Last year, at this time, my main Aussie soap opera was Tallygarunga.
Now it's changed to Australian politics.
Instead of keeping up with the witches and wizards of eastern Victoria, I'm now dealing with such characters as Sophie Mirabella, Gina Rinehart, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Christina Milne, Malcolm Turnbull, Tony Abbott, etc.
I've been feeling smarter because of this.
In the past, I've looked at those people who keep very up to date on current events and political stories and felt somewhat inferior to them.
Now I'm one of them!
But this morning I was thinking.....
Well, it really is just another soap opera.
There's really very little difference in being a fan of shows like Q and A and being a fan of Offspring or Days of or Lives.
We could argue that politic is REAL, and the outcomes effect our life.
That's true to some extent. But I'd say 95% of it is frivolous drama.
I sometimes joke about Days of our Lives. You really don't need to watch it on a daily basis to keep up. Just watch it once a month or so. Or read a quick online summary.
The same goes for politics. There's no need to keep up on a daily basis. If you read a summary once a week, or even once a month, you'll probably have fair warning if the sky is about to fall.
Really.
I don't think the dramatic battle between Rudd and Gillard is going to effect the average Australian's life.
No. No.
Wait.
The winner of the Labor leader battle could determine whether Labor is in power or not. What if the LNP wins? It will change everything!
Nope. Not really.
Well, it might change things.
But the changes will happen incredibly slowly. So again. There's no need to keep up with it on a daily basis.
UNLESS you want to look smart to people who, unlike me, haven't realized it's just another soap opera.
Or you can keep up with it for the entertainment value.
That's what I'm going to do.
I'm going to continue loving the political drama. But I'm recovering from the delusion that being up to date on it makes me intellectually superior.
Now it's changed to Australian politics.
Instead of keeping up with the witches and wizards of eastern Victoria, I'm now dealing with such characters as Sophie Mirabella, Gina Rinehart, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Christina Milne, Malcolm Turnbull, Tony Abbott, etc.
I've been feeling smarter because of this.
In the past, I've looked at those people who keep very up to date on current events and political stories and felt somewhat inferior to them.
Now I'm one of them!
But this morning I was thinking.....
Well, it really is just another soap opera.
There's really very little difference in being a fan of shows like Q and A and being a fan of Offspring or Days of or Lives.
We could argue that politic is REAL, and the outcomes effect our life.
That's true to some extent. But I'd say 95% of it is frivolous drama.
I sometimes joke about Days of our Lives. You really don't need to watch it on a daily basis to keep up. Just watch it once a month or so. Or read a quick online summary.
The same goes for politics. There's no need to keep up on a daily basis. If you read a summary once a week, or even once a month, you'll probably have fair warning if the sky is about to fall.
Really.
I don't think the dramatic battle between Rudd and Gillard is going to effect the average Australian's life.
No. No.
Wait.
The winner of the Labor leader battle could determine whether Labor is in power or not. What if the LNP wins? It will change everything!
Nope. Not really.
Well, it might change things.
But the changes will happen incredibly slowly. So again. There's no need to keep up with it on a daily basis.
UNLESS you want to look smart to people who, unlike me, haven't realized it's just another soap opera.
Or you can keep up with it for the entertainment value.
That's what I'm going to do.
I'm going to continue loving the political drama. But I'm recovering from the delusion that being up to date on it makes me intellectually superior.
Twenty something years ago a foreign born workmate asked me who were all the premiers of Australia states were. I answered him, perhaps with a little self pride, and he noted them down for his children's homework. Now I know less than half. Politics as soap is interesting, but I no longer take it very seriously.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice that you were able to impress your workmate. That's often fun.
ReplyDeleteI think I used to know the Premiers. Now I had to go check.
I knew Victoria's. That's it...offhand. And I only remembered his last name (with no idea of how to spell it)
I also knew Queensland, of course. But I forgot that I knew it.
If I want to memorize something and feel impressive; I'll just stick with the states and territories, and their capitals. At least that stays constant.
I don't think I know any heads of American states.
I had to look up Texas. I totally forgot it was Rick Perry.