Creativity Architects
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"He declared, confidently, that an immense number of women were dying for his diminutive highness, but became terribly angry, when an ugly, red-nosed publican with a hump-back, pretended to recognize him as an organ grinder strolling about with a monkey." J.F Mortlock Experiences of a Convict-1865 The tall-poppy syndrome has meant different things to different Australians. To golfer Greg Norman, the tall-poppy syndrome meant a jealousy of success. Norman explained that if someone in America bought a sports car, then other Americans would say "nice car." However, if someone in Australia bought a sports car, other Australians would scratch it. To tennis player Lleyton Hewitt, the tall-poppy syndrome meant cultural ignorance. After seeing his home crowd support a fellow youngster over him, Hewitt said it was the stupidity of the Australian public to knock the better players. To scientists, the tall-poppy syndrome meant Australians being too focussed on sport, and not giving due recognition to intellectual achievement. For example, when receiving an award at the 2002 Australia Day Awards, a scientist named Donald Metcalf said, "I could name 11 colleagues whose accomplishments would exceed those of our cricket 11. They haven't been entertaining people. They have been saving lives." Perhaps the best way to think about the tall-poppy syndrome is that it reflects the diversity of values in a multicultural society. As long as a diversity of values exists, there will always be people criticizing those icons that are held up as the "model" that Australians should aspire to be like. The more diverse the society, the more critical it will be to its "icons." A good example of cultural diversity leading to criticism can be seen in the 20 years of attacks upon Paul Hogan after he released his movie Crocodile Dundee. After being released in 1986, Crocodile Dundee went on to become the most successful Australian movie in history. Wildlife documentary makers such as Steve Irwin subsequently traded on the crocodile image to push into the American market, and tourists from all over the world travelled to Australia to experience the friendly culture and beautiful environment. Qantas alone had to increase their number of San Francisco to Sydney flights from 25 per week to 40 per week. Although the appeal of Hogan's character was widespread, it was not universal and some concerned citizens voiced their dissent. For Geoffrey Barker of the Melbourne Herald, Hogan's character reinforced international perceptions that "Australians are gauche, provincial and philistine". Veronica Brady, an academic from the University of Western Australia, said the film was about "colonial servility, violence and a profound confusion of values". Even though Crocodile Dundee benefited the Australian film industry, many writers and directors felt it was important to "correct" the inaccurate stereotypes. Consequently, the Australian film industry started producing movies that portrayed Australia in a very negative light. In 1994, Stephan Elliot released Priscilla Queen of the Desert in order to showcase an identity completely alien to Hogan's. As well as being different, it was also insulting. As Paul Byrnes from the Sydney Morning Herald explained, "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert went further than any of these in attacking the Crocodile Dundee mythology of the essentially harmless heterosexual outback male. These same types of men, usually depicted in bars in Priscilla, can be suspicious, violent, vulgar and extremely intolerant, especially when confronted with alternative definitions of masculinity." Another example of cultural diversity leading to criticism comes in the Eulogy song by The Chaser, a comedy team that originated from the private schools of Sydney's northern beaches. The song took aim at Australian icons such as Peter Brock for being a racing car driver, Steve Irwin for harassing animals, Don Bradman for being grumpy, and Kerry Packer for going to brothels. It then stoped at Belinda Emmet, a late actress that also grew up on Sydney's northern beaches. For The Chaser team, Belinda Emmet was a worthy icon while the others were not and therefore she should not be criticised. One of the advantages of deconstructing iconic identities is that it gives minorities more chances to gain exposure that is beyond their market appeal. For example, at the 2000 Olympic Games, Sydney became the first Olympic host to formerly celebrate transvestites when it paraded a Priscilla style bus around the stadium. No other Olympic host had ever done such a thing as transvestities are not usually accurate depictions of a culture's uniqueness. Australia would have been like the rest of the world had there been more celebration of mainstream identities. Although the deconstruction of mainstream identities gives minorities more chance to gain recognition, this includes minority identities that some minorities might not be happy with. One of these identities is Chopper Read; a true life criminal who only spent 13 months out of prison between the ages of 20 to 38. Admittedly, there were far more Australians that despised Chopper Reid than admired him, but considering there were few alternative icons, Chopper attained his top rank by default. Few other Australians sold 500,000 books, had a movie made about their lives, appeared in TV commercials, had their name put on a beer, and had a character based on his story in a TV comedy series. Without doubt, Chopper Reid has been Australia's number 1 icon of the new mellenium. As well as allowing for the expression of minority identities that the majority doesn't identify with, the deconstruction of mainstream identities also acts as somewhat of a glass-ceiling. Individuals in Australia can only rise to the surface of their respective subculture. The more diverse the society, the smaller the subculture, and the less scope for advancement. For this reason, most of Australia's successful individuals have had to leave Australia in order to achieve their potential. By joining the subcultures of other countries, these Australians have been able to attain the success that is beyold them in Australia. The end result is a brain drain to foreign countries.
