The outrage high tide mark of middle NZ is apparently an American franchised lite entertainment singing competition TV show.
People have a very good reason to be angry at the ridiculously brutal comments made by Natalia Kills and Willy Moon. Bullying and humiliating a person on a TV show that is funded by NZ on Air to the tune of $800 000 is unnecessary, crass and needlessly vicious.
But.
Come on.
Shallow Pop Stars with insecure egos for haircuts give demeaning insults as criticism? This is what we as a nation will rise up and get angry over?
Not child poverty.
Not inequality.
Not mass surveillance lies.
Not abuses of political power.
Not going to war.
The thing that will generate the most passionate engagement is the gleeful blood sport of ripping to pieces someone who said something we didn’t like about something that is pointless in the first place?
A bloody singing competition? Don’t get me wrong, humiliating and bullying Joe Irvine live on TV isn’t nice and deserves to be decried especially as we are paying for this with public money, but it’s a singing competition right?
It isn’t going to war. It isn’t 250 000 children in poverty. It isn’t spying on everyone. It isn’t using the Secret Intelligence Services smearing the Leader of the Opposition.
It’s a fairly dull and mediocre talent competition.
This is the type of depoliticised cultural waste land we are left with when The Edge and the Rock are the largest youth media.
I just wish we could be as outraged about child poverty, going to war and inequality as we are over X Factor.
The Revolution will be televised and co-sponsored by 2 Degrees and McDonalds it seems.
Some of us still are Martyn. Some of us are still outraged over the despicable nature of this country since joyfully embracing the disease of neo liberalism. It’s just that our voices are drowned out by the buffoonery of Key and a news media that is simply not worthy of either of the words that make up its name. I wish we had a foghorn as well as the neo liberals. Just hanging in there seems inadequate.
There are a lot of people out there who are outraged about those things. I have signed plenty of petitions and heard lots of talk on equality, war, religion, our prime minister, etc. But nothing happens, you know why? because if one of those things change, it impacts the entire country. Changing something small, like who judges a show does nothing for us, therefore they will allow that change.
The upside is that when people have a victory like this, they can see that together they CAN change things – its a slow process but the fact that people are slowly getting the hang of it, is very positive.
Agree…it’s very frustrating….but what to do?
Create a forum for local direct action?…but when you look at the zero debate the anti tppa demos produced…… it makes me want to tear what little hair I have left….out!
What a horror that Natalie Kills is , the chap singing was dressed perfectly normally, his haircut less showy than Willie Moon,the egotistical pair think the show is all about them,get rid of them .
Better still……….get rid of the show, and all like it!
Two other points
Firstly -what were the other judges doing? – they appeared to be just sitting back and letting it happen so thus why weren’t they taken to task (I hate those who support bullying by their silence as much as the bully). I know they show acts with no obvious talent for ‘giggles’- isn’t it also a kind of bullying to play such things?
Secondly, that was reletively lame in bullying terms by a couple of non events (even my 18 year old only knows “that guy that won XFactor or something”) yet it ended up being a hugh thing. Where is the outrage, the petitions when we have media like Hoskings, Henry, Smith or even sainted Key + his cronie commit acts of nasty character assasination and real bullying?
true
This is driving me nuts…….. ALL I WANT TO SAY IS GET RID OF THEM OUT OF THE SHOW.
Vile . A compelling reason for obliterating all human life from this planet . If this is what the masses think is ‘ entertainment ‘ ? Then fuck the Masses . The headstone on humanity will read ” They seemed like a good idea at the time ” .
Thank God my dog can’t read, or understand much of english . If she could ? I’d die of embarrassment .
Countryboy – let talking apes take over the planet. They certainly couldn’t do a worse job than our species…
An Alien extra-terrestrial visitor would be forgiven for thinking that talking apes are in fact the dominant species of Earth right now.
Good call Martyn,
“I just wish we could be as outraged about child poverty, going to war and inequality as we are over X Factor”
This clearly demonstrates how far we as a society have sunk today.
We were well recognised formerly as a people with pure grit and steely determination to do the right thing.
