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ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
What does Snoop Dogg's Grand Final invitation say about the AFL's commitment to preventing violence against women? - ABC Religion & Ethics
The AFL Grand Final is one of those sporting events that reaches deep into the cultural psyche of this country. The last Saturday in September is marked by friends and families getting together around the television or, for those able to get a ticket, cramming into the MCG to watch the game together. The pre-game entertainment garners almost as much attention as the final game. And this year is no different. When the AFL announced last week that Snoop Dogg would be the pre-game artist, many of us involved in preventing and responding to men's violence against women and children were aghast and somewhat mystified. His lyrics are explicit in their misogyny and celebration of violence against women. While he has been called out for them by heavyweights of the music business and has described himself as reformed, he still often features these songs in his set lists. The decision from the AFL has prompted Victorian organisations addressing violence, including our own Respect Victoria, to put out a joint statement last Friday questioning this decision and calling for the AFL to rethink it. It's a deeply unsettling decision and has been made at a time when Victorians are mourning five women who have been allegedly killed by men they know in the last four weeks alone. Yes, this is the fatal tip of a national crisis of men's violence that continues to have devastating consequences across the whole Australian community. We also know that the Grand Final is a time when calls to crisis support services and police spike because of increased instances of family violence. In Victoria, police data shows that family violence incidents consistently rise on Grand Final day and the day after, with some services reporting up to 30 per cent increase in demand. This is a predictable and preventable pattern — and one that makes the decision to platform an artist with a history of glorifying violence against women all the more alarming. A general view of the 2024 AFL Grand Final match between the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Lions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 28 September 2024 in Melbourne. (Photo by Adam Trafford / AFL Photos via Getty Images) Over the last week, questions surrounding Snoop Dogg's selection by the AFL have sparked conversations about whether we should sanction an artist that has been called out for his misogyny by the likes of Dionne Warwick and Pharrell Williams, and who fans say has changed his ways. The question being asked online and in the media is: should we give Snoop Dogg a second chance? To us the answer is simple: he continues to profit off a catalogue of songs that espouse violence — especially sexual violence against women. He still performs these songs and they are still highly popular and influential. So, it's not a question of giving him a second chance. The question is: should we give him arguably the biggest platform in the Australian sporting calendar when we are in the midst of a national emergency of domestic, family and sexual violence? The answer is abundantly clear: No, we should not . With so many talented Australian artists who champion respect and equality, this should be an opportunity to showcase performers whose values align with the AFL's stated commitment to ending violence against women. Platforming a performer with a public history of boasting about violence against women directly undermines the AFL's own commendable work in recent years to support violence prevention initiatives. Dr Dre, Mary J. Blige and Snoop Dogg perform during the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show at SoFi Stadium on 13 February 2022 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images) Sport has enormous power to influence culture. By elevating an artist with a track record of degrading women, the AFL risks sending the message that misogyny is entertainment. The Grand Final regularly attracts a crowd of over 100,000 people at the MCG, and a television audience of millions — that's why the artists we choose for this event matters. When questioned on the choice of entertainment earlier this week, AFL CEO Andrew Dillon described Snoop Dogg as culturally relevant after performing at the Paris Olympics and the Super Bowl. Culturally relevant to whom? In the midst of a national crisis of violence against women, relevance should be measured by the values we want to model for young men and boys, not by global fame built on a history of degrading women and disrespect. For the AFL, this decision damages its credibility. It was only last year that Andrew Dillon declared that 'the only acceptable figure' for violence against women is zero, and that the AFL was committed to doing more to end it. Those words ring hollow when the league's actions point in the opposite direction. The AFL has an opportunity to align its entertainment choices with the culture it claims to champion — this decision misses that mark. It undermines the credibility of the AFL's own public commitments to preventing violence against women. The AFL's decision to platform Snoop Dogg is a grave mistake and should be urgently reconsidered. Actions speak louder than words. It is time for the AFL's actions to match its rhetoric on championing equality and respect. Kate Fitz-Gibbon is Professor (Practice) with the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University and an Honorary Professorial Fellow with the Melbourne Law School at University of Melbourne. She is Chair of Respect Victoria. Helen Bolton is the CEO of Respect Victoria.
News.com.au
10 hours ago
- News.com.au
Terence Stamp, veteran actor and star of iconic Aussie film, dead at 87
Veteran British actor Terence Stamp, who starred in one of the most beloved Australian films of all time, has died at the age of 87. A prolific star of the stage and screen who started his acting career in 1960, Stamp made a name for himself with a breakthrough performance in his 1962 movie debut Billy Budd, for which he earned an Oscar nomination. He was also known for his performances in blockbusters like the 1978 Superman movie and its sequel, and 1999's Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. But it was his groundbreaking performance as transgender woman Bernadette Bassenger in the 1994 Aussie smash Priscilla, Queen of the Desert that endeared him to Australian audiences and reignited his acting career well into his 60s. Stamp was nominated for a BAFTA, an AFI Award and a Golden Globe for his moving performance in the cinema classic. The actor's family told news outlet Reuters that he died on Saturday. 'He leaves behind an extraordinary body of work, both as an actor and as a writer that will continue to touch and inspire people for years to come,' they said in a statement. 'We ask for privacy at this sad time.' Stamp's final screen role was in the 2021 film Last Night in Soho. Making such a splash at the start of the 60s with his debut film role, Stamp became one of the biggest stars of the time – thanks to his prolific work rate and also his relationship with model and fellow 60s icon Jean Shrimpton. He later confessed he struggled to find work after the decade ended. 'I was so closely identified with the 1960s that when that era ended, I was finished with it,' he once told French daily Liberation. Stamp married once, on New Year's Eve 2002. He was 64 and his 29-year-old Bride was an Australian-Singaporean woman named Elizabeth O'Rourke who he'd met in Bondi, Sydney. The couple divorced six years later.
ABC News
13 hours ago
- ABC News
Gary Shteyngart, Jennifer Mills and Rhett Davis ask what's next
Russian born US writer Gary Shteyngart imagines a future America with strong parallels to Russia in Vera, or Faith, Adelaide based author Jennifer Mills' latest novel Salvage rockets into space after ecological collapse, and Geelong author Rhett Davis on Aborescence about people who want to become trees. Gary Shteyngart is the Russian-born, American-based author of novels including Absurdistan, Super Sad True Love Story and Our Country Friends. His latest book Vera, or Faith, is about a precocious child living in near future America, where cars have attitude and equality is under threat. Gary talks about the worrying parallels between the USA and Russia and the precarious state of immigrants in the country. Jennifer Mills (Dyschronia and The Airways) is one of the most exciting experimental writers in Australia. Her latest novel, Salvage, is a propulsive novel about sisterhood, space and what happens after ecological collapse. She also talks about wanting her books to be of use to readers. And staying with the environmental theme, Geelong based author Rhett Davis's second book Arborescence continues his fascination with trees that featured in his debut, Hovering. Arborescence is about a movement of people who want to grow roots and become trees (and they do, in their billions)! It's also about the absurdity of modern-day life.
