This is not p-rn

For those interested in the arts in Sydney, and even for those who aren’t particular interested, it was difficult this week to avoid the controversy over the recent photographs exhibited by Bill Henson, world renowned photographic artist. See recent articles in the SMH, the Australian and on Crikey.

It is clear that, from the very start, the public debate has not been about the artistic merit, or otherwise, of Henson’s work. It has been about whether the photographs constitute child p-rn-graphy, and consequently, whether Henson should be charged with serious criminal offences.

Are the photographs p-rn-graphic?

For my part, from what I have seen of the photographs in the media, the photographs are not p-rn-graphic or s-xual. Although it is very easily to get tied up in defining p-rn-graphy, for me, the test is very easy. Was the work (whether it be a photo, a story, a film or other piece of work) created for the intended audience to m-st-rbate over? A little crude, I admit, but on this test Henson’s photos are not p-rn-graphic.

Now, the arguments put forward by a number of commentators are that these photos will be used by p–dophiles to satisfy their base desires. Although at first blush, this argument has some merit – after a little thought, my view is that this argument completely misses the point. P–dophiles, by their definition, see children as s-xual objects. Accordingly, it is not possible, in any work, to portray children in a way that a p–dophile would not find gratifying. And does anyone seriously think that seizing Henson’s photographs and prosecuting the various participants will prevent the s-xual abuse of a single child?

Is nudity always s-xual?

This was an argument put most forcefully by some commentators, lobby groups and activists to say that Henson should be charged with child p-rn-graphy offences.

A good friend of mine has a picture of her, and her sister, in a bubble bath taken when they were about 3 and 5 years old, respectively. They are each naked from the waist up and smiling at the each other. Her mother has this photo sitting prominently in their living room and it is the only photo of her two daughters which she has on display. She is obviously proud of the photo, and of her daughters. But no-one would suggest that this is child p-rn-graphy.

Nudity is not, by its nature, s-xual. Of course, in many cases it is – and in many other cases, clothed bodies can be s-xual. However, I haven’t heard too much from the current agitators calling for the prosecution of those who s-xualise children in the mass media (see these reports here and here).

The truth is that there is little difference between the minds of the p–dophile and the puritanical. Both are s-xually provoked by the innocent, the only difference is that one rejoices in their perversion while the other is ashamed.

Questions of consent

Both the parents of the subject, and the subject herself, consented to the photographs. However, many commentators (including a former Federal Court judge) said that the issue is really one of consent – and that a child, or their parents, cannot consent to having their photographs taken in this way. In other words, you shouldn’t put a child in a posititon where they can say in adulthood, “Mum/dad, how could you let me do that”.

The question of consent is really a red herring. The photographs are either p-rn-graphic or not. If they are p-rn-graphic, then consent is not an issue – it doesn’t matter whether the subject or their parents consented, they are illegal. If they are not p-rn-graphic, then again consent is not an issue. Parents give their consent for things to happen to their children every day, which, very often, their children do not consent to. We let parents choose their child’s religion, pick their schools, select the musical instrument or sport they will play, influence which friends they hang out with and what movies they see and sometimes, even, who their future partner will be.

Now, in none of these cases, does the law intervene on the basis that a child, many years later, will regret what their parents made them do.

And, quite perversely and ironically, it is the attention given to Henson’s photographs by the child welfare experts and mass media that is likely to cause the subject and her parent more regrets than if this whole brouhaha was never given any oxygen (the current news media rejoices in humiliating individuals – think of the recent Tania Zaetta stories – and this, I fear, is no exception).

Perhaps I am wrong

One of the most influential teachers I had during high school taught us to always admit the possibility that we are wrong. And perhaps I am wrong on this issue. Perhaps, we do need to censor the arts and the media, starting, I suggest, with Home and Away and Neighbours, so that children are not portrayed in a manner which p–dophiles may find appealing. With this in mind, I took out my censors pen, and inspired by the local media who – at the same time – criticised yet published the offending Henson photographs , to produce my tribute to the current state of the Australian arts.

Click on the photo to see the original – all photos were taken from other photographers on Flickr.

The Gaze

Children playing by Thirroul beach

Girl from Vietnam

Race on the beach

Children play at Legzira

Beach cricket at sunset

An armada of nippers

One Indy too far

MOVIE REVIEW: INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

The original Indiana Jones trilogy were the movies of my boyhood and whenever I have watched them since, they have reminded me so much of the type of films I loved as a kid. For this reason, it is difficult to review the latest instalment, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, because, although there are strong glimpses of past glories, this film falls short of what fans of this franchise deserve.

