Imperator Fish: A clarification

Written By: - Date published: 3:50 pm, January 28th, 2015 - 31 comments
Categories: art, books, culture, national, Satire - Tags: , ,

Sexist right-wingers are lining up to abuse Eleanor Catton for speaking her mind. The odious Sean Plunket is the worst, calling Catton a “hua” (sounds like and sometimes defined as “whore”). Imperator Fish responds…

A Clarification

There appears to have been some confusion about the things I said this morning about Radio Live host Sean Plunket. I am writing this post in order to explain what I actually said.

A number of people who heard me talk have accused me of calling Mr Plunket an “arsehole.”

From listening to the recording of my words I can see how someone might mistakenly think I used the word “arsehole”. The quality of the recording seem to dip at about the time people claim I used that word, and it is quite hard to hear what I actually said.

But what I in fact said was “I don’t always agree with Sean Plunket, and on this issue I think he is mistaken, but I have an enormous amount of respect for his years of work as a broadcaster.”

I also did not call Mr Plunket a “loud-mouthed right-wing bully-boy”. I categorically deny using those words.

What I in fact said was “this is a democratic society, and that fact that Sean Plunket and I can disagree on an issue in public is a sign that we live in a healthy nation that tolerates freedom of speech and freedom of expression, and I am reminded of the words of George Orwell, who once said If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear, so I thank you, Sean, for giving your listeners the opportunity to consider this very important and interesting issue.”

Likewise, I never called Mr Plunket a “disgraceful shit I would happily squash with my shoe, were it not for the fact that my shoe would end up being covered in shit,” and I am frankly astounded by the accusation. I have listened to the tape and I most certainly did not use those words.

Anyone who knows me well would tell you I would never say such a thing. I would never use such words to describe that opinionated boor whose opinions are as uninformed as they are odious.

31 comments on “Imperator Fish: A clarification ”

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  1. ankerawshark 1
    28 January 2015 at 4:04 pm

    10000+ Scott

  2. Tracey 2
    28 January 2015 at 4:08 pm

    willie jackson, well known feminist,, uses hua as a compliment. .

  3. Jeeves 3
    28 January 2015 at 4:09 pm

    Whereas the term ‘hua’ may or may not mean something or other – the colloquiallism ‘hoor’ (pron. who’re, rather than whore) is a distinctly Irish slang term. It does mean ‘whore’ but certainly never has the same strength as ‘whore’. In Ireland a good looking woman could easily be described as a ‘cute hoor’, and friends would happily use it as a term of endearment of their female friends.

    The use of the term ‘whore’ in all its anglo-saxon crudeness would only ever be used in Ireland as a strongly derogatory slur. And having said this- the word ‘hoor’, when used outside of Ireland and not between friends, can only be construed as the utterance of a wee feckin bollix callin a nice colleen a whore.
    Shame on the c&nt.

    • Stephanie Rodgers 3.1
      29 January 2015 at 1:30 pm

      People can use much the same “logic” to argue that c&nt isn’t a derogatory term since many people use it as a joking term of affection.

      The fact Plunket and his defenders are focusing in on whether he said whore, hoor, or hua and exactly what he meant by that is a distraction from the whole pissy, whingey little rant he made, attacking Catton for her job, for daring to have an opinion, and for being an award-winning author.

      • Macro 3.1.1
        29 January 2015 at 1:50 pm

        Exactly!
        It

        is a distraction from the whole pissy, whingey little rant he made, attacking Catton for her job, for daring to have an opinion, and for being an award-winning author.

        QFT

      • rhinocrates 3.1.2
        29 January 2015 at 1:58 pm

        Indeed and our favourite amnesiac Hooton has joined in.

        The deliberate, disingenuous twisting of logic used so quickly and so energetically makes it quite clear just how cowardly they are.

        The squeals of the privileged are the shrillest.

      • Jeeves 3.1.3
        29 January 2015 at 2:10 pm

        My point was – that the term ‘hoor’ in this context can only be construed as derogatory, and no amount of semantics can get him out of it.

        Just to clarify- I used the term c&nt in its full derogatory sense without a skerrick of endearment.

        Apologies to any females who feel slurred by the association….

  4. CnrJoe 4
    28 January 2015 at 4:09 pm

    Seans faux doofus accent/persona as he editorialised was just so very rarky..he soooo had an an eye on the ratings..

  5. TeWhareWhero 5
    28 January 2015 at 4:12 pm

    I am so glad you clarified that for us.

    The low effort thinkers’ response to Ms Catton proves her point and the fact that that completely escapes them makes it all the more delicious.

    My Mum, who has aphasia as a result of a stroke, called Sean Plunkett ‘Pawn Slunkett’ the other day which I thought has a certain Dickensian ring to it that is entirely in keeping with his views on – well, just about everything.

