Honesty Can Be Brutal
There’s no point hiding from the truth. Image: Annie Spratt
Honesty can be brutal, but necessary. That’s something you’ll quickly find out if you listen to author, Clementine Ford - Australia’s new Agony Aunt. She’s the sister you never had, or the BFF you wish you could lean on in those times when you need some up-front, in-your-face honesty, that no one else can give you.
Dear Clementine explores everything from sex and relationships, to gender, work, and all the other stuff that life continues to throw at us.
Each episode is broken down into three segments and features a separate question from a listener. As a format, it’s a great way to engage an audience, and Ford shines as its host.
As Ford reads out each letter or text message, we hear tapping on a mobile phone. And then comes the advice.
There are no other voices in the series, other than Ford’s, but she is well equipped to hold the fort on her own. The series is well crafted and relies on a big personality to carry it.
Yes, Ford can be brutal, but that’s why we’re here. As I listen to her, my face contorts in a physiological response and I can’t help wincing between audible gasps.
Ford unleashes, and I really, really like it! Yes, she has a way with words that stops you in your tracks – it’s like listening to a panel debate – Ford doesn’t let anyone off the hook. If your parents sat you down and did the same thing you’d be concerned, but equally, you’d end up a better person as a result.
The lines of communication have become blurred with technology. Image: Tim Samuel.
The producers do a great job of ensuring the questions or ‘scenarios’ in each episode are diverse, and Ford’s responses are almost like monologues. Her advice extends to a much broader critique on society, rather than pertaining solely to each ‘problem’. With her wealth of knowledge, intellect and contemporary perspective, it really allows the podcast to sing.
In this episode a woman writes in. She is in her early thirties and shares what it was like to be the recipient of an unsolicited dick pic, supplied by a 40-year-old man who she works with.
Even more shocking is when we pick through the layers of the question and the unease and uncertainty conveyed through the tone of the letter. Disturbingly, the woman tries to brush the picture off because this is ‘normal,’ right? And that’s part of the problem.
Both the question and Ford’s response illuminate the weight of technology and the way it has redefined and shaped our lives, along with current social norms. Where in the past, a man flashing a young woman in public would be arrested, the same cannot be said of a man doing the same thing over a text message.
Yes, the alarm bells aren’t just ringing, but screaming, and putting your hands over your ears isn’t going to make it stop.
Technology has dismantled social rules. Image Uriel Mont.
Ford is great at deconstructing the social implications of one man’s actions as representative of a culture, where so many boundaries have been broken, and no one understands where the line needs to be drawn.
Thankfully, Ford comes to the rescue. She’s Australia’s Joan of Arc helping women everywhere to become their own force of nature.
Dear Clementine is interesting in that it’s a simple format, but through its highly intelligent host, it provides a kind of three-way mirror response for the listener where you’re forced to question all-pervasive social codes, as well as your own value systems, and beliefs.
Equally, you’re left wondering how the author of the question is receiving the ‘advice’ that Ford unapologetically dishes out.
This is what makes Dear Clementine a powerful podcast with Ford leading the charge in a space where nothing is more valuable than the raw and honest truth, whether we like it or not.
Listen to the episode above, or head to the full series here.