JS Bark should be commended by his/her feedback, as to quote;
“It’s just that our voices are drowned out by the buffoonery of Key and a news media that is simply not worthy of either of the words that make up its name. I wish we had a foghorn as well as the neo liberals. Just hanging in there seems inadequate.”
I would like to further illustrate JS Bark’s point.
During 1960 at the age of16 I began work as an electrician apprentice, and soon learned that pride in our workmanship was paramount and customer service paramount to being a successful tradesman.
The Americans arrived in our midst during this era and marvelled at our determination and ingenuity to make anything work and invent stuff all the time which became known later in the 1970-80 years as “Kiwi Can Do” character.
Sadly now are witnessing the “modern” equivalent of us have many among their ranks as shallow self serving, selfish, uncaring mob that just willingly follow all these Government compliance recently dreamed up new regulations and control techniques upon us all, all these which are killing our free spirit, drive & imagination.
It was this strong level of imagination that drove us in our day and especially the splendid caring generation before us that came though the depression and the second world war.
So their minds and spirits that drove these high levels of imagination & ingenuity was much more prevalent then and drove our levels of achievement to build a caring egalitarian society, but today these drivers of “Doing the right thing” is now being suppressed by the controlling our minds, as the MSM/Government is clearly using to alter our perceptions & pursuing ways to suppressing our formerly strong levels of imagination and ingenuity, whom they must fear as disruptive.
We were far more free than modern counterparts who seem to care more about their image than their quality as dignified compassionate human beings.
I have to say I support Martin Bradbury, there are far more important issues to tend to than some loudmouthed egotistical piece of fame, who’s career is going to burnout eventually. I wonder if either Kills and Moon are Key people?
The right would enjoy shite like X factor because it offers dreams of power and prestige that they all covet.
I’ve never watched the XFactor and I feel dirty for clicking your link to see what the fuss was about and giving another view to an article about it.
Great article Martyn. Agree
Martyn agreed – it’s sad!
Hi Guys
all valid comments…..but surely the question we need to ask ourselves is how can we ensure that grown up stuff can get the same exposure to the electorate that this irrelevent puffery gets?
Its about being listened to which we know we are not….so we can only make a fuss when we feel safe. Because we are bullied as a nation, just like Joe was.
But our Joe Irvine moment is coming – common Northland! We are all relying on you to send a message to our bullies!
Once again I agree whole heartedly with you Martyn. I think the NZ mass media is at fault too. If you feed people this sort of crap, without a good dose of proper investigative journalism and unpropagandized real news as well , you are going to get ill-informed sheeple
The state of New Zealand TV is such however that X Factor is more real, insightful and more in depth than the 6 O’Clock news.
Well , the Romans practiced the same diversion.
‘ Give the people circuses ‘ .
We all know as the people got bored they graduated from circuses to Colosseum blood sports using human beings getting slaughtered to get their jollies.
I don’t own a TV. I don’t miss one either. Haven’t had one for nigh on 15 years. And it was for no particular reason I stopped having one either.
The sight of these morons reinforces that mode every time I see the crap at a friends place .
But take heed….as with every liar they get found out eventually….and the longer it goes on the harder the penalty. I’m trying to imagine the mess to be cleaned up after the demise of Key from the political wilderness he has created.
1000% WK,
You read my mind as I have been walking this world for several months since the election and the fall and last days of Rome came to mind as they engaged in debauchery and sin before the end, aren’t we doing exactly the same?
WILD KATIPO and CLEANGREEN;
Awareness+
“We are still living in the tail of Rome” unquote.
Cheers.
Excellent points. Look at our media and our journalism these days, it’s laughable what they term “important stuff the public should know”. But it’s because the generation of journalists providing our media have grown up with reality shows, a glut of glossy mags, sitting on couches playing X Box and being driven 500 metres down the road to school. Sure John Campbell is a nice guy, but god he’s bland. What about the TPPA? Most people don’t know because they have the attention span of a gnat these days.
This television reality show represents the neo-reality Martyn. Or does it?
Every time I hear a gobshite National Party or ACT, or Budgie Party pronouncement it’s prefaced with “The reality is…..” and it makes my blood boil. It’s their reality, not mine.
