tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798312463652733622.post8567027078617031409..comments2024-01-19T04:32:25.260+11:00Comments on Ned Kelly : Death of the Legend: The PoliceDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14104818673788818740noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798312463652733622.post-81552948144948350512015-02-09T01:34:50.983+11:002015-02-09T01:34:50.983+11:00Dee, you think you have problems - The Age newspap...Dee, you think you have problems - The Age newspaper today dubs actor Cary Grant "a complicated icon". His "suave leading man exterior concealed a complex, sensitive and often troubled individual away from the silver screen".<br /><br />Ned by comparison should be easy to disassemble...Donnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798312463652733622.post-59118200325110664132015-02-08T21:41:02.550+11:002015-02-08T21:41:02.550+11:00Mark you ask some interesting questions. I have be...Mark you ask some interesting questions. I have been hoping people would reply and respond. I think its slowly dawning on me that there aren’t that many people with an ACTIVE interest in Ned Kelly. They have views about him but as with most things these are opinions based on little or no serious study or reflection. The NKF Key Master boasted he had hundreds of members but almost no body has posted there this year. They are content in their beliefs and not interested in defending them or examining them. <br /><br />But I think you have a valid point about how ones attitudes to things changes as one gets older - you will know the saying that if a person isn’t a socialist in their youth they havent a heart, but if they aren’t a capitalist in middle age they don’t have a brain But I think that may well be appropriate in relation to kelly as well - the things that appeal to youth are often rebellion and defiance of the adult world, freedom from convention and responsibility and they would see those ideals reflected in the kelly story and be drawn to it at an emotional level if at no other. A person coming to this subject later in life may be more understanding of the way in which passions of youth can be misleading, be more aware of the reasons society has various institutions like the Law and the Coutrs and Police, and how very few things that at first glance seem easy and straightforward are in fact uncomplicated. Things really DO have more than one side. I<br /><br />The other issue you raise is the idea that Ned is an Icon, and I agree with you, he most certainly is. Without a doubt for many people he is an Icon. But the way I see it like this - there is Ned Kelly the Icon - an almost mythical figure, a defiant legendary person that has evolved from the other Ned Kelly, the actual Ned Kelly, the man onto whom all the myths and legends have been added. One, the real Ned Kelly is the person I am most interested in finding; the other is the Myth, like Robin Hood, like William Tell, like many other figures in history who are Heroes borne out of an amalgam of fact, fantasy, hyperbole, desire and tradition to fill complex social needs in society.<br /><br />The problem is that people haven’t learned to differentiate between the two Ned Kellys, or understand the way myths are created and the roles they have in society.They think there is only one Ned Kelly but there are two - at least two!Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14104818673788818740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798312463652733622.post-70525079689093945692015-02-08T01:24:42.265+11:002015-02-08T01:24:42.265+11:00Mark, Haldane's book was way too dry for me. I...Mark, Haldane's book was way too dry for me. I liked the overlooked "Ned Kelly: the larrikin years" by Graham Jones which deitaled most, but not all, of the Kelly run-ins with the law. The new Morrissey book is likely to be broadly based on his thesis, but includes reviews of modern books and the Jerilderie Letter. Like MacFarlane's book, it will be ignored by the Australian media which seems to think Ned belongs exclusively to them. Newspapers, particularly in NE Victoria feed off pro-Kelly propaganda and perpetuate the myths.Jack Tuckernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798312463652733622.post-38890883766463281112015-02-07T20:50:35.753+11:002015-02-07T20:50:35.753+11:00Thanks Bill. It's all food for thought. I n...Thanks Bill. It's all food for thought. I never wanna get up anyones arse and upset anyone with a particular point of view. That is never my intent. But I feel it's important we look at all aspects. I think as much of Ian Jones work as I do of McQuilton, McMenomy, Corfield, Seale, Passey, McFarlane, Kenneally, your own work, other websites. I think it's telling that all