As long as Australia remains a critical place, it will also remain a diverse place. On one hand, this diversity will lead to great individual freedom. On the downside, that freedom will not have many mountains for individuals to climb, and few supporters to help them climb it. The Tall-poppy Syndrome Explained from Social Psychology Albert Einstein once said: 'if relativity is proved right the Germans will call me a German, the Swiss call me a Swiss citizen, and the French will call me a great scientist. If relativity is proved wrong the French will call me a Swiss, the Swiss will call me a German, and the Germans will call me a Jew.' Some social psychologists developed a theory known as self-categorization theory (Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher & Wetherell, 1987) which they use to explain Einstein's predictions. The theory proposes that people change their concept of the self in order to associate themselves with prestige and/or distance themselves from failure/negativity. According to this theory, jealously would never be a motivation to criticise an admired tall-poppy as this would result in a loss of personal esteem. For example, in the colonial era, some free settlers did not want to associate themselves with Australian culture because it was tainted by Convicts. Consequently, they demeaned Australia and instead they prided themselves on being English. They never criticised the King or Queen of England as to do would demean their valued English identity. In contemporary times, some Australians value monetary success and as a result, they will celebrate millionaires because to do so, is a positive reflection upon the ability of Australian culture to foster wealth accumulation. Of course, Australia is a multicultural society thus definitions of status are not uniform. Consequently, some people do not celebrate millionaires as wealth accumulation is not important to them. Such people may value integrity and unless the millionaire can demonstrate that they have such qualities, they will simply be seen as an ordinary person with no capacity to increase the status of Australian culture. When a journalist or academic demeans themselves with an ill conceived comment, people redefine the salient social categories to ensure a common group is not shared. For example, the obnoxious academic is no longer an Australian, they are "an elite." The academic, incorrectly believing they are being criticised for their intellectual superiority, then complains of a tall-poppy syndrome. The Tall-poppy Syndrome Explained from Australian History In the early 19th century, a commentator on Australia wrote: " Deep divisions exist within New South Wales, greatly adding to the burden of being a people isolated at the bottom of the world, and therefore needing more than ever to live together in harmony. Historically,
the greatest rift has been between the "exclusives" and the "emancipists".
The first group believe that anyone who has come to the colony in penal servitude
is never capable of complete redemption. These people, who tend to be among the
wealthy landowners, thus see themselves as a superior class. For their part, the
emancipists, who are all ex-convicts, are concerned with equality of human rights. Since the Bigge inquiry, though, the colony has been re-established much more firmly as a prison rather than for reform, which has only worsened the tension. As well, the emancipists are divided, between those who committed crimes at home, and in Australia. This reflects a third division, being "Sterling", a name for the British-born, and the "Currency", the home-grown population." Although Australia has had a great deal of free immigration since convict transportation ended in 1868, convicts still remain a dividing force in Australian society. As there is little emotional resonance in celebrating criminals, Australians find it difficult to use history to unite people, or anchor their public relations in history in order to unite people. Consequently, Australia has far more individual diversity that most societies around the world, and as long as these diversity of values remain , there will always be people criticising the icons that others aspire to be like. The Tall-Poppy Syndrome Explained from Poor Leadership Although Australians excel in many areas, leadership is not one of them. Arguably, it is the inadequacies of their leadership skills that has ensured the tall-poppy syndrome is so strong today. For example, a study on Australian business culture found that Australian managers are more domineering and assertive than their British or US counterparts (1). Basically, Australian managers "tell" their employees what to do. This cultural trait is ironic as Australia is the very place where ordering is lest likely to work. Another study found that American supervisors (those entrusted with implementing orders) are 100 percent more likely to consider themselves on the side of managers than do Australian supervisors. (2)As a result, Australian workforces have a much greater sense of disconnection between managers and employees than do American workforces. Would-be icon builders are often in this poor leadership category. For example, some scientists believe that the best way to increase admiration for their scientific compatriots is to insult the achievements of cricket players. Likewise, some movie directors believe the best way to improve the popularity of gays is to insult heterosexual males. Perhaps both need to reconsider their methods of persuasian.
1 (T.J Larkin "Employee Behaviour" Chapter 5 Customer Service) 2 (T.J Larkin "Employee Behaviour" Chapter 5 Customer Service)
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Customs and Values The Great Divide Aborigines |
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