Author: Stilgherrian

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Film Review: “Lady Chatterley”

Photograph of Jean-Louis Coulloc’h and Marina Hands in the film Lady Chatterley

I don’t normally review films. But this isn’t so much a review of the new Lady Chatterley but a review of the audience.

The film is based on D H Lawrence’s 1927 book John Thomas and Lady Jane, the first and less-well-known version of the story which was re-written as the controversial Lady Chatterley’s Lover and published in 1928.

Controversial? Oh yes! Explicit sex scenes, four-letter words, and perhaps the most scandalous aspect: the love affair was between an aristocratic woman and a gamekeeper. Crossing class boundaries! England shall fall! Read all about it.

Now you may think that society has changed since 1927. But no, our audience proved otherwise.

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Christian Indoctrination

The 16-year-old son of a major Australian blogger has written an amazing essay objecting to the Christian indoctrination at his school — particularly the peer pressure and other psychological tactics. A taste: “As a non-Christian in the heart of a fundamental Baptist school. I’ve dealt with peer pressure on the topic in the bucket loads, absolutely backwards fundamentalists, and speeches that seem eerily reminiscent in tone and substance to those that preceded the infamous Kristallnacht.”

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Facebook bans breastfeeding photos

Social networking website Facebook is boldly taking the Internet into the 19th Century by banning photos of breastfeeding as “obscene”.

Look, I know Facebook is American, and America is (a) a Puritan nation at heart and (b) pig-ignorant of the fact that the other 96% of the world’s population might think differently. I mean, their own president can’t tell the difference between APEC and OPEC, between Austria and Australia. When he’s standing in it. But quite frankly, a society which thinks photos of mothers feeding their children are “obscene” has deep, deep problems.

And not just that your president is dumb as a stump-post.

The protest group Hey, Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!(Official petition to Facebook) has almost 8000 members already. And while I generally don’t pay much attention to the needs of the breeders, this one I’ve joined.

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APEC “security theatre” a joke, literally

Photograph of The Chaser team being arrested

Now here’s a surprise. Not. The massive security operation surrounding APEC brings us yet another example of security theatre — pointless activity that’s all for show but which does nothing to actually enhance security.

The police busy themselves by (mostly politely) hassling tourists and photographers, deleting images of The Fence because “protesters might be doing reconnaissance for weak spots.” Uhuh. But The Chaser crew get within metres of George W’s hotel by playing dress-ups and driving big black cars.

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