PAUL Hogan believes Australia's larrikin reputation is dying a slow death, strangled by a new breed of inner-city conformists.
Hogan, the man who breathed cinematic life into the Aussie larrikin and took him on to the international stage as
Crocodile Dundee, says the unique Australian spirit spawned by 18th century convicts is being smothered by a bland, cosmopolitan Australia.
Speaking to reporters in Melbourne as he announced new comedy shows at The Palms at Crown, Hogan suggested our best recognised national identity, refined over the past two centuries by writers* such as C.J. Dennis and politicians like Bob Hawke, is fading into history's rear view mirror.
?It's still magic, but it's not as unique as it was, like when I was a kid,? Hogan said.
?There was a spirit here that has disappeared a bit, a larrikin spirit, pioneer spirit.??
Hogan said he was descended from convicts ? a fact that always embarrassed his mum, but never him.
I'm quite proud of it,?? he said. ?I think it formed that personality we had, which really* came to the fore in World War I. That spirit has faded away ? it's got more cosmopolitan and it's lost its uniqueness, but Australia is still a great place.?
Fred Brophy, boxing tent spruiker, publican, one-time jail inmate and a man who freely admits to having been shot at ?for a variety of reasons?? is, along with cricketers David Boon and Merv Hughes, one of the last men standing in the fading larrikin ranks.
?And I could not agree more with Paul Hogan,?? Brophy* says of Hogan's prognosis on the tenuous health of the larrikin.
?They have all gone ? the railway fettlers, the fencers the riggers, the blokes who would come into town Saturday night and get into a blue and laugh about with each other the next morning ? they are all gone.
?The goody two shoes have taken over, there is no place left in Australia for a good, honest, knockabout bloke.??
Social researcher and author* Mark McCrindle says it is indisputable that the larrikin spirit has fallen victim to a rising tide of conformity and regulation.
?Australians have become more sophisticated but in doing so we have become more compliant ? we have lost that irreverence, that push-back, that once defined us,?? he said.
?Social media has also turned Australians into self censors who are fearful to say anything in case it might give offense to someone.??
Reply With Quote
Swaggie
Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks