Wednesday, February 28, 2018

How would Alvin Purple go down in the age of #MeToo?

So it seems that Paul Hogan reckons a dinkum reboot of Crocodile Dundee would be a good idea. Perhaps this is because of the widespread disappointment over the fact that the recent trailer for such a movie turned out to be nothing more than a Superbowl advertising gimmick to promote Australia as a tourist destination. 

Then there was the positive reaction to the #BringBackDundee campaign by the NT News, along with lots of other tweets and updates from fans across the world about why it would be worth making.


As I wrote before, I'm all for it. But it would only work if it was true to the spirit of the original. If, say, Chris Hemsworth reprised the iconic character (or played his son?) in a defiantly politically incorrect way it would trigger social justice warriors across the globe. Bonus!

And the idea of reviving this comedy classic has got me thinking about what it would be like to remake other great Aussie movies from the past. As well as The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, Alvin Purple comes to mind.

Now, on the surface it was just a naughty comedy about a plain lookin' dude who was utterly irresistible to women. But it was also a sly satire about feminism, censorship, and the sexual revolution in general.


Given that we are currently in an era easily as psycho-sexually tumultuous as the early seventies I reckon it could be a good time to, er, res-erect that ol' Purple fella in a balls to the wall reroot! If it were as unapologetically Rabellaisian as the original, I think the public would love it.

Still, gotta wonder how such a fillum would go down with the Aussie sisterhood. And these chicks are extremely influential in the local movie "industry", let's face it.

Given that the plot "subverts the dominant paradigm" by making the female characters sexual aggressors, I think some of these sheilas would see it as a real goer. But then there are the more puritanical frightbats who think that all sex is rape, etc., and would therefore be extremely unlikely to come across on the issue. They'd likely see any filmic flippancy about such a serious subject as yet another example of "toxic masculinity", and demand the project be shut down.

And even if such a production were to receive funding, you've gotta wonder if any well known male actors would be game to take part in it. The #MeToo movement sprang from Hollywood, remember. And it has had big time ramifications for big name Aussie actors such as Geoffrey Rush and Craig McLachlan.

While many of the claims of sexual assault and harassment are harrowing and certainly have the ring of truth, there are some that seem somewhat over-egged, to say the least.

Alvin Purple is a sex comedy, so the casting itself would necessarily include a couch -- or rather, waterbed. While the cavorting would of course be scripted, there's a very real possibility that an ambitious young actress might subsequently decide that some of the touching she received in the audition was "inappropriate" -- particularly if she didn't get the role. Which is why I think many red blooded young Aussie actors might perceive the project to be as "problematic" as the frightbats themselves and steer well clear of it.

So, all things considered the odds of a new Alvin on our screens are remote ... Still, rude for thought, eh?

Wait on! Alvina Purple, with an all female cast, could be the go. Would have a much easier path to production, that's for sure.

What do you reckon? Any more thoughts on this subject? 

Friday, February 9, 2018

Yes, let's #BringBackDundee. We should also #BringBackBazza!

The reaction to this recent Superbowl marketing stunt utilizing the classic Aussie comedy Crocodile Dundee has been fascinating. Seems that squillions of people are genuinely keen to see a fair dinkum reboot of the movie series!

The NT News has even been running a campaign to make it happen.


When I first heard about the idea of a sequel centred on Mick Dundee's son I thought it wasn't a very good one. But given the interest it's provoked in recent days I've actually warmed to it.

As far as I know the hoax trailer had Yank comic Danny McBride as the lead. But of course you'd need a real Aussie bloke playing the main character -- not some bloody seppo! I think Chris Hemsworth would do a great job.

Clearly the massive support for such a movie being made is driven in part by widespread frustration with political correctness. Without a doubt many Aussies believe that their country does have a distinctive national character, best exemplified by the laconic, blokey Dundee. Obviously this idea upsets the cultural Marxist crowd, which makes it still more appealing to local normies.

With that in mind there's another comical Aussie icon that I'm sure many people would love to see brought back to life on the silver screen: Barry McKenzie.

Bazza was one of Barry Humphries' best known creations from early in his career. (Here's the satirist's autobiography BTW. A fascinating read.) It was made into a commercially successful film by Bruce Beresford.


Not surprisingly this variation on the yobbo stereotype is distasteful to today's "culturally senstive" smart set. Guardian reviewer Luke Buckmaster's opinion of the McKenzie movie was a bit kinder than it was for Crocodile Dundee. But he still found the humour in it deeply offensive

The jokes in The Adventures of Barry McKenzie are racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and guilty of virtually any other derogatory stereotyping you care to name. Bazza’s zingers include “When it comes to fleecing you, the Poms have got the edge on the Gypos”; “hungry Arab, would have dropped the bastard if he wasn’t qualified for the pension,” and “I’m that thirsty I could drink out of a Japanese wrestler’s jockstrap.”

Ha! The lefteous indignation that such jokes provoke (even if they themselves aren't that funny) is actually amusing in itself.  All the more reason this character should also be brought back to life, IMO. 

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Musos' PC posturing ultimately unwise. But Colin Hay probably benefited short term

Some more thoughts on the unedifying mass tanty thrown by Australia's rock royalty: What they did was perfectly understandable. Rebellion is a common thread through all rock music, after all. And the establishment has long been seen as Christian and conservative.

I don't think that has actually been true since the fifties. But it's certainly long been a widespread belief ... So, for decades now if you wanted to be seen to be rebellious, you would set out to mock and offend those uptight Christian squares. And it was ultimately a good business decision.

Sure, you might have lost some sales as a result. But if you didn't obey the PC narrative there was no way you'd get access to that massive MSM megaphone, so crucial to commercial success. 

But that's all changed in the last coupla years. A helluva lot of people have really woken up to how dominant cultural Marxism actually is in so many institutions and industries. They're spooked about it -- energized as well. They are the rebels now. And unlike in the past, they now have a means to join forces and build a movement -- namely social media.

The cultural dynamic is very different now. Yet Darren Hayes, Jimmy Barnes et al were still playing by the old rules. That's why I think that in the long term they may be shocked by the public reaction to their dummy spit over Cory Bernardi's playlist.

It won't kill any of their careers, sure. But I suspect it (and other PC virtue signalling they subsequently engage in) will slowly erode their fan base and ultimately their income.
 
That said, I can see that in some cases it was prolly a good decision, at least short term. Take Colin Hay for example. 



Shuffling down Enmore Rd recently, I saw that the ol' trooper from Men At Work had a concert slated at the iconic Enmore Theatre.

As anyone in Sydney knows only too well this suburb, along with those surrounding it, is absolutely chockas with PC types. 

Now, I know that established musos tend to have diehard fans who will travel to see them. Still, I suspect that the combination of Hay being in the news sledging hate figure Cory along with all the local offline advertising would have resulted in quite a buzz about this one-off concert, which was actually held last night.

Not sure if he packed it out. But even if he didn't I suspect there were many more bums on seats than he would've had if he hadn't joined that attempted bolshie boycott of Bernardi's AC100 countdown on Australia Day. Fact that Hay's song "Down Under" came up as number one on it, therefore garnering some more media reports, wouldn't have hurt him either.

IMO he should actually thank the conservative pollie for the extra publicity! Something tells me he probably won't, though ...