IT was derided as “poverty porn” but it turns out that many viewers were deeply moved by the resilience of the characters in the new SBS series, Struggle Street.
Many feared that the program – a documentary about families in one of Australia’s poorest neighbourhoods, Mt Druitt – would mock the poor but in fact showed just how hard some Australians are doing it, and how desperately they need help.
One of the characters, Ashley, was a truck driver who suffered a head injury and can’t work. He has 10 kids with wife Peta. They’re doing their best to keep a roof over their head.
Far from wanting to mock or gawp, many viewers wanted to know what they could do to help, proving yet again that Australians are, by and large, big-hearted people, willing to give others a hand-up.
The hashtag #strugglestreet was trending last night, with many favourable reviews. Consumer advocate Christopher Zinn said Struggle Street ‘was a diamond. Well done producers and SBS for sticking to your guns.’
Local MP Ed Husic said the show was a reminder to ensure “we have the support there for people battling drug and alcohol problems, plus support for mental health.”
Feminism advocate Anne Summers said: “Well done SBS for a poignant look at life in a tough part of Sydney. Great characters. Liked it. A lot.’
Some viewers found themselves reflecting on the lottery that is life, with Louise Hall saying: “I’m feeling very grateful for being born to well-off parents and never wanting for food, housing and health care.”
Debbie Schipp said: “Whether you like it or not, Struggle Street is a sad reality for some. There but for the grace of opportunity, environment or luck go many of us.”
In one of the first online reviewers, journalist Steve Dow for the Guardian described the show as “must-see TV, undersold by sensational marketing.”
SBS released a statement after the first episode reports news.com.au saying it would fast-track the rest of the series to air next Wednesday.
“Due to the significant public interest in the series in the lead up to its broadcast tonight and in consideration of participants who bravely tell their stories, SBS has decided to fast track the series, which will now conclude in a two hour program next week,” the statement said.
In other news you may have missed…
THE Germanwings pilot who deliberately flew a German airliner into the French alps, killing all on board, apparently practiced the maneuver on an earlier flight.
The New York Times reports Andreas Lubitz practiced putting the plane into a fatal dive on the outbound leg, before carrying out the plan on his return to Dusseldorf.
A preliminary report says Lubitz “repeatedly set the Germanwings plane’s altitude to 100 feet” while flying out to Barcelona, Spain, on March 24.
Each time, he waited for the flight captain to leave the cockpit.
“To us, it is clear that this was some kind of rehearsal,” the report says.
Lubitz, 27, had been suffering from depression. He locked the captain out of the cockpit, killing himself and 149 others, on the flight.
THE shock death of Sheryl Sandberg’s husband after falling from a treadmill while on vacation has put the spotlight on the safety of gym equipment.
David Goldberg died after losing his grip on the side railings, falling and hitting his head.
A report published in New York today says such accidents are rare.
“There were just 30 reported deaths related to use of treadmills from 2003 to 2012,” the report says, which averages out to three a year.
That is fewer than the number of people who were struck by lightning.
The number of people injured by treadmills is far higher, with 24,400 injuries logged by emergency departments across the US, which is more injuries than are caused by weights, or even trampolines.
STAR Wars fans, brace yourselves: director J J Abrams is considering whether to kill off Jar Jar Binks.
Abrams, who is making the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, tells Vanity Fair that he is thinking about “putting Jar Jar Binks’s bones in the desert” adding: “I’m serious! Only three people will notice, but they’ll love it.”
Jar Jar Binks is from the planet Naboo. For some reason, he really annoys fans of the Star Wars franchise. Whatever happens,Vanity Fair says the new Star Wars movie is “runaway favourite to be the year’s highest-grossing film.”
DISTRESSING pictures have emerged of poor birds stuffed into plastic water bottles, in a tragic smuggling operation.
News Corp says Indonesian police arrested a suspected wildlife smuggler after discovering the rare birds, still alive, jammed into the bottles.
The birds were mostly yellow-crested cockatoos.
The bottles were stuffed in the smuggler’s luggage. The bottoms of the bottles had been cut off, to stuff the birds inside.
Yellow-crested cockatoos are native to Indonesia and East Timor. They are smaller and less common than Australia’s sulphur-crested cockatoo.
THE Federal government wants to stick the GST on e-books, computer games and TV streaming services purchased from overseas, such Netflix.
The Sydney Morning Herald says the tax is likely to feature in next week’s budget.
The GST is already applied to items worth more than $1000, although there is talk of bringing that figure down to $500.
The lost GST is thought to be worth around $2 billion a year.
YOU may think that you’ve seen quite enough of Kim Kardashian but bad luck. She’s determined to show you even more.
Kim, or Kimye, or Mrs West, or whatever she’s calling herself these days, launches her new book, Selfish, this week.
It’s not a book in the sense of having pages with words. It’s all pictures. Of what? Of Kim. Of her boobs. Of her bum. Of her legs. Of her mouth open. Of her nakedness. Of her underwear. In news to make book lovers weep, it costs less than $15 in the US, and that’s for hardback.
