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Julian Assange, donning a mullet won't make you an ordinary Australian bloke Julian Assange, donning a mullet won't make you an ordinary Australian bloke
(25 days later)
I’m sure that many Australians, after seeing Julian Assange court voters by donning a wig and lip-syncing to a parody version of John Farnham’s You’re The Voice, had the same thought I did: “there is no god”. But it would be all too easy to see Assange’s spoof as evidence of the final cracking of a fragile mind; we need to place this horror in context, and examine what it might say about the WikiLeaks supremo’s campaign to win our hearts and minds.I’m sure that many Australians, after seeing Julian Assange court voters by donning a wig and lip-syncing to a parody version of John Farnham’s You’re The Voice, had the same thought I did: “there is no god”. But it would be all too easy to see Assange’s spoof as evidence of the final cracking of a fragile mind; we need to place this horror in context, and examine what it might say about the WikiLeaks supremo’s campaign to win our hearts and minds.
When Assange decided to run for the Senate, he must have known he would have to face many obstacles, such as having been accused of sexual assault in Sweden and being confined to the Ecuadorean embassy, on the other side of the world for the country in which he's seeking election. But this kind of detail doesn’t seem to worry our Julian at all. No, what seems to worry him is his perception in Australia's popular consciousness, which might explain his latest parody.When Assange decided to run for the Senate, he must have known he would have to face many obstacles, such as having been accused of sexual assault in Sweden and being confined to the Ecuadorean embassy, on the other side of the world for the country in which he's seeking election. But this kind of detail doesn’t seem to worry our Julian at all. No, what seems to worry him is his perception in Australia's popular consciousness, which might explain his latest parody.
Frankly, Australians do not tend to see Assange as “one of us”. We find him difficult to warm to, and we have a strong tradition of not voting for anyone who constantly seems to be trying to hypnotise us.Frankly, Australians do not tend to see Assange as “one of us”. We find him difficult to warm to, and we have a strong tradition of not voting for anyone who constantly seems to be trying to hypnotise us.
So it’s pretty clear that Assange is trying to position himself as an ordinary Aussie – just another average, everyday, knockabout, larrikin, down-to-earth, self-deprecating, fun-loving, laid back bloke. “I may be a world away fighting to expose the secrets of the world’s most powerful people while trying to evade capture by the military-industrial complex which wishes to punish me for my crimes against tyranny,” he is saying, “but mate, look, I’m pretty much just like you.”So it’s pretty clear that Assange is trying to position himself as an ordinary Aussie – just another average, everyday, knockabout, larrikin, down-to-earth, self-deprecating, fun-loving, laid back bloke. “I may be a world away fighting to expose the secrets of the world’s most powerful people while trying to evade capture by the military-industrial complex which wishes to punish me for my crimes against tyranny,” he is saying, “but mate, look, I’m pretty much just like you.”
Or to put it in Assange’s own words in a recent interview, “I understand what it's like to be a father, to start small businesses, to have problems of many different kinds”. There’s a pitch sure to strike a chord with us all, right? We all know what it’s like to struggle to pay the rent, to work long hours, to rush to pick the kids up after school, to have the car break down, to release top-secret military files to the world media, to face allegations of sexual assault in Sweden, etc.Or to put it in Assange’s own words in a recent interview, “I understand what it's like to be a father, to start small businesses, to have problems of many different kinds”. There’s a pitch sure to strike a chord with us all, right? We all know what it’s like to struggle to pay the rent, to work long hours, to rush to pick the kids up after school, to have the car break down, to release top-secret military files to the world media, to face allegations of sexual assault in Sweden, etc.
And now Assange is proving just how much like everyone else he is, demonstrating that he enjoys a stupid wig and a terrible parody song as much as the next bloke. No longer do we need to see him as distant, remote, arrogant or creepy – he’s not Julian Assange, weird megalomaniac Internet guru, he’s just Julian Assange, ordinary Aussie and terrible comedian.And now Assange is proving just how much like everyone else he is, demonstrating that he enjoys a stupid wig and a terrible parody song as much as the next bloke. No longer do we need to see him as distant, remote, arrogant or creepy – he’s not Julian Assange, weird megalomaniac Internet guru, he’s just Julian Assange, ordinary Aussie and terrible comedian.
Whether it will work is the question. There's still something a bit awkward about him trying his hand at the common touch, a bit like the Pope doing Gangnam Style – you might appreciate the effort, but you can’t help but doubt the authenticity. In many ways, Assange is following in the footsteps of that other silver fox, Kevin Rudd, whose attempts to get down with the man in the street have resulted in an embarrassing amount of babbling about sauce bottles and a tendency to use the word “mate” as if he’s afraid that just allowing it into his mouth it will cause ulcers.Whether it will work is the question. There's still something a bit awkward about him trying his hand at the common touch, a bit like the Pope doing Gangnam Style – you might appreciate the effort, but you can’t help but doubt the authenticity. In many ways, Assange is following in the footsteps of that other silver fox, Kevin Rudd, whose attempts to get down with the man in the street have resulted in an embarrassing amount of babbling about sauce bottles and a tendency to use the word “mate” as if he’s afraid that just allowing it into his mouth it will cause ulcers.
I fear that for both of them, it’s not going to wash. Australians can smell phoneys, and as prominent feminist Tony Abbott has noted, they spot artifice a mile off. It seems likely that for all Assange’s efforts to position himself in the ordinary bloke space, he’s going to find out that it takes more than impersonating John Farnham to convince the electorate of the prime importance of greater transparency in public life. And the very fact that it is possible to write that sentence says something very profound about the way the whole election is going. I fear that for both of them, it’s not going to wash. Australians can smell phoneys, and as prominent feminist Tony Abbott has noted, they spot artifice a mile off. It seems likely that for all Assange’s efforts to position himself in the ordinary bloke space, he’s going to find out that it takes more than impersonating John Farnham to convince the electorate of the prime importance of greater transparency in public life. And the very fact that it is possible to write that sentence says something very profound about the way the whole election is going. 
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