Get ready for a week of Ten getting excited about a former sportsman’s sexuality
Even in the hyperbole-driven world of television, Ten has been promoting its Ian Thorpe interview remarkably hard, albeit somewhat coyly. Here’s the latest:
“With less than a week to go until Ian Thorpe: The Parkinson Interview airs on TEN, watch the first promo from their highly-anticipated encounter.
“Shot this week in London, Sir Michael Parkinson CBE explores the private and sometimes troubled world of Ian Thorpe OAM. With no question off limits, the master interviewer examines the good times and the bad, the triumphs and the trauma that Ian has faced throughout his life.
“Ian Thorpe is Australia’s most decorated Olympian, one of Australia’s favourite sons and a sporting legend around the world.
“Affectionately known to many as Thorpedo, Ian broke 22 world records and won five gold, three silver and one bronze Olympic medals. He has also collected 11 World Championship titles, 10 Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine Pan Pacific titles.
“In a world exclusive, TEN will broadcast Ian Thorpe: The Parkinson Interview on Sunday, July 13, at 6.30pm.”
Given that Thorpe has answered the question that’s getting Ten so excited a number of times before, Dr Mumbo wonders what’s getting the network so hot under the collar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK2FiAMsgeY
It’s this sort of garbage from Channel 10 that has got people turning off that station and network television in general. If you are the sort of person to tune in watch this interview solely to hear Thorpie answer that question then you are an idiot.
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The big news this week on ten is Ian Thorpe being interviewed.
Its not the question thats turning people off ten.. its the irrelevancy of what they provide.
Even in this pathetic, celebrity driven media that feeds the insatiable, empty headed beautiful people, Ian Thorpe is no longer “news”
Oh and by the way.. The project, wow!… how quickly has the descended since Hughes and Pickering left.
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Why are people in 2014 still obsessing over someone else’s sexuality? As a society we’ve gone well and truly passed that. The way Channel Ten is framing the question, it’s like they are trying to imply being gay is a shameful thing.
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@Viewer.
Why? Because the world is full of people, and people love gossip. Gossip is a universal human trait, an unavoidable fact of life. Gossip is behind our love of theatre, drama, comedy, and the cult of celebrity.
The very nature of interviews (Parkinson is at the forefront of interview shows) is fueled by our desire to know more about the interviewee, more than their public persona.
In my opinion, ever since the church ticked a boarder around specific sexual practices, the people have become more and more obsessed with all things sexual.
The theatre and film ( a development of the theatre) has actively pushed the boundary on censorship, to allow more and more sexually explicit and voyeuristic depictions to be included in our story telling.
Ten will be fully aware of the fact that if Thorpe (in spite of former claims) can be encouraged to spill the beans and admit that he is gay, there will be a potentially massive audience wanting to be there at the moment of greatest voyeuristic and dramatic excitement. A theatre in need of an audience, which is what a television company in need of ratings is, will look at anything that might attract multitudes.
Gay is not a shameful thing, sex in general is not a shameful thing, but the love of gossip for all its universality might just be moving that way.
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