Chris Lilley's in hot water again.
In episode three of his latest creation, Summer Heights High, the introduction of a plot line involving the ecstasy-related death of student Annabel Dickson – which in turn stirs the creative juices of schoolteacher Greg ‘Mr G’ Gregson – has sparked outrage among the friends and family of Annabel Catt; the twenty-something Sydneysider who died after overdosing on PMA after attending the Good Vibrations festival in February.
Catt’s death earlier in the year got the full treatment from media commentators and the like, with shrill warnings of the dangers of recreational drug use and the usual calls for tougher penalties as a means of deterrence. It provided another opportunity to wheel out Tony Wood, who continues to use his campaign against ecstasy to publicly grieve the death of his daughter Anna, some ten years on.
However the sober response of Catt’s family, obviously devastated at the loss of their cherished daughter via misadventure, meant that the confected media outrage never really took off. Without vengeful parents calling for blood, the story never really had the legs.
So it’s a shame to hear of their distress following this Wednesday’s screening of SHH. According to the producers, the series was in the can well before Catt’s death.
However the failure by anybody of the ABC to connect the dots and pick up the phone to warn the family is pretty poor. Annabel’s brothers sound particularly incensed, which is sad given the even-handed way they responded to the dugs issue following the loss of their much-loved sister.
Unfortunate coincidences aside, Lilley’s comedy enjoys such popular appeal because it takes a scalpel to middle-class sensibilities and the all the hypocrisy it entails. It’s a necessary job, people get cut, sometimes undeservingly.
But someone’s got to do it.
>>>
Video: Mr G sings about Annabel Dickson
Media: Chris Lilley's Summer Heights High in drug death joke – The Herald Sun
Blog: Bless the beasts and the parents of dead children - Jack Marx, The Daily Truth
Interview: The Catt boys talk drugs with Triple J
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