Jane Bowron's really gotten stuck in to Shortland Street in today's Dom. Now I haven't bothered with Shortland Street since the era of Lionel Skeggins and his muffins (dear me), but that doesn't mean I'm not interested in seeing that show shanked by a belligerent reviewer.
Here are two choice quotes:
... we had to suffer the absolutely vile staff Christmas party organised by some odious lisping poof stereotype called Gerald...
and:
Those poor, poor actors. What is this - scriptwriting for dummies? I know this show is supposed to be written for 13-year-old girls but there are limits to what passes as entertainment. It's all very well hiring pretty faces and making sure there's a high brown content on the shop foor, but they're all so bland it's hard to tell one cast member from the other.
I don't think that Bowron's criticisms are exactly controversial, but her use of the words 'poof' and 'brown content' made my jaw drop. Can you still say that in print? Well, apparently you can. Good thing too. I've always found NZ On Air's requirement that funding be assessed on the basis of inclusiveness to be abysmal. Whatever the merits of such a policy (and I must concede there are some), it's ultimately pointless if the funded, inclusively casted programmes are risible.
Posted by stuart at December 15, 2007 3:56 PM