Lame Petitions Re Milat Series - Pffffft!

Different people have different methods of dealing with troubling situations.  I had a flatmate whose main coping mechanism, when faced with an upcoming TAFE assignment or exam or bathroom to clean, involved firing up a bong loaded with Buddha heads (actually, as well as stress management, firing up the bong was also a way for him to express joy and felicitous celebrations.  And he liked firing up the bong if it was a Wednesday, too.  Or a Thursday - why discriminate?).  Some people occasionally meditate.  Some exercise.  Some self-medicate.  Commissioner Gordon used to either ring the direct line to Batman's cave, or else shine a torch with that bat-like silhouette.

But there are some insidious pests who have wormed their way into our cyber-world, and what they do, when faced with something they don't like, is go to that Change website and start a petition.  Look, when it comes to situations like equal pay, or equal rights, or human rights, I have no qualms about those petitions.  I support them.  But what I am being bombarded with in my inbox is almost invariably some lame-arse gripe about something that nobody with a life really gives a shit about.  And it's just such a whiny bloody stance to take. 'Oh, dear.  I don't like the look of this.  I'm going to try and ban it and not give a passing thought about the rest of the populace who are pretty capable of making up their own minds about things'.  What hit my inbox yesterday was a petition calling upon Channel 7 to not screen the upcoming dramatization on the capture of serial killer Ivan Milat.  Yes, you whining-prats-without-lives, it WILL be distressing for families of his victims.  Those families have my sympathy.  But those families presumably have a remote control and free will, and therefore DON'T HAVE TO WATCH IT.  And hey, get this: NEITHER DO YOU!

Fucking hell, there are few things that get me standing on the soap box preaching than this utter erosion and impeding upon my right to view or read or listen to artistic material.  I have a reasonable level of intelligence.  I also have opposable thumbs, so if I (get this 'I') decide I don't like something, I will turn it off myself!  Do not try and deny me the right to view what I wish in MY HOME.

With this television show, the actors are adults who have made informed choices to play the roles.  The writers have worked on a script.  Make-up artists have done their magic.  Costumers have helped bring a character to life with considered ensemble choices.  Set designers create a world.  Cinematographers create an ambience.  Directors guide actors through scenes to bring that world home to the viewer.  They all work together to create a final piece for us to view.  This is their WORK.  This is their lifeblood.  Why should they not have the chance to showcase it and perhaps acquire future employment through it.  Who the fuck are you people to deny them the chance of income (which is what you're trying to do with your lame-arse petitions).

For the love of all things holy and unholy, if you don't like the look of an upcoming show, don't clog up my inbox with your whiny shit, go out and do something useful.  Mow the lawn (and then come and do mine).  Volunteer at a charity shop.  Deliver meals on wheels.  Offer to hand around the cut oranges at halftime at the local footie match.  Pick up rocks from the road and eat them.  Jeez, buggering a goat senseless is probably still more useful and sensible than these pathetic petitions.

That is all.  Got a similar rant to work on tomorrow for my local newspaper in response to a letter that appeared therein, in this week's edition.  It was the current Whinge De Rigeur  about 'Fifty Shades of Complete Unviewable Bullshit Grey' glamorising domestic violence.  We all know I hated the book and film, but we all know what I think of censorship, too.