This country was an egalitarian paradise until ACT via Labour in the 80’s, then successive NACT’s ever since have lurched this country to the neo-liberal right.
The reality is “reality TV – lowest common denominator” opiate of the masses. The sham of the vote. Popularity polls. Schoolyard picks, with the weakest link eliminated. “Goodbye, you are the weakest link!”
Well I was brought up differently to the neo-liberal gobshites and no-talent bullies. I was taught to look after others. I was taught to treat others as I expected to be treated. I was taught that a society is judged by the way it treats its weakest and most vulnerable.
Maybe the tide is turning back to our way Martyn? Let’s see the outrage against the judges as a sign of a changing New Zealand – a rejection of the bullying, privileged class like Key and his cabal.
Maybe there is a lurch back towards a more caring society and rejection of 30 years of neo-liberal callous, bullying bastardy.
We can but hope.
Brilliantly correct McSandwich .
Mcsandwich;
Yes.When I saw Weakest Link it clicked.
We are all being trained to bully, belittle and be aggressive towards
one another. (even drive to suicide may I suggest)especially amongst the young.
You hear it in their greetings.
It’s called Social Engineering.
In the 50’s&60’s it was more about rebel against the Establishment.
Encourage plenty of alcohol and move on to pot.
Bodgies and Widgies and then Mods and Rockers in the sixties.
Don’t forget Hippies with cannabis of course.
I now know it was all by design.
Fashion does not start from grass roots up but comes down from the Top.
The Beatles and Rolling Stones were not so much fabricated( back
then they still scouted for talent eg Brian Epstein) but their messages were. It might be surprising to find out how many shadow writers they had for their lyrics,the idea’s at least.(It’s a fact their were some)
The Beatles started with innocence of ‘She loves you’ and ‘I want to hold your hand’ to very quickly ‘Daytripper’ and ‘Lucy in the Sky’ with drugs.
I still believe today that ‘She’s leaving home’ and ‘Day in the Life’ are not their lyrics.
Don’t get me wrong,their composition’s are genius that will stand the test of time, but lets not forget the tremendous contribution of
George Martin.
The Rolling Stones had ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ and ‘Street fighting Man’ then ‘Mother’s little Helper’.
Hendrix ‘Are you Experienced’ and the Who’s ‘My Generation’.
And most groups had a song about money.
And now look where we’re at;talking about Killing cops and Fucking your mother!
Same routine with Movies and Literature.
‘These Bastards’ always do everything by increment.
All designed to put a wedge between not only the family unit but
between men and women and boys and girls.
The divorce rates are monumental or don’t even bother for marriage.
Number of single parent families.
Look at the sorry state of our men and boys.
Men always denigrated by women(not all)and boys can hardly string
a sentence together!
You see it in the adds and sitcoms (married with children,Roseann)
To have us all fighting amongst ourselves.
The Plan?
To break up the cohesiveness of community and society through to
any idea of nationhood and sovereignty on their road to
World Governance.
They could not do it otherwise.
The flood of drugs into our streets and nations are mostly organized
by these people.
They did it to China with the Opium Wars and they have not forgotten.
The one’s that get caught and jailed are their opposition.
X-factor and other reality shows etc along with sport and Celebrity
Worship are their distractions.
It is a western phenomenon rolled out to the rest of the world.
And Martyn,one of the few voices of sanity left,has nailed it again.
Like a breath of fresh air.
Cheers.
To support my comments on the ‘Mind Control’ of the Rock and
Roll revolution and the breaking up of the family unit.
And previous comments on how it’s The City of London that
controls America and the CIA is it’s servant.
They are the CIA’s masters, not America’s as we are all led to
believe.
Webster Tarpley calls them the ‘Bankster’s Secret Army.’
http://www.thedailybell.com/glossary/2438/Tavistock-Institute/
Cheers.
In the past, Mills and Boon were the populist entertainment. Now its Kills and Moon. Makes you think doesn’t it? Not really.
Shrill and Goon perhaps?….certainly made me think….
Or maybe Dill and Spoon…..
