To be honest I'm stunned that the the title of the thread was not edited given the inflammatory nature.Quote:
Originally Posted by Greatsouthernland
Whilst the thread isn't necessarily all about hating or harming cyclists, given that there is so much hatred for cyclists in the community it doesn't help.
But I guess whether you see the connection between stuff like this and community attitudes as to what is acceptable behaviour depends on your experience.
My point of view is from having done my degree in Media Studies and truly understanding the impact of the media whether it be mainstream or social on people's attitudes.
At the time I was at uni the term 'road rage' was just starting to be used. The repeated use of that term seem to correspond with an increase of incidents. Same goes for 'glassing' in pubs. The more it's publicised the more it becomes seen as acceptable and the more it happens.
And the media and authorities know this is true. The only time they have a media silence on these things (at least in WA) is when someone jumps in front of a train because they know all too well that publicising it just increases the incidents.
The media has a hell of a lot to answer for in Australia. In the 90's I was writing essays on the influence the media had on creating the myth of a national identity (akubra hat, drizabone coat etc.. with no representations of anyone non-white except for 1 McDonald's commercial) which was excluding and mis-respresentative and now for some reason they have gone down the path of celebrating the bogan culture. Instead of showing the best aspects of Australian culture on Australia Day, the images of drunken hooliganism seem to dominate and every Australia Day in Perth at least we have the reports of how many people have been arrested at the fireworks.
And one of the saddest things with the advent of social media is that people say whatever **** comes to mind with no concern as to the consequences because they can't see the big picture.
So maybe before posting threads like ****ing Cyclists or ****ing anything for that matter people should stop and think about how that contributes to the national psyche and what sort of society you want to live in.
