Bulletin

Issue: March 2005

Books

Space for Television on the Cultural Shelf

Television in Australia will be 50 years old next year – but many still question its cultural credibility.

A group of ‘televisionophiles’ comprising arts journalists, writers and academics – including three from La Trobe University – are seeking recognition for television as part of our spectrum of cultural achievements.

A recently published book, Lounge Critic: The Couch Theorist’s Companion, co-edited by Dr Terrie Waddell of La Trobe University’s Media Studies Program, challenges what she describes as naive assumptions about the nature of television.

Annabel Rattigan, formerly Screen Events Coordinator with the Australian Centre of the Moving Image, ACMI, is the other co-editor.

Dr Waddell, left, says that because we watch television privately in the home rather than in public, like the cinema for example, it is often regarded as a domestic activity, unworthy of ‘serious public consideration’.

‘Yet despite all the negative baggage, this is a medium that allows for collective engagement on a number of emotional, creative and intellectual levels.’

Each of the thirteen contributors to Lounge Critic are passionate about the role television plays, not only in their working and private lives, but also in the lives of their students, colleagues and readers.

Dr Sue Turnbull, senior lecturer in Media Studies and a well known media commentator, contributed two chapters, one on the US series Buffy The Vampire Slayer and the other on the Australian comedy Kath and Kim. Lecturer Anna Dzenis from Cinema Studies, discusses the cult and cultural appeal of the multi award winning Sopranos.

The book covers a range of genres and issues from queer representation, ‘high end’ drama, the BritAsian experience, chat shows, sexual tension and reality programming, to the possible directions television may take in the future.

The idea for the publication was developed from the monthly ACMI ‘Lounge Critic Sessions’ organised by Ms Rattigan in which journalists, academics, writers, television producers, postgraduate students and critics discuss their favourite TV programs. Fans and armchair theorists debate points of interest with the guest speakers.

‘Sometimes television is seen as an ephemeral medium. But with the advent of DVD packages that lay out entire series from beginning to end, many of our best loved shows are preserved for further scrutiny,’ Dr Waddell said.

Lounge Critic: The Couch Theorist’s Companion is published by the ACMI in association with La Trobe University, with financial contribution from the Australian Film Commission.