By Darryl Mason
Probably the funniest thing about the debut of John Safran's new series Race Relations was the tailored warning to sensitive viewers from the ABC's Director of Television, Kim Dalton, "urging conservative viewers not to watch the program" :
"If you think you are going to be offended or outraged (or want to be offended or outraged) then don’t tune in," Kim Dalton says.More bias from the ABC.
Why should conservatives get tailor-made viewer warnings from ABC directors that a show might contain 'liberal' content that may cause them offence? Where are the viewer warnings for Lefties when Piers Akerman makes an appearance on Insiders?
In the end, Safran's Race Relations proved to be wholly uncontroversial, and far milder than most were led to believe by tabloid media hype and a concerted effort to whip up more Chaseresque MoralOutrage! hysteria before the first episode even aired.
According to this story, only five complaints were received by the ABC over Race Relations, even though an audience of more than 700,000 tuned in, mostly people under the age of 30.
It's not that there wasn't challenging content in the show, it's that the public seems well bored by the kind of confected controversy that click-bait hungry online media try to whip up on a nearly daily basis now.
The ruse didn't work this time, Australians refused to play along, and in the end Race Relations debuted with barely a whimper of MoralOutrage!
It will be worth watching to see how the rest of Race Relations unfolds, but it feels like they're giving far too much away in the promos. Burning away at our interest, our curiosity about what Safran is going to get up to next. The constant promos are like spoiler material, killing the surprises to come. Oh look, Safran blacks up next week, and when is the episode on when he goes on dates as a chick, or as the Elephant Man?
Hearing for weeks that John Safran masturbates over a photo of Barack Obama was a lot funnier than actually seeing it done.
It's not enough to simply make us cringe. That's far too easy. Safran's big missions is to challenge our minds, our prejudices and our beliefs with his look at inter-racial love and relationships in a world where the White Man-Dominated 20th Century is already fading fast in the rear-view mirror of history.
The Full First Episode Of Race Relations Is Here