these years later Ned is such a hot potato. I don't know if the likes of McFarlane and Morriseys work can be considered revisionist or an absolute great use of overlooked source material from guys with fresh eyes. I am actually rather confused of late with all this and need to re-assess my thoughts on the Kellys. Could it be that at my age, in a more comfortable life style, in a house nearly paid off, good job and not struggling ;like in the early years, I am exhibiting an elitist, "look down from on high" attitude? I have thought about this long and hard as my evolving thoughts on the Gang are tending to co-incide with my "consolidation". An interesting but unwelcome thought. Keen to hear what others think. And another question: Whether Ned is a criminal or a hero, is he not still an icon? And isn't he an icon because of the armour and the helmet? Didn't the average aussie fall in ,love with an ideal rather than the flesh and blood behind the story? This is all very heavy. Going for a bourbon and coke and a smoke now. Mark Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162533821220639075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798312463652733622.post-88689099668961019592015-02-07T19:12:28.131+11:002015-02-07T19:12:28.131+11:00That was a good post Mark, sure others will think ...That was a good post Mark, sure others will think so too. That's how we all need to think about that time.<br />I think there is a three generation shift for being sympathetic to Ned, but lets not forget the other side as well.<br />My little webpages were only ever meant to question written Kelly history, not drive home a dogma.<br />BillBillhttp://www.ironicon.com.aunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798312463652733622.post-10398204214723363362015-02-07T16:19:17.198+11:002015-02-07T16:19:17.198+11:00John McQuiltons Kelly Outbreak is magnificent. It ...John McQuiltons Kelly Outbreak is magnificent. It was my first serious foray into the Kelly world back when I was a teenager. (I am 45 now.) I would have given it 5 stars though Dee. Until Morriseys book appears on my doorstep, it's the only work that really shows how the Police District of North Eastern Victoria transmuted into Kelly Country within the settlement framework of the region. . Contextual information on someone as convoluted as Ned Kelly is so important. Being a qualified Geographer, this is no mere biography of Ned. Whilst McQuilton, Jones and McMenomy are all singing from the same song book, McQuiltons work remains somewhat unique. Whilst he doesn't have the Ian Jones turn of phrase, in his own dry way, he makes a sentence sing. This one HAS to be in the collection. (and the original 1979 hard covered red dust jacketed version at that if you can..)<br /><br />Another one worth reading is The Peoples Force by Robert Haldane. A history of the Victoria Police. And on a connected subject whilst I think of it, I know to some in the Ned world I come across as anti Kelly but I'm not. Nor am I pro Kelly. I am the Fifty Shades of Grey Ned Kelly guy. As I go through life, my opinion of Ned and the Gang evolve. (or devolve some may think..) Yes, Ned Kelly had some good qualities. He was a blokey bloke. He was a first rate horseman and bushman. And he was probably a good son deep down. But he was also a murderer and a liar. And a lair and a skite in the words of Les Carlyon. And lazy. He rode the good time wave instead of following a better path. (I guess we are all glad he did though or we wouldn't have this blog, NKF or Brad Webbs Iron Outlaw) But I guess that's the nature of an icon. Endless opinions and colourful thinking. <br /><br />One thing I do have a problem with though is some peoples attitude toward the Police back then and now. McQuiltons book amply illustrates the absolute hardships regional police suffered. Apart from the odd rotten apple, there was no malice I don't think. (Nicolsons quote aside.) And why does that thought process extend into modern day policing? Granted, there are some issues in the upper echelon and rank and file but for every Fitzpatrick or Brooke-Smith, there is a Sadleir, Gascoigne, Kennedy or Graham.. I am a father of 2 teenage boys. I cannot present that negative attitude attitude about the police to them or to the world. I don't want my interest in the Kelly Outbreak to turn me into a bitter and twisted cop hater. 2 weeks ago, my 18 year old, Cameron, had a bad car accident. Thank God no one was hurt. (It was his fault.) The police attending the scene that night and at the station next day, could not have been better blokes. We were so gratified. But not surprised. That's their job right? They did it well. Mark Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162533821220639075noreply@blogger.com