This year’s winner of six awards at the Australian Film Industry event was “The Black Balloon”. It’s exactly the sort of film that is keeping audiences away from Aussie films. In my previous blog I gave my views on that and “The Black Balloon” only reinforces my opinion.

I wish that Aussie film makers would face reality and get beyond blue, for a change.

Here is a typical scenario of a potential cinema goer. It’s Saturday night and you decide to take your girlfriend to the movies. Would you choose a film about a dysfunctional family—aren’t we all dysfunctional, anyway? Would you want to watch autism tearing a family apart? Would you want to munch cheerfully on pop corn while an autistic adolescent is ranting and raving in public on the screen?

Would you leave the cinema feeling happy and romantic and perhaps hoping for more than a cup of coffee at her home? Or would you just want to sit in silence wishing that you had chosen a different film?

Autism is a reality and yes, it is a tragedy, but during recessions and people losing jobs and homes, audiences need relief, unless they are some sort of sado-masochists who get off on other people’s suffering.

During the Great Depression, the American musical comedy was thriving. People went to see Shirley Temple and Charlie Chaplin, just to experience some moments of hilarity in their gloomy lives.

Here we are in the midst of a recession or depression or whatever you want to call it and people are hurting out there. So what does the Australian film industry produce? Misery, guilt and tragedy. That should brighten up a date!

I’m amazed that Australian film producers don’t include a whip with every ticket sold. A few scarlet welts should guarantee a perfect evening, for some people perhaps, but not for the average movie-goer.

Perhaps these films are made to win awards rather than box office success. In that case, the producers have achieved what they wanted. Lots of pretty little statues in their display cabinets!

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For quite a while I have been scratching my head in wonder at the unethical Artline by Pelikan ad which describes their pens as “the pen more people pinch.”

This ad works on the assumption that Artline pens are so wonderful that everybody will pinch them. I would have thought that it would be unwise to buy a pen that will be stolen because I’ll never have it when I need it.

On an ethical level it teaches people that stealing is acceptable and I find that very offensive. Furthermore, I don’t want children to be taught that it’s okay to steal other people’s possessions, no matter how tempting they are.

There is definitely a sadistic streak in commercials today and that’s because they are created by those ridiculous men in pony tails or those whose hair is gelled together into some kind of Great Wall of China effect.

I’m also put off by the ad in which the woman kicks her date out of her apartment because she wants to drink the cup of coffee all by herself instead of sharing it.

There is also that terrible ad about a little girl lying to her mother about some incident and blaming her brother for bad behaviour when she is the guilty party. The boy is sent out of the room while she pokes her tongue out at him and has the treat all to herself. No doubt she’ll grow up into that woman who hogs all the coffee after a date. Very admirable…

I’ve already criticised that dreadful ad in which the schoolchildren rush to falsely claim a Kellogg’s LCM Bar that has been found in someone’s blue lunch box.

It all smacks of selfish and unscrupulous behaviour which is being promoted by these companies. Blame someone else, steal, refuse to share. Sound familiar? These are the mores of the thirty-something and under ME generation. No doubt they are amused by all these ads just as they are by hooning, swearing and intimidating the rest of the world. These are the same people who see nothing wrong with living off their parents forever while they travel, party and spend their parents’ super.

Those parents who think that they can depend on such offsprings in the future had better stop dreaming and wake up and smell the coffee. That’s if the coffee has not been all used up by some greedy parasite who sees nothing wrong with pinching pens.

What are the authorities doing about these immoral ads?

In case you are wondering if I like any ads on TV, I absolutely love the DHL Sea Rescue ad in which a number of lifesavers and rescue vehicles are featured going through their paces. The background music to it is melodic and it always makes me watch the ad even if I’m reading a book in front of the TV. And surely that’s how ads should grab your attention. It’s soft sell with a lot of class.
Good on you, DHL! You support a fine cause.

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Now that we have settled into our new home in Melbourne we decided to register with a medical clinic. Naturally, the doctor wanted to know our family’s medical history and this is where I had to face my latest obstacle.

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There has been an intolerable spate of bullying in Australian schools. I’m not one for statistics because they are misused, but apparently 70% of senior students in our schools consider bullying a problem. See what I mean by a silly stat? I would have thought that 100% would regard it as a problem, but there you are. Your child has been bullied and so you do the right thing. You go to the authorities who should be protecting him or her. But the school headmaster and the police are derelict in their duties and nothing is done about it. So what should you do about the problem?

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In an affable meeting between President Bush and Aussie Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, Bush said he admired Rudd because he was like a Texan, a straight-shooter. Rudd reciprocated by saying that he will make Bush an honorary Queenslander.

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The latest obsession in the media is the number of young people who binge drink. It’s astounding how some old topics crop up from time to time. Nothing comes of the discussion. Nothing can come. Just a lot of hot air. Here’s more of it…

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Australians can’t bring themselves to celebrate Australia Day with much enthusiasm.

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When Britney Spears is in the news for doing something stupid we are quick to say “Tut Tut” and “Isn’t she awful!” We even say in all sincerity, “Why don’t they leave the poor girl alone?” and we can’t wait to blame the paparazzi for hounding her. But the truth is that we take some delight in her downfall. The Germans have a name for this feeling.

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There are two kinds of people in the world. The ones who gravitate towards crowds and those who run the other way.

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France has come kicking and screaming into the 21st Century with a ban on smoking in public places. The ban had been approved and came into effect on New Year’s Day in 2007.

Now they’ve gone one step further and are going to ban smoking in restaurants on the 1st January 2008. Now this is quite a shock for me because I can’t believe that there won’t be another French Revolution over this issue.

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