Dinosaurs

What a time to be alive. I’ve been standing still lately, letting the tides of history wash over me, senses heightened by fascination, horror, hope and a gentle reverence for the absurd.

There seem to be dinosaurs everywhere, of all statures and shapes, everywhere from the podium to the Parliament, the workplace to the local cinema.

Let’s start with the cinema. I went to a screening of a brilliant film about the author Charmian Clift – you may remember that I’m a bit of a fan of her work. Filmmaker Rachel Lane spent ten years researching and developing this important documentary and it pays an enormous tribute to Clift and also to Nadia Wheatley’s preeminent biography, The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift.

After the screening, the cinema hosted a Q&A session. Unfortunately, the event organisers made a huge miscalculation with their choice of host: an elderly man who missed the point of the film, knew nothing of the ground-breaking feminist undertones of the work and, at the very opening of the session, called the filmmaker ‘Diane.’ Diane Lane, get it?

Now the workplace. Last year, a person named Mark Cleaver was brave enough to join the team at the Collingwood Football Club, a place with a long history of racism, once run by a man known broadly for his misogynism. Cleaver is taking his former employer to court for discrimination and wrongful dismissal. Cleaver's allegations against the current CEO, Craig Kelly, describe the actions of a dinosaur: racist, sexist, homophobic and, let’s face it, rude. I won’t repeat the alleged behaviour here but I will throw my support, for what it’s worth, behind Cleaver. Because I commend those who stand up to the dinosaurs. This is how we bring about change.

To the Parliament, where – once upon a time in Australian history – we had a female Prime Minister. In 2012, her legendary misogyny speech went viral; it was a resounding attack on the dinosaurs who inhabited the opposition bench of Parliament at the time. Some may say that they still do. Playwright Joanna Murray-Smith has captured the power of that remarkable speech, and the woman who made it, in acerbic detail in the theatre production ‘Julia’. Over the course of an hour and a half, actress Justine Clarke transforms herself into impeccably into Julia Gillard and the effect is mesmerising. And energising. It’s the kind of art that motivates one to stand up and defeat the dinosaurs. The play is showing in Sydney in September-October 2024 – I encourage everyone and anyone to see it if you can.

Now to the podium, where a rather famous American dinosaur received a miraculously minor bullet wound to the ear on a weekend not too long ago. You might have heard about it. Not long after this event another prominent dinosaur decided to bow out of a Presidential race that wasn’t his to win. So now we – the whole world, whether we live in America or not – can hope that there’ll be a woman of colour on the ticket for the race. And this is where the hope comes in. I throw my support, again for what it’s worth, behind Kamala Harris. I commend those who stand up to the dinosaurs.

I had the pleasure of listening to Harris on the ‘We can do hard things’ podcast with Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach and Amanda Doyle. Harris struck me as sensible, informed, compassionate. I live in Australia, so I have no opportunity to vote for a female President of the USA. This election affects me though; it affects us all. American policies have a potential flow on effect around the globe, with their philosophies around climate change, immigration, bodily autonomy and the economy setting a tone for what’s acceptable on our planet today. To me, ‘I grab ‘em by the pussy’ was never acceptable and it is why I find myself having to sit in still companionship with the absurd: how can a populace even consider this dinosaur for a leadership role?

May Kamala Harris win. May I find a way to share my voice and throw my support behind her. And may the dinosaurs cease to roam.