
In light of recent events
Who’s preferencing whom?October 2018
The Monthly Awards
The Monthly thanks the members of its Arts Issue selection committee:
Alison Croggon, David Marr, Anna Goldsworthy, Wesley Enoch, Jonathan Holloway, Stephanie Bishop, Christos Tsiolkas, Benjamin Law, Delia Falconer, Terri-ann White, Jenny Valentish, Michael Williams, Alexie Glass-Kantor, Callum Morton, Katrina Sedgwick, Gideon Obarzanek, Lisa Havilah, Brian Ritchie, Julian Day, Claire G. Coleman, Deborah Conway, Shelley Lasica, Susan Cohn, Miriam Cosic, Helen Elliott
In an age when both reality TV and comedy have trended towards people looking straight at the camera in declarative mode, often brutally narcissistic, the ABC’s You Can’t Ask That is like an apology for past misdemeanours. Each of its episodes, across three series now, is smart and savvy, humorous and heartbreaking. Each is the product of a deep understanding of the work of cultural representation, and the beauty of personal expression – in one’s own voice – and the act of listening.
Producers and directors Kirk Docker and Aaron Smith give “marginalised” people in our society the forum to introduce the features of their lives that have made them distinct from the “majority”. People who live with divergence, and possibly prejudice, by dint of the circumstances of their birth, their life choices, or what someone else has done to mark them out as “damaged”.
The format is simple: a set of questions collected from mainstream society – sometimes ignorant or aggressive in tone, sometimes merely curious – is posed to the reference group of each 30-minute episode (titles include “Eating Disorders”, “Survivors of Sexual Assault”, “Swingers”, “Refugees”, “Blind People”). The participants, set against plain backdrops as singles, pairs or trios, respond with remarkable generosity, sharing the real, often raw, experiences and issues they live with constantly.
As with life, even the most harrowing stories have lightness, resilience and, regularly, humour. There is a warm rapport, usually, between the people sitting together on camera, and a weirdly wonderful and subliminal-level score that nevertheless keeps the viewer focused on the talking. I’m a serial watcher, laughing and crying and in love with the extraordinary humanness and intimacy on display. Two quick tips: the episodes titled “Down Syndrome” and “Drag” are magnificently illuminating.
Terri-ann White
In light of recent events
Who’s preferencing whom?Ghost notes: Simon Tedeschi’s ‘Fugitive’
A virtuoso memoir of music and trauma, and his experiences as a child prodigy, from the acclaimed Australian pianistThe quip and the dead: Steve Toltz’s ‘Here Goes Nothing’
A bleakly satirical look at death and the afterlife from the wisecracking author of ‘A Fraction of the Whole’Election special: Who should you vote for?
Undecided about who to vote for in the upcoming federal election? Take our quiz to find out your least-worst option!‘The End’ by Karl Ove Knausgaard
The ‘My Struggle’ series arrives at a typically exhausting conclusionA man and his bear: Marc Forster’s ‘Christopher Robin’
Adults will find this new tale of Winnie the Pooh surprisingly movingEternally Cher
The queen of reinvention turns her attention to the works of ABBA‘Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead’ by Olga Tokarczuk
Offbeat intrigue from a Booker Prize winnerElection special: Who should you vote for?
Undecided about who to vote for in the upcoming federal election? Take our quiz to find out your least-worst option!Remembrance or forgetting?
The Australian War Memorial and the Great Australian SilenceProperty damage
What will it take for Australia to fix the affordable housing crisis?Present indicative: Daniel Johns’ ‘FutureNever’
The former Silverchair frontman’s second solo album lacks cohesion, but affords him space to excavate his past