High-profile cases of Corby and Crowe

Rob Goodfellow, Melbourne

Earlier this month only six, yes that's right, six people turned up for a public protest in Brisbane in support of Schapelle Corby. Twenty-one reporters, cameramen and photographers easily outnumbered the hard core: "Free Schapelle, bring our girl back, ban Bali" demonstrators.

In what must be the understatement of the new millennium, organizer Guy Pilgrim told the press that he had been "hoping for a better turn-out".

It seems that the tide of strong emotion that swept over Australia in the days after the Corby verdict was announced had subsided.

This week it was Russell Crowe's turn.

There are however similarities between the two high profile cases, (apart from Russell Crowe suggesting that Tsunami-aid be used as a bargaining chip to secure Corby's extradition). Crowe, who is now described by the Australian press as a "New Zealander" and ironically in the New Zealand press as "an unruly Australian", hit a New York hotel concierge in the face with a telephone in an emotional outburst blamed on a combination of "loneliness, jet lag, and the frustration of being away from his family".

In response, prominent Sydney journalist Miranda Devine described Crowe not as impulsive and irresponsible but as, "lovable Russell" -- the misguided but devoted husband and father.

Devine's careful use of the "right words" to evoke a particular emotional reaction -- in this case sympathy, is similar to the same reaction that took shape the moment Schapelle Corby was widely described in the Australian media as a "Gold Coast beauty student' rather than a "hard-faced divorcee".

In many cases the intention of journalists in the Corby case was to capitalize on ordinary people's "feelings" in order to frame the tale as "human interest" and then over-simplify the story -- the script read: Young, blue-eyed, beautiful, white, defenseless woman with an intriguing name, in the clutches of incomprehensible, corrupt, and sweaty brown men.

At the risk of picking on Miranda Devine, whose work I rather like, her article in the Sun Herald just after the Corby Verdict, Grace under fire moves a nation, was characterized not by identifying with a range of understandable "feelings" -- such as shock or sadness -- but by another appeal to "emotion", or dare I say "beliefs"

Devine, who was based in Bali during the trial, wrote that, "careful styling and stunning good looks, improved in recent months by jail time weight loss, have bolstered her (Corby's) claim she is innocent".

What emotions did this statement provoke?

In the case of Schapelle Corby the feelings that Australians experienced were overwhelming positive. And why not? It is right and proper to feel compassion and concern for someone in a terrible predicament. What we need to look at are the emotions that accompany these feelings -- starting with shock, anger, frustration and confusion -- but then developing into something much darker.

The hard question is: What if Schapelle Corby was overweight or ugly or black or Asian, or Gay or physically disabled, or was developmentally delayed or had a drug and alcohol dependency or a mental illness or was male and a public servant or, horror of horrors, was not well-groomed. Would that make her case any less convincing?

Incidentally, there are over 150 Australians serving prison sentences overseas. Why is it that Australians haven't taken up their causes -- because at least four of these publicly claim a serious miscarriage of justice? Could it be because these four Australians are all men, and all of Asian extraction?

Could it be that as a result of the Corby case, and more recently with commentary on Russell Crowe's Manhattan "incident", that Australians have validated impulsive emotions as the basis of opinion rather than thoughtful, informed, or even skeptical analysis and wide-ranging debate?

Australians admire the fact that Russell Crowe is successful, wealthy and handsome. Australians are proud that he has won an Oscar and that his films are watched all over the world. The fact that Crowe has a reputation for being aggressive, arrogant and opinionated did not factor highly in Miranda Devine's story of what was an unjustified act of aggression. Why is this?

Feelings are spontaneous. Like the fright we feel when a dog barks or the shock Australians felt when Schapelle Corby broke down in tears after her sentencing in an Indonesian court. The emotions associated with the Australian public response to the Corby verdict, or for that matter the Crowe phone throwing episode are, on the other hand, tied in with subtle but powerful underlining beliefs about Australian's sense of cultural superiority, about gender and race and physical appearance and have little to do with guilt or innocence, right or wrong.

The writer is a Wollongong-based Indonesian specialist presently teaching at the Mount Eliza Program of Melbourne Business School.