I don’t think watching TV is a particularly specialised skill. Our eyes do a remarkable job of staring at things all by themselves, our bodies naturally gravitate towards being in a comfortable position, and we intuitively have a pretty good idea of where to place a couch and a TV respectively so that sitting and watching things isn’t awkward and uncomfortable. If I told someone to sit down and watch some TV, I would never attempt to micromanage them in this pursuit. I would assume that they would have this in the bag. What is it, then, that makes Liberal Party prime ministers seemingly incapable of doing this thing normally?
[jwplayer ay1qN7fn]
Let me give you a brief refresher on the televisual sins of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull (which we have discussed extensively here). There was this floor-mounted television and his absurdly militaristic-looking viewing stance:
Turnbull’s Instagram stories continue to reveal details his odd lifestyle like this really low TV pic.twitter.com/UKSLpWvuzI
— Tom Joyner (@tomrjoyner) November 15, 2017
Which was followed on the very same day by this nightmarish, horror movie—esque image:
https://twitter.com/thepmo/status/930749145005961218
There is a distinctly different flavour to the sins of Scott Morrison, but his approach is nonetheless quite alien:
The PM takes a break from campaigning to watch Game of Thrones.
Insert 45th Parliament based gag here @politicsabc #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/uXJiFQYHLP
— Matthew Doran (@MattDoran91) April 15, 2019
Why is he front and centre with everyone behind him? Why is he sitting so goddamn close to the TV? Why is he so starkly backlit? Why does he appear to not be watching the latest episode? What is it about being a Liberal PM that stops you from being able to pull off this quite innocuous task?
We will maybe never know the answer to any of these questions.