Pill and Mooned?…….
Hmmmm……
NAAAAAAAAAAAH !!
Eye and Spy , or Key and Lie sounds more appropriate , anyways you look at it….
Now…what were we talking about?…oh yes….diversions and distractions….right wing neo liberal TV …well…seems like two of a kind, totally interrelated , really…
No truth in them whatsoever, full of ego and backstabbing , corruption and falsehoods.
Yep…definitely neo liberal TV , – made by the neo liberals , for the neo liberals and as brain dead as the neo liberlals.
Gosman and Wall thrive on this crap.
Personaly ive never watched Xfactor, just the video clip of two moronic would be if they could be types,reminds me of that MP who said ‘Do you know who I am” like that man they are nobodies.
Well done the contestant who stood his ground,glad they were kicked off the show,sends a message to other bullies ,get out of the limelight it shows you for what you are ,arrogant fools just like our PM.
I’ts KILL you Soon that’s what is it they are killing you soon out of X-Factor “Fuck those two they are just popular like a second but they judge people like they owe them something what a piece of junk are they.
Yep – good spotting Elle – Aaron Gilmore “Don’t you know who I am?”
The conscious manifestation of the arrogant subconscious belief-system of the privileged elite.
X Factor and all that fuss, I did not understand it, when listening to radio and watching TV today, as I have NO time for such superficial, trivial, and at times nasty minded crap.
But this should open many people’s eyes, that is what MOST out there seem to care about, not what really matters.
This is the “state of the Nation”, a result of Key and Nat initiated dumbing down with no boundaries and limits.
Come onto shallow and plastic Planet Key, all you see is crap, with no substance, and brains have no contents, they are also made of plastic.
Hollow Men and Women everywhere, everywhere, I fear, cerebellum has been eaten away by disease, the disease of ignorance and indifference.
Totally agree with the sentiments, just wish people would give up the reference to “child poverty” it’s poverty.
Since American TV, with all those extra channels, invaded our homes we have been dumbed down. My formative years were restricted to just a couple of chanels of good quality tv. Our young are subjected to rubbish and generally no longer bother to watch the biased news either. Help……
Watching the TV news, it was interesting to see that Stan Walker was leaning away from Nasty Natalia when she was doing her rant. In body language terms, I reckon he was distancing himself. I don’t watch the show but I’ve always assumed it was scripted. I still think it’s scripted.
Of course, Kills’ bizarre hatchet job on the singer was ghastly but the hundreds, if not thousands, of comments on instagram wishing her to die or kill herself or just throw herself into the sea and never come out was even worse. How you can claim the moral high ground while pouring out such vile, extreme bullying is beyond me. Misspellings were frequent and the use of English rather basic, too. All in all, not a great look for NZ.
I agree. For some reason, people airing vicious rants in illiterate slang and peppered with spelling and grammatical errors seems to detract from what they’re actually trying to say. It makes them look ignorant and just a bit stupid. A shame, because they probably do have a point, but there are better ways of getting your point across. Much like Moon when he called a woman a c*** over a parking space. A word best kept for the absolute scum of society, not thrown around like you’re in the yard at Paremoremo.
Yes there were vile comments towards Natalia Kills and her husband, but what about those who didn’t? I saw many who responded in very angry and passionate, yet civilized manner. It seems like some people here can’t even see that, and they end up putting everyone in the same box because of some people who don’t know how to respond appropriately. Death threats are nothing new when viral outrage situations happen; there will always be people who take things too far.
To be fair, there are plenty of people who actually addressed the Natalia Kills situation in a civilized manner, through reaction videos, supporting, Irvine, talking with friends, etc. Don’t generalize based off of the people who were making death threats.
Bread and Circuses, keeps the plebs quiet -mind you the slops are leaving a lot to be desired.
NZ free to air TV is dominated by this stuff – I am happier reading a book.
Great comments, good writers – refreshing humour and compassion. Strong blog full of life, thanks to Martyn’s and others great work and providing a platform for community sharing to grow. I enjoyed reading the above comments and feel inspired. Thanks to all of you.