The movie starts on a military base in the Nevada desert, with Indy having been kidnapped by cold war Soviets. Unfortunately, a military base in the middle of the US is not exactly an exotic location and Indy with his fedora, leather jackets and bull whip seemed a little out of place. The opening action sequence was okay but fell well short of the genius of Raiders, the outlandishness of Temple of Doom and the creativeness of the Last Crusade.

Set during the height of “reds under the bed”, Indy finds himself being suspected of communist sympathies (despite his war record and career as a spy – anyone a little confused?). On the outer, and about to abandon his professorship, he is approached by Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) who needs Indy’s help to find the crystal skull. Have you ever heard of the crystal skull? Neither had I. And a significant portion of the film is spent explaining what the crystal skull is, who found it, why it is so important et cetera, et cetera.

The Soviets, led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) are also after the crystal skull and Indy must battle his way through South America to claim his prize. However, it is not clear why Indiana sets off on this quest – unlike in the original trilogy, his motivations are not at all obvious. On his way, Indy is reunited with Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) from Raiders – no surprises who the love interest is in this film. But what was disappointing was that winning the girl seemed all too easy for Indy – in fact, he didn’t have to do anything at all, just show up.

The only highlight for me was an excellent car chase scene set in the Peruvian rainforest. By the end, I was wishing for the final action sequences to be tidied up and cut shorter. For most of the film, there is little suspense or creativity in the ways the Indy gets himself out of trouble. Having the crew of heroes sail over the edges of three waterfalls safely and without any extra device is not fun at all. Next time they should just give Indy super-powers so the writers do not have to get creative.

It was nostalgic seeing Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, but there was something of the sparkle from the original trilogy that was missing. Although he resembled a much younger man, I found his performance to be tired. The women carried this instalment of Indiana Jones. Both Cate Blanchett and Karen Allen conveyed so much fun and warmth (or lack of warmth in Blanchett’s case) in their performances. Shia LaBeouf was a competent sidekick, although for much of the movie, his character, Mutt Williams, does not actually support Indy but fight his own battles.

Spielberg himself has said that Last Crusade was intended to be the last fim in the franchise. At the end, I asked myself whether Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a better “last fim” than Last Crusade. Unfortunately, my answer is “no”. The storyline and some of the performances just came off as a little lazy – as though putting Harrison Form in the fedora and jacket would be enough to please the public.

One Man’s Rating (out of 5):

One Man’s meatball and pasta sauce

Meatballs were never a staple in my household growing up.

I have been watching Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares these past few months and noticed, on a number of occassions, that the “signature” dish he often teaches the struggling restaurant is meatballs. The meatballs on the show are cricket-ball sized monsters. Instead, I decided to try my hand at small golf-ball sized meatballs for a simple tomato based past sauce.

Ingredients:

Meatballs
500g pork mince
500g beef mince
4 rashes of bacon or pancetta, chopped (optional)
1 tbsp of olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely diced
1 large spanish onion, finely diced
1-2 teaspoon of paprika (depending on your tastes)
½ cup of breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons of parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon of rosemary, chopped
Salt and pepper

Pasta sauce

1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely diced
2 x 400g tins of diced tomatoes
1 spanish onion, finely diced (optional)
Sweet basil leaves, roughly torn

What to do:

For the meatballs:

1.  Preheat the oven to 180^oC (350^oF).

Optional step: Fry the bacon in a pan and when cooked, set aside.

2.  Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. When hot add the garlic and onions.

3.  After about 30 seconds, add the paprika and let cook until onions are soft, then take off the heat.

4.  In a large bowl, add the cooked onions mix, pork mince, beef mince, bacon (optional), breadcrumbs, egg and herbs. Roll your sleeves up and mix the ingredients thoroughly with your hands. Add a teaspoon of salt and pepper to the mix.

5.  Using the palms of your hands, form small golf-ball sized meatballs. This is the most time-consuming part. Place each meatball on a tray lined with baking paper.

6.  Bake the meatballs for about 30 minutes until brown.

For the sauce

7.  Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat, then when hot, add the garlic and onions (optional)

8.  When the garlic is browning, or the onions are soft, tip in the tins of tomatoes.

9.  Bring the sauce to the boil, then reduce the heat, and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

10.  Add the cooked meatballs and sweet basil to the sauce, then let simmer for another 20 minutes. This is about the time you should start getting the water ready to boil the pasta.

11.  Serve with some warm sourdough, a simple green salad and a glass of red!

Romance in the City

Making a booking at the Moonlight Cinema in Sydney’s Centennial Park is probably the most romantic thing I have done in a little while (I will let you judge if that is a good or bad thing). The first movie we planned to see eventually washed out (Elizabeth 2), so I decided upon the Darjeeling Limited – hoping that the wet Sydney summer would break for one February evening.The Darjeeling Limited reminded me so much of the India I experienced last summer. The director, Wes Craven, managed to communicate on the screen so many of the rich sights, sounds and smells (strangely enough) that I had both cursed and loved on the sub-continent (you have to experience India to understand what I mean).

