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Explicit Facebook parody targets Ray Meagher

Ray Meagher's image has been used in a Facebook site that mocks his Home and Away character in the "Alf Stewart Rape Dungeon."

Gold Logie winner Ray Meagher’s image has been used in a Facebook page that parodies his Home and Away character in an “Alf Stewart Rape Dungeon.”

Over 9,600 other members have joined the Facebook site, joining in parody discussions mimicking Alf Stewart’s character. Most are too explicit to republish.

The site also contains clips and links to YouTube parodies which have revoiced Meagher’s image with strong language. Several have been removed from YouTube by the Seven Network citing copyright infringement.

The content is likely to breach the laws of Defamation in using Stewart’s image as well as Seven’s intellectual property.

News Limited newspapers have reported the story in several publications today, but without comment from Seven.

NSW Rape Crisis Manager Karen Williams said, “To have rape made light of or justified or promoted as an OK thing to do is just a horrendous insult to injury for sexual assault victims.”

In his Logie Awards acceptance speech, Meagher thanked campaign supporters who used Facebook and Twitter.

“I promise to find out what these two things are before the end of this millenium. And all the people who organised whatever they organised on those two things, please keep doing it. It seems to be working,” he said.

Source: The Australian

18 Responses

  1. The videos are actually very funny, albeit in a black humour type of way. Another thing, the YouTube clips had been uploaded for quite a while before the Facebook fan page was set up. If you’re going to blame anybody, blame the creator of the group or DoodleBurger (personally I think he’s a funny guy), not Facebook itself.

    If the media understood the context of the situation, they wouldn’t be getting so worked up over “Facebooks promoting rape duhhhhh”. Then again, maybe that’s too much to hope for.

  2. i watched the clip a while back i found it very funny….(black comedy)
    i agree with Darcy, facebook already has a bad name, the media build up on it to get people thinking negatively about it which is cheap and easy. In reality Facebook has nothing to do with this grow up…

  3. So who broke this story first TV Tonight or News.com.au?

    I love how media jump on things and make a huge deal out of it, I swear a papercut could be big news if the media worked on the story.

  4. well that facebook page seems to have been removed – but I am still none the wiser as to why “Alf Stewart” and “rape” are linked – by not explaining to everyone what the joke is about (if indeed it is a joke), then all these news stories about this “outrage” are, in turn, promoting the link between “Alf” and rape themselves … if there is some in-joke as to why “Alf” is linked to rape, then that *needs* to be explained – by not explaining the joke, you are indeed promoting “Alf” as a rapist … I don’t watch “Home and Away” (I didn’t even know it was still on the air) but I *now* consider “Alf” a rapist thanks to these news stories that didn’t explain the joke..

  5. What about the children, won’t somebody pleeeease think of the children?? I’m so glad that nice Mr Conroy is banning this awful interweb thing soon.

  6. There’s always been people who just don’t get black comedy. For those without a clue, the facebook page isn’t literally promoting rape just as Monty Python’s “Life of Brian” doesn’t literally promote crucifixion. People have always found ways to joke and laugh about things that are taboo and not very funny when they happen in real life and there have always been those people who just don’t get or appreciate the joke.

  7. The reason why these idiots keep doing these kinds of things is because it keeps making it on the news agenda.

    They’re just trolls. Stop feeding the trolls and they’ll go away.

    (not directed at anyone in particular)

  8. And what are facebook doing about it?

    Decent people will expect this vile attack and others like it to be removed from their site. Their medium, their responsibility!

    All the best with the legal case as a stand needs to be made.

  9. Yet another case of political correctness vs offensive material. But I doubt people would be making fun if they understood the point of view of victims of horrendous crimes, so awareness is important.

  10. The ‘re-voiced’ clip has been around for a while – the facebook group came second. I assume as ironic move based on Ray’s logie speech about the upside of facebook. I like how the media is “This is a facebook problem”, bullshit. The clip has been doing the rounds for ages, but the socially(networking)-awkward media these days just blame facebook as soon as a group gains enough members, even when that group is about something that existed before the group was made.

    This has Nothing to do with facebook, the mere fact a group was made about it, is what I can only assume as an ironic take on Ray’s new found appreciation for the medium.

    The humor of the clip can be debated (whether you like it or not), but the media jumping on this as ‘facebook is evil’ story is just another example of how out-of-touch the media are. I’m sorry, but being alerted to the problem by Facebook doesn’t make it facebook’s problem.

    /rant

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