The BIG QUESTION with:
Do you think that the cultural diversity of our community is
well-represented on Australian screens?
“I think this is a redundant
question only because a nation is
always reflected on its TV screens
and all you need to do is look at our
Australian TV screens to see that
we obviously must not exist. I get a
little tired of the question of racial
equality on TV because it's always
asked by those who are NOT
represented on our screens. Those
that ARE tend to tread lightly and
say things like, ‘We need to do
more and we had one of you on
our show recently...’
“I also feel that programmers
think that we should be grateful that
we had an exotic on our show. They
didn't do much, and were the best
friend of the other friend who was
the lead, and then was the first one
to get killed, arrested, caught
cheating, had his family taken away
from him, etc. It gets boring to be
constantly saying, ‘The Emperor
has no clothes,’ and instead of
people going, ‘you are so right,’ the
spin doctors use words like ‘Rant
and Bemoaning’. They do that so
that the general public think that
you are going on about nothing.
“My constant fight with this
issue is NOT about race but about
opportunity. If this is the job that I
have chosen, and I have been doing it
for over 30 years, should we expect to
be integrated into our country’s stories
and programs? Yet we are left feeling
like Oliver, bowl in hand asking for
MORE!
“It is not a figment of my
imagination, it is also not an issue that
I have recently raised. The media want
people to look at us as though we are
whinging, ungrateful ethnics who
should be grateful for the crumbs that
are sent our way. We are not! We are
qualified and motivated performers
who ply our trade to feed our families
and not our egos. To answer your
question, simply turn on your TV and
count the number of ethnics you see.
Not in the commercials (which are also
few and far between), but in the shows.
It will shock and enlighten you.
“Do I think that the
cultural diversity of our
community is well-represented
on Australian screens? Watch
then you tell me!”