The story is simple enough. Three brothers take a train trip across India after the death of their father. Each are as strange as the other: Francis Whitman (Owen Wilson) is the oldest brother, who is actually more like a mother to Peter (Adrian Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman). Francis organised the trip and will do whatever it takes to ensure that everything goes to plan. This provides many of the laughs for the film, as Peter and Jack are no longer little brothers.  The movie is rich with symbolism, and having not watched many Wes Anderson movies in the past, I failed to understand some parts such as the Bill Murray scene at the beginning.

This isn’t meant to be a movie review, because I enjoyed spending the night with OP without having to worry about all the things which usually occupy my mind.  In other words, the timing, the setting and the weather was such that I could have watched any movie that night and enjoyed myself.

Just because its French…

MOVIE REVIEW: THE AGE OF MAN (AGE D’HOMME…MAINTENANT OU JAMAIS)

In The Age of Man (curiously, the “now or never” bit is not translated in the Australian title), Romain Duris plays Samuel, a man, who, in what appears to be the last days of his youth, is torn between the responsibility-less life of singledom and committing to his long-term girlfriend, the captivatingly gorgeous, Chloe, played by Aissa Maiga.

That pretty much sums up the whole movie and plot.

At its heart, the movie is about Samuel’s identity crisis – is he good enough to be a husband and father. Past generations of men went to war and created new arts, Samuel, on the other hand, is a film director (we don’t know if he is any good or not) who is more than happy being the assistant to Chloe (who I think is a photographer, although its not all that clear). His friends are all moving to new stages in their lives, getting married and having babies, although Samuel’s interactions with them don’t really shed any light on his current crisis.

It is difficult to describe what else happens in the movie because there is no real plot. Samuel inspects an apartment (although it appears that he is living in a perfectly good one) and briefly flirts with another prospective tenant played by Maria Jurado (?). However, apart from running into her again later in the movie, nothing really come of it all – no drama, no insight into any of the characters. Similarly, he takes his bicycle to get repaired and meets a colleague who has a new film idea, however, nothing at all follows from these events.

There is a particularly funny, and unsexy, love scene and a few other laugh-out-loud moments in the movie. However, much of the humour missed the mark for me (including the fart jokes). Montages interrupt the movie: Samuel fighting in no man’s land, Samuel’s conversations with an imaginery Leonardi Da Vinci and Samuel the caveman. However, each seem out of place, ridiculous and completely unfunny. Although the scenes with Leonardo give some insight into Samuel’s character, they are bizarre to the point of distraction.

The movie ends sweetly but predictably. Most critically, the ending bears almost no relationship to the 90 or so minutes that preceeded it. The words, unfortunately, which should end the title to this review are “doesn’t mean that its good”.

One Man’s Rating (out of 5):

Sushi me

REVIEW: SUSHI FUSION

OP and I have spent so many Saturdays at this place over the last few months, that I thought it was only fair that I share it with you all. We had tried a number of sushi trains in the Sydney CBD area, and eastern suburbs, but none really come close to Sushi Fusion in Randwick.

On Belmore Road, it is small enough so that you are close to the sushi-making action, but not so small that your dining neighbour is uncomfortably close. The staff are friendly despite being sometimes a little run off their feet with the lunch time trade. And the decor, although not particularly striking, feels clean and polished.

The food is what has brought us back week after week. The actual sushi menu is not particularly special – the ubiquitous selection of sushi. However, the fish is fresh and each little piece of sushi is made with care. Highlights for me are the crumbed calamari rolls with tartare sauce, raw tuna rolls coated in tempura flakes and the dainty raw salmon sushi.

For me, what set Sushi Fusion apart from a lot of other sushi places are its handrolls. You can choose between raw or cooked salmon and tuna, teriyaki chicken, scallops or prawn. Add cucumber or avocado as an extra filling, then select a sauce (mayonaisse, spicy mayo or teriayki). Your selection is rolled in rice and a crispy seaweed skin. It would be fair to say that OP and I visit Sushi Fusion more for its handrolls, than its actual sushi.

I have eaten at a number of sushi trains which would be more aptly described as sushi train wrecks. It is a relief and comfort to be able to sit down at Sushi Fusion and know that your meal will fall to chance.

Details:

The Place: Sushi Fusion

Where: 7 Belmore Road, Randwick

Food: Sushi

Tip: Try a handroll, or, if you feel like something warm, the udon soup.

Butcher’s Bill: About $32 for a quick lunch for two.

Who should go: Fans of Japanese food looking for a good sushi-train experience.