Cultural Idols


IDOL does not stray far from the overdone precepts of reality TV. It's soaked in cliches and often teeters towards karaoke. As far as street cred goes, it has none - except that it might depict the great diversity of the Australian people far more than any other show on television right now.

In the haze of text messages leading to Sunday's showdown at the Opera House, take a moment to assess the two finalists: teenager Jessica Mauboy, a perfect picture of homegrown diversity with her indigenous and Indonesian cultural background, and Damien Leith, an Irish migrant who has a charming accent and the most orthodontically-challenged smile on primetime.

What a study in contrast they offer to staples such as Neighbours, Home and Away and even the bulk of ABC-TV news and current affairs presenters. Over there, the studio lights seem to shine on a monocultural society that, despite the efforts of Pauline Hanson and her fellow travellers, has fundamentally shifted.

No deeply tanned kebab shop owner considers the lucrative possibility of opening next to the surf club at Summer Bay; Asian doctors who fill med schools appear allergic to ward rounds at All Saints; ice-blonde goddesses rule breakfast at Channel Nine. Yet, it's worth reviewing the social realities of contemporary Australia - and in real life.

The true state of the nation is that one in four - 5 million people - are born overseas. Even leaving off English-speaking migrants, such as Brits and Irish, 3.5 million hail from non-English-speaking countries. When you add second-generation, the reality is even more diverse: more than 40 per cent of "homegrown" Australians claim one parent at least born overseas.

Australian National University researcher Dr James Jupp says this means 12 million Australians have an overseas link in the first and second generation. Indeed, in percentage terms we are close to being the most diverse society in the Western world. So it's surreal that homegrown TV generally does not hold a mirror to what's really going on.

"It's widely said in ethnic circles that Ramsay Street is the only street in Australia where there's no 'wog' in it," observes Jupp.

There are consequences to TV's cultural myopia, especially in sensitive times when the idea of diversity itself is under attack. Jupp puts it well: "It creates a false impression of the 'real' Australia. People often think to be a 'real Australian' you have to be born here or be of British or Irish origin, which is of course very misleading. It may be true in some provincial districts, but it is not true in the major cities where most people live."

There is a Chinese proverb that says, “If you want to know what water is don’t ask the fish.” A fish doesn’t understand its own environment until it enters dry land and struggles to survive. In a similar way no one culture can know itself fully until it enters into the cultural environment of another. As we cross the cultural divide to embrace those different than us we come to a greater appreciation of our own culture but more importantly we become aware of our cultural idols.
There is no such thing as a culture free expression of the Christian faith; all of Christianity has been distorted by cultural prejudices. The Enlightenment has partially blinded American Christianity to the spirit world while some African’s heritage of superstition has distorted their view of the spirit world. Who is right? Both world views have been affected by their culture. Some cultures put a very high value on getting an appropriate return on their investment of time, talent and treasure while others focus more on relationships at the expense of time.
Only when we allow the relationship with another culture to honestly critique our cultural expressions of faith can we see our prejudices. We need our brothers and sisters from across the cultural divide to help us identify potential idols. Especially for us Euro-centric Christians, the danger is to put our cultural identity above our Christian beliefs without even knowing it. Accountability and love with other Christians across racial and ethnic divisions helps us to better critique and complete our own faith culture, whether that is our individual faith, fellowship group, church or denomination.