Ruth Spencer on how the choice of a political projectile can make an activist a hero or a villain
When an activist was charged with throwing tomato juice at Posie Parker recently it was just the latest in a long national tradition of meaningful flings. There’s an art to the political projectile – done right, throwing an eloquent object can make an activist a folk hero, capturing the popular imagination and winning support for their cause. Done wrong, it could get you into trouble. So, what makes an iconic projectile?
It’s all in the combination of a good metaphor, good aim, good timing and a sympathetic position. A little humour definitely helps. Consider Egg Boy. Melbourne teen Will Connolly took exception to Australian Senator Fraser Anning blaming Muslims for the Christchurch mosque terror attack, so he hopped on his bike and headed down to a public appearance the next day. Poker-faced and casually filming the action on his phone, he smashed an egg on to Anning’s head. The moment was caught on TV cameras, but so were the two nasty punches Anning landed on Connolly before his entourage tackled the teen to the floor.
Egg Boy had played it perfectly. His deadpan delivery was textbook cool. His choice of projectile was easy to conceal and messy beyond all reason. It immediately evokes phrases like “the yolk is on you” and “egg on his face”. Given that Connolly was in part defending New Zealand’s honour, we can add “You egg” to the implied insults.
Not every protester has been lucky enough to rise to the public popularity of Egg Boy, but there have been some beautiful attempts in the history of New Zealand protests. When People Before Profits’ Malcolm France chose a cream-filled lamington to attack Act candidate John Boscawen in 2009, it was because the supermarket had run out of custard pies. A happy accident, because while a custard pie is the province of clowns and ridicule – you can already hear the womp-womp of the trombone – a lamington speaks humbly of the backbone of New Zealand, or wholesomeness and good, honest folk.