    • trendy lefty 5.1
      29 January 2015 at 1:01 am

      🙂 Pawn Slunkett

      • Chooky 5.1.1
        29 January 2015 at 8:46 am

        +100 ….like it!…Pawn Slunket on National Radio was a bully when he would interview the Greens and continually interrupt and attack…particularly the women

        ….but when it came to the Nact male politicians he was totally slimey and servile…they had a free run without interruption

        …I can not stand him so don’t listen to the commercial stations…however I do hear reports about him and what he has said

  6. logie97 6
    28 January 2015 at 4:18 pm

    Is that the same Plunkett who appeared to be using a refrain from a Garry Glitter song to announce his return from holiday to radio last week?

  7. Kiwiri - Raided of the Last Shark 7
    28 January 2015 at 4:30 pm

    Based on the expectation and standard that a broadcaster’s role should be to entertain, inform and educate, the Plunket has – in my books – failed miserably.
    He has said little to earn my respect.

  8. Paul 8
    28 January 2015 at 4:43 pm

    We are on the slippery slope to fascism.

  9. stever 9
    28 January 2015 at 4:43 pm

    It’s enlightening to see how responses to Eleanor Catton divide politicians, broadcasters etc. into two sets:

    those who by their words (e.g. John Key, Sean Plunkett…) are walking illustrations of precisely the problem that Ms Catton was describing;

    and everyone else.

  10. Aaron 10
    28 January 2015 at 5:00 pm

    I’m wondering what I can do that might get Sean PLunkett to call me names too. Surely it’s a badge of honour

  11. greywarshark 11
    28 January 2015 at 5:04 pm

    Well that’s satisfctorily cleared the matter up for me. Anybody who still quibbles, and doesn’t realise that a whore is a legally respected, professional or semi-skilled sex worker, is a bore and some other word that would be appropriate (readers can supply their own – BYOS Bring your own slang. Nuances should be borne in mind and epithets should be avoided).

    I think that there needs to be a new etiquette book and slang list for the loose-lipped whose tongues too freely wave in the wind. Which seems to apply to most of the mouths on private radio.

  12. Paul 12
    28 January 2015 at 5:07 pm

    I was reading article by Chris Hedges about the film American Sniper and how the reaction shows the ugly underbelly of US culture.
    When I got to this paragraph , I couldn’t fail but to see comparisons to sections of NZ society..especially in light of the Eleanor Catton story.

    ‘There is no shortage of simpletons whose minds are warped by this belief system. We elected one of them, George W. Bush, as president. They populate the armed forces and the Christian right. They watch Fox News and believe it. They have little understanding or curiosity about the world outside their insular communities. They are proud of their ignorance and anti-intellectualism. They prefer drinking beer and watching football to reading a book. And when they get into power—they already control the Congress, the corporate world, most of the media and the war machine—their binary vision of good and evil and their myopic self-adulation cause severe trouble for their country. “American Sniper,” like the big-budget feature films pumped out in Germany during the Nazi era to exalt deformed values of militarism, racial self-glorification and state violence, is a piece of propaganda, a tawdry commercial for the crimes of empire. That it made a record-breaking $105.3 million over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday long weekend is a symptom of the United States’ dark malaise.’

    http://www.alternet.org/culture/chris-hedges-american-sniper-caters-deep-sickness-rippling-through-society

  13. greywarshark 13
    28 January 2015 at 6:07 pm

    @ Paul
    Bumper sticker “Get Drinking not Thinking”.

  14. Gruntie 14
    28 January 2015 at 8:43 pm

    Boycott Plunket
    Boycott Henry
    Boycott Hoskin
    Boycott Williams (Larry)
    Boycott Biased Far Right Morons

  15. Lloyd 15
    28 January 2015 at 10:14 pm

    Don’t come the Raw Prawn with me

  16. adam 16
    29 January 2015 at 1:43 am

    Imperator Fish – Thanks. And if you did get shit covered shoes, I’d be happy to chip in for some new ones.

  17. saveNZ 17
    29 January 2015 at 8:36 am

    Right on. Sounds like a great interview.
    Also the new bumper sticker for Simpleton Smith
    Toot to Pollute

  18. rhinocrates 18
    29 January 2015 at 1:43 pm

    Looks like Hoots has been hitting the turps again – he has a tendency to throw a tanty when he’s drunk:

    “just another sanctimonious narcissistic no-nothing leftie greenie”

    https://twitter.com/MatthewHootonNZ/status/560153747897073664

    Do you have her address Hoots?

    A nice article here that underlines the fundamental misogyny that’s come to the fore here with Plunket and Hooton, both of whom have trouble with women with opinions:

    https://overland.org.au/2015/01/on-the-attacks-against-eleanor-catton/