Well hello. What a week it has been. A TV show I recorded a segment/interview/session – whatever you want to call it – for back in November went to air and what a whirlwind it has been. I mean, this show was originally meant to go straight to the web and now it’s running on the ABC straight after one of their most highly rated TV shows, so it’s getting a lot more attention than originally thought. Which is fantastic!
What I really didn’t expect was to open iView, the ABC’s streaming website, to see myself as a header for the programme!
Damn I’m cute.
So the series is called You Can’t Ask That! and the concept is that a bunch of marginalised people, for various reasons, answer questions submitted anonymously online. My episode of course is about fat people, but there are also eps about sex workers, Indigenous people, Muslims, terminally ill, wheelchair users, and several other themes. When the producer/directors originally contacted me with the idea, it was based on a UK segment done with transgender people, which featured Paris Lees, who I have a lot of admiration for. I loved the idea and was on board really quickly. I believe they had a little trouble finding other fat people willing to participate, but that’s likely because we’ve been stitched up before by the media. However Kirk and Aaron were always considerate and open minded and I felt respected by and comfortable with them from the get go.
So far, I’ve watched about half of the series, and it has been fantastic. I found the one with terminally ill people particularly moving to watch, but have really appreciated watching people who otherwise aren’t represented (or are only represented negatively) speak about their own experiences and highlight just how ridiculous some of the questions we get asked are. I personally found it so cathartic to answer those bloody annoying questions in a way where I had the floor – I wasn’t being expected to give rebuttal to someone who believes I don’t have a right to exist.
Unfortunately at this stage, the show is only available to stream within Australia (now the rest of the world knows our pain of being geoblocked!), and you can find it here on ABC iView, but I have asked the producers if it is going to be opened up at all to the rest of the world, be it either on iView or via YouTube. But you can see a little teaser:
I highly recommend you watch the whole series, not just the episode I’m featured in!
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