There’s one thing you need to know about Magda Szubanski’s latest memoir, and it’s this: she understands her place in the Australian consciousness.
asserted
she → ’ → consciousness
Sure, she tries to underplay it when she says that through all the characters she’s created over the years, “most especially Sharon Strzelecki – people feel they know me.
asserted
they → try → me
More than that – they feel through me.”
asserted
they → feel → me
Szubanski recognises she is our national mascot.
asserted
she → recognise → ?
Our own efforts with our families succeed and fail.
asserted
efforts → succeed → families
Our own efforts with our bodies succeed and fail.
asserted
efforts → succeed → bodies
And like Magda, about half of us get cancer before 85.
asserted
half → get → 85
She knows us.
asserted
She → know → us
And in I Can’t Tell You But I Will, she gives us all the reasons why we, as a nation, have adored and adopted her.
asserted
we → tell → her
She’s not a wanker.
asserted
She → ’ → ?
She’s amazingly humble about her achievements.
asserted
She → ’ → achievements
And she’s adorably self-deprecating.
asserted
she → ’ → ?
These are the characteristics we admire in any prominent Australian – and even among the rest of us – and in one package, they are irresistible.
asserted
they → admire → package
It’s no surprise then that the geniuses who ran the marriage equality campaign recruited her to be its face.
asserted
who → ’ → her
In return, she has recruited the successful campaign to be the underlying narrative which draws her memories, her recollections, her histories, all together.
asserted
which → recruit → memories
She admits she was sceptical about the slogans, resistant to being told to be a certain way once she’d come out on national television.
asserted
she → admit → television
She listens to people who know more than she does.
asserted
she → listen → more
Sure, she can be a tiny bit disingenuous when she writes: “What do I even bring to the fight, apart from fame?
asserted
I → write → fame
It’s not real power.”
asserted
It → ’ → ?
Your sheer recognisability gives you power.
asserted
recognisability → give → power
Szubanski reveals the scarily complex relationship she had with her mother.
asserted
she → reveal → mother
The appalling way they spoke to each other.
asserted
they → speak → other
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where I sometimes felt like squinting my eyes or skipping to the next page to avoid reading the intense bits where these two women tear each other apart, stick each other together and do it all over again, the cruelty and the love hand-in-hand.
asserted
cruelty → think → hand
Szubanski doesn’t shirk from exposing her own bad behaviour.
asserted
Szubanski → shirk → behaviour
And her dad doesn’t come out too well either.
asserted
dad → come → ?
One parent was embarrassed by her weight, the other wanted her to know that the “gay gene” didn’t come from him.
asserted
gene → embarrass → him
“In the psychological war between my parents, I was collateral damage,” she writes.
asserted
she → write → parents
She has, as she confesses, a compulsion to air wounds.
asserted
she → have → wounds
I’d be surprised if many readers don’t look away from the hard bits.
asserted
readers → look → bits
And zero surprise our beloved Sharon ended up in therapy, which she absolutely does not mind talking about.
asserted
she → end → which
There’s a hilarious section where she comes into conflict with her therapist.
asserted
she → ’ → therapist
She tells her that she plans to come out, and the therapist advises “you’re not fully cooked yet, Magda,
asserted
you → tell → her
If you come out before you’ve resolved your internalised homophobia, you’ll screw it up.
asserted
you → come → it
You’ll do both yourself and the community a disservice.
asserted
You → do → disservice
Because of the affection the public has for you, you can get this across in a way that no one else can.”
asserted
one → have → way
I won’t do spoilers but when Szubanski writes her therapist was trying to pull “lesbian rank” on her, I started giggling uncontrollably.
asserted
I → do → her
These two end up in a whole “who is the most lesbian” session.
asserted
who → end → session
Can it possibly have happened?
uncertain
it → happen → ?
I sincerely hope so.
asserted
I → hope → ?
She explores these not only through her own personal Polish connection but also through Diego, the troubadour who accompanied Szubanski on a trip through Spain to find famous lesbians.
asserted
who → explore → lesbians
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
