The other morning I was shocked to hear an interview with "funnyman" Chopper Reid on The Edge radio station. It was all about promoting his appearance in an upcoming comedy festival, and his own upcoming shows around New Zealand.
As it turns out it wasn't the actual Chopper Reid, but rather an Australian comedian, Heath Franklin, who has made a career out of impersonating Chopper for a few laughs.
The dj's sounded in awe of this guy, his catch phrase of "harden the f*ck up", and his creative sense of humour and wit, along with his uncompromising attitude. Granted it is not actually Chopper himself, but rather a parody of sorts, but this is still rather odd and a little shocking.

Why is this shocking? Just ask yourself the question, why is he famous in the first place? Have we collectively forgotten about why he is where he is right now, or is that part of his personal story inconvenient for the media and promoters?

Chopper Reid is a former Melbourne hardman, a professional hitman who spend only 13 mths outside of prison between the ages of 20 and 38. At age 48 he had spent 23 years in jail.
He was convicted of armed robbery, assault and kidnapping, but admits to killing 19 people and the attempted murder of a further 11. He has made a career off the back of a movie made about him in 2000 called Chopper, that was a box office hit. He was famous in the underworld for the sadistic way he used to extort money out of other underworld figures - one of his signature moves was cutting off fingers and toes with bolt cutters in order to increase the money extorted.

And this guy is now a media icon, with books and movies being made about him, and even a copycat doing the rounds as a comedian? What is funny about sadistic torture?
Sure everyone has the right to a second chance, a second roll of the dice, but to hold him up as celebrity is a whole other thing.

Chopper Reid - an Aussie Hero????

It seems that the Australian media is in two minds about this guy. In some ways he has been painted out to be a lovable rogue. He was the face for a media campaign in 2001 against drunk driving, as well as an anti family violence campaign, has featured in numerous magazines, and has even had weekly columns in some. He is a best selling author, and made quite alot of money out of the whole business.

Recently some of the Australian state governments sought to change the way in which it dealt with the proceeds of crime. They wanted to prevent criminals from profiteering off books and movies about their crimes. This was nicknamed the "Chopper Act". Chopper was understandably quite annoyed at this, and rants about it on his website < http://www.chopperread.com > (copy and paste people).

On his website he reiterates that he only ever killed and maimed other hardened criminals. I really don't think that in this day and age that is a worthy or honourable justification. Perhaps fine if he was protecting himself or his family, but to make a career out of torture and generally thuggery just because they are crims does not really justify anything. Life is life, people are people, and cruelty is still cruelty now matter who it is being inflicted upon.

Here is an excerpt from the popular documentary DVD Fat Belly, made in response to the TV series Underbelly, be warned contains some graphic detail:

Here is his family violence spot from 2006:

He says he is a changed man. Good on him for standing up and being accountable and getting on with his life. Hopefully he can get some sense of making amends before he meets his maker over the coming few years. Apparently he has a life threatening medical condition that requires a liver transplant, which he has refused as he feels that the liver could go to someone more deserving.

Each to their own, and may he continue enjoying his life, but is it necessary that we hold him up as some kind of cultural icon that has entertainment value? Or worse still why does he continue to be thrust into the media as if his comments or thoughts are of significance to be listened too?
Would we pay to go and see Graham Burton tell us in a humourous way about his life and times? What about Antonie Dixon the samurai sword killer with the crazy eyes - he was funny in his own way - would we have paid for an audience for that too? In some ways we did - his antics ensured a prime time news slot every time he opened his mouth, or appeared in public for whatever reason.
It is just my opinion but this sick fascination with fame and celebrity has created this monster where even sadistic murderers and torturers get their financial rewards and time to shine in the spotlight to relive their deeds and get paid for doing so. What direction is this heading? I fear for my children if this is the state of entertainment in our society.

Here is Heath Franklin doing his early Chopper impression. Really is this funny?