I believe that entertainment value is very important in mass media interventions. It seems to me that the average attention span of most mass media consumers is quite short, and there's just ~so~ much stuff out there, even the best intended intervention won't get much attention unless it has entertainment value.
While I don't necessarily agree with all of Tim Minchin's work, I do think that he combines comedy, music, and witty social intervention very well.
*Beware the language in the link - parental discretion advised.
I'm providing a link to his song Prejudice *, which some might see as a little irreverent, but which I consider to be a very witty examination a specific manifestation of prejudice. He is a wonderful wordsmith, and while his song may be funny, it does encourage the listener to think. I wasn't even aware of some of the forms this type of bullying took before I listened to his song.
And now that I'm done with avoiding spoilers, be aware that the next bit is one. If you're going to watch the song, please do so before reading the following.
I remember when I first heard about kick-a-ginger day... a couple weeks after it was supposed to have taken place. Admittedly I'm rather out of the loop as far as such things go, but I was shocked to find that things like that were actually happening. I was even more shocked to think how easily social networking sites like Facebook can be used to facilitate bullying. Maybe I'm just way too optimistic about humans, but the thought just hadn't occurred to me!
If you haven't heard of kick-a-ginger day, have a look at a basic news article about it on CTV here. Inspired by an episode of South Park, someone started a Facebook group encouraging members to bully red-headed classmates. Apparently many people found it to be simply humourous without considering it a form of bullying. I'm glad Tim Minchin decided to write a song to make viewers aware of the "years of ritual bullying in the schoolyard" that red-heads are subject to (among other things).
Anyways, have a look and tell me what you think of Tim's comedic comments.
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