I went to see West Australian Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet on Friday night. (I recommend it, if you can get along to see it, do so.) It could possibly be the stupidest thing anyone has ever said, but no matter how many times you see it, the ending of Romeo and Juliet doesn’t change. Even though you know it’s coming you’re sitting there grinding your teeth thinking, my god Romeo, reconsider, stub your toe - anything to delay the moment. Maybe it’ll work out alright in the end if he just hesistates. This is why Romeo and Juliet wouldn’t work as a panto. A whole theatre full of people screaming “she’s alive behind you,” doesn’t have the right gravitas for tragedy, nor does it have quite enough absurdity to lift it out of strange and macabre territory. Well, not without several glasses of wine.
Climate change on the other hand, that’s just laugh a minute. No matter how many times I hear Steve Fielding say there is no evidence of human causes of global warming, it’s still funny. Funny it that irritating, rage inducing way that WA Ballet board members are funny when they say how passionate they are about helping homeless people. Yeah, sure you are. Another oyster?
Climate change the panto would probably be exactly the same as Romeo and Juliet – the panto, except with death and distruction on a slightly wider, less individual scale. (Therein lies the humour. Afterall, two teenagers killing themselves is a little too close to home for your school holiday matinee.) But like Romeo and Juliet, it will always end the same. No matter how many times you watch it, yelling “vote the emission reduction scheme through,” at the stage, douchebags like Steve Fielding will still swan in to say stupid things and generate international headlines for voting against it.
Basically the Federal Libs are suggesting Australia waits until an international meeting at Copenhagen before putting through any legislation. Kind of like ringing your girlfriends to find out what they’re wearing to the party before you commit to any particular shoe/jacket combination. This article by Tony Blair (!?) at the Oz suggests there might be real progress to be made, if countries just had the guts to take action. (Incidentally, there was an article on the death of Michael Jackson by London Mayor Boris Johnson at WA Today last week. Which was just plain weird.)
Sadly, because this is climate change the panto, I forsee Copenhagen will end the same way it always does. The countries without the guts to stick it to the Steve Fieldings of the world and invest in clean technology, Australia included, will delay and block and nothing will happen. Until the day we’re all screaming at the stage “the time to act is behind you”.
Update: I realise that last line is a complete dad joke. Apparently it’s the best I can do. Lashings of apologies all round.
2 Comments
July 8 at 5:34 pm
The things we have to put up with from many of our politicians, never ceases to amaze me.
Have you seen Steve Fielding is not real on facebook?: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=221725975556
July 9 at 11:48 am
Thanks for the link Steve, that’s fantastic!