My 2 cents – nowadays only worth a cent . . . . . . +@&< !+*#?+
These TV shows and most all movies and most all media and the majority of Hollywood's actors and directors have been programmed to put people to sleep and control minds and direct behavior ; priorities and ethics. They use tricky subliminal programming and mind numbing scripts etc. We just go to sleep for awhile and wake up dumber and having lost just a little more touch with our power and our creative expression.
We are mostly unaware that they are succeeding at producing sheeples.
Fox news preys on the lonely elderly and makes them feel like they have a family. Makes me sick. Fox is so extremely dangerous and unethical.
But mostly, I feel, that programming like the X-Factor and Fox news etc. are meant to keep us from being free and intuitive and creative and to keep us in control, under their thumbs and feeling a bit hopeless.
It is our choice though and we can choose otherwise.
The good news is Iceland etc. and peaceful revolution and the people; jobs; their environment coming before profits and greedy unethical scumbag bankers and corporations. There are some good companies/corporations around but most are part of the evil scheme we all know and read about – upper 1 % who want the new world order.F
For them, its all about controlling the masses and reducing the masses.
We can shut off the TV and mind wasting programs. We still like our nature shows and previous recordings of "truthseeker" and "breaking the set" and news/doco shows on RT.COM and good quality drama and concerts. John Kerry and Hillary Clinton are very threatened by RT.COM because they don't want the truth to come out.
United, we can send the crooks a hiking and take back our country. If Iceland can do it, so can we. We can set up good quality education and legal and health systems that work for all. Then we can genuinely support our artisans, writers, singers, painters, photographers etc. and we can have shows (TV and non TV) that encourage healing; joy ; creative expression and not corporate greed. CORPORATE GREED and all their TV shows / movies about war and the CIA and cops and poor victims meant to desensitize us. Send them packing.
One thought is for us to not loose touch with our aliveness and our creativity and our powerful inner knowing and realizing that united, we can do anything. I know that sounds so 1960's – 70's but what's wrong with giving peace and creativity a chance ? ? ? I am tired of endless wars.
Is my hippy spirit showing ? ? Hope so !
BLAKE;
Agree.
Another wide awake reader of this blog,along with 333.
Another hippy,good one. You must be around my age 66.
I guess you saw my comment above. You can see my paradigm
shift story on Rachael Goldsmith column about Gardasil
Good to see you are a RT fan. Proper public service broadcasting.
No mind numbing programs designed to dumb us down.
I thought RT’s Truthseeker got taken down not long after the 9/11 eps. but my son thought they carried on.
When I searched on site to show other people,the episodes are listed
but when click on just takes you back to front page.
Brilliant.Just rechecked on youtube because of answering you.thanks buddy.
People putting up in single’s but what’s needed is someone to do a
playlist of all the 42 episodes.
Notice GlobalResearch put up the 9/11 one almost immediately.
What a good site that is.
They must have known it wouldn’t stay up for long.
Unfortunately we are under the Queens reign so we won’t be doing
any Iceland tricks.
And to think Mum insisted to travel all the way into Wellington to
wave our little flags in 1953 at the town hall and then again when
she was just on a drive through of Jackson st, Petone.
If only she knew the havoc her family line has caused in history.
Guelf, not Windser, according to Dr John Coleman, the author of the
book “The Committee of 300”- took 20yrs of research.
And yes,all nature and out in the wild programs are very relaxing
for me too.
Keep up the good work.Cheers.
It is like this the (western) world over. Some troubling times are ahead when this herd mentality/group think is turned against us.
People have every right to be outraged by such vile behavior of those two judges. Yes there are bigger issues going on in the world, and they shouldn’t be ignored. Yet at the same time, just because there are much larger issues occurring such as war, or starving children, doesn’t mean that people should neglect bullying/public humiliation incidents such as this.
“Shallow Pop Stars with insecure egos for haircuts give demeaning insults as criticism? This is what we as a nation will rise up and get angry over?”
No. It’s about taking a stand against bullying (and in this case, someone taking it a step farther by humiliating someone in front of thousands of people on live TV). That is what the nation has risen up and gotten angry over.
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