They are the most visible part of the cultural braindrain. <br /><br />As for the "Modern Arts": that's a pretty complex phenomenon that covers every shade of the political and aesthetic spectrum and is often famously at odds with any kind of Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-66377021232202457572006-11-05T09:26:00.000+11:002006-11-05T09:26:00.000+11:00Basically, people who think that Australian theatr...Basically, people who think that Australian theatre is full of spoilt children who ought to get their hands out of the "cookie" jar want us back in the good old colonial days, when there was no MTC, no STC, no SATC, no Belvoir St, no Malthouse, no Black Swan, no (name any Australian theatre company): just under-resourced struggling amateur companies like the Canberra Rep or Emerald Hill. Because Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-53524421142498762132006-11-05T08:58:00.000+11:002006-11-05T08:58:00.000+11:00Annabelle N Smith, by your usage of the term "cand...Annabelle N Smith, by your usage of the term "candy", I don't believe that any of <i>your</i> hard-earneds would end up at La Mama. Another American telling Australians how their taxes ought to be spent: I seriously doubt that an Australian would type out "candy".<br /><br />Colin, could you show me exactly where "people in the less intellectual fields tend to be uniformly voting Democratic", Ben Ellishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16654820455368893078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-10864788869168321172006-11-05T08:48:00.000+11:002006-11-05T08:48:00.000+11:00Thanks Ben. Bear baiting it is, or these days, The...Thanks Ben. Bear baiting it is, or these days, The Saw, the apogee of Oz culture.<br /><br />Ad hominem attacks will not be tolerated on this blog.Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-13638918436053913722006-11-05T07:27:00.000+11:002006-11-05T07:27:00.000+11:00"It's always easier to attack things if you don't ..."It's always easier to attack things if you don't read them."<br /><br />I did read your article.<br /><br />And I thought you came across as a spoilt child who didn't get their candy.<br /><br />Failure of the government to fork over my hard-earneds to you for you to indulge in your artistic endevours is not an attack on freedom of speech.<br /><br />If the government banned you from putting on Annabelle. N. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08914241087778020594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-81741048380048965682006-11-04T23:24:00.000+11:002006-11-04T23:24:00.000+11:00Re: Evilpundit. So. Why don't we get rid of paying...Re: Evilpundit. So. Why don't we get rid of paying for a police force? I have a right to be defended from a stabbing, but the police have no right to be soaking up my tax dollars. Surely. And the army. Let's keep it, we all have a right to have our nation defended, but let's stop paying for it because all some soldiers do is arrange naked bodies into pyramids.<br /><br />The theatre in civilised Ben Ellishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16654820455368893078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-55825150677174604892006-11-04T21:41:00.000+11:002006-11-04T21:41:00.000+11:00You have a right to freedom of speech.
You do not...<i>You have a right to freedom of speech.<br /><br />You do not have a right to be given taxpayers' money to provide a platform for your speech.<br /><br />Meditate on the distinction.</i><br /><br />Wow. Patronised on my own blog. And after all the taxpayer's money that has funded my efforts here! <br /><br />Anyway, Evilpundit, to move to another sense of patronising: I guess you'd rather the Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-28342153903177395832006-11-04T20:45:00.000+11:002006-11-04T20:45:00.000+11:00I enjoy your contributions over at Blairs. I must ...I enjoy your contributions over at Blairs. I must admit, politically, I'm inclined to the view that in the long term, all Australian arts has to be cut off entirely from subsidies. (I don't like them; I think they're patronising to the taxpayer AND to the arts industry). <br /><br />In the short term, I agree, if federal funding were cut off from La Mama it would have a terrible effect on the TimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-15785746229028771612006-11-04T15:43:00.000+11:002006-11-04T15:43:00.000+11:00"Remember those Nazis and their vicious suppressio..."Remember those Nazis and their vicious suppression of "decadent art"? Or doesn't history go back that far for some people?"<br /><br />Way to go! Excellent "own-goal" in your response to the claim that you are prone to hyperbole! LOL.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-82702640914903992752006-11-04T14:54:00.000+11:002006-11-04T14:54:00.000+11:00I thought your comments in the Age article were re...I thought your comments in the Age article were reasonable. But then I also am wary of the Howard government's attacks on democracy in various forms (which started long before 9/11, but were greatly accelerated after). I found the tone and comments on the Tim Blair blog grossly immature.<br /><br />There clearly is an agenda by the Howard government to suppress or censor dissent. Little by Paul Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10965628567103267009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-49108871549851782452006-11-04T14:40:00.000+11:002006-11-04T14:40:00.000+11:00Hi Alison,
Yes, I admit it - we can be a fairly...Hi Alison,<br /> Yes, I admit it - we can be a fairly caustic bunch over at TimBlair.net particularly when we're "on a roll". In this case, I think you had the misfortune of your article coming up right after some stuff about ABC's "The Glasshouse".<br /><br />We were in the middle of giggling at some overblown commentary whose theme seemed to be "The HoWARd Regime's brutal crushing of The Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-4260008586400036242006-11-04T12:07:00.000+11:002006-11-04T12:07:00.000+11:00Hi Jana - it's always worth attempting to correct ...Hi Jana - it's always worth attempting to correct disinformation, outright lies or slander. On the other hand, some battles are not worth having. Myself, I prefer not to waste too much time on other people's agendas: better to build genuine understanding and debate than being sucked into too many polarising and misrepresenting shitfights. As Sun Tzu said, the smart general chooses his own Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-2372949793065150692006-11-04T11:53:00.000+11:002006-11-04T11:53:00.000+11:00Hi Annabelle. I didn't write that headline and int...Hi Annabelle. I didn't write that headline and intro. But never mind. It's always easier to attack things if you don't read them.<br /><br />Democracy can't survive without freedom of speech. Of which La Mama is a fine examplar. My point was more about the many-fronted war on the arts, an important aspect of freedom of speech, of which the threat against La Mama is just one telling symptom. AmongAlison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-47682243064357711782006-11-04T11:41:00.000+11:002006-11-04T11:41:00.000+11:00As a local blogger recently pointed out, the age-o...As a local blogger recently pointed out, the age-old distinction between <i>intellectuals</i> and <i>quasi-intellectuals</i> is that the former discuss ideas, and the latter discuss the motives behind other people's ideas. very useful, not only because it sheds light on how few intellectuals remain anywhere in the global media.<br /><br />what I'd like to know is, in the current climate, in whichAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-56374160752393435812006-11-04T11:06:00.000+11:002006-11-04T11:06:00.000+11:00Oh my god! How can democracy possibly survive with...Oh my god! How can democracy possibly survive without La Mama! Its the end of Australia AS WE KNOW IT! What next? Cats living with dogs?Annabelle. N. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08914241087778020594noreply@blogger.com