I turned on the TV on Thursday night, looking for something interesting. As I flipped through the channels I noticed the new legal drama – “Rake” on the ABC. Could be worthwhile, I thought. I hear Lisa McCune is a guest star on the show. Oh, look, there she is… in all her glory.

For I had accidentally chanced upon a scene with Lisa sitting up in bed quite topless. Once the shock faded and I was able to use my remote-thumb again I quickly changed the channel. But those 20 seconds or so of seeing Lisa’s rudey bits stayed with me… Euwwww. Not Lisa in the nud! It’s like seeing Sandra Sully or Justine off Play School in the nud. Just so totally wrong.

I’ve seen other actors and actresses going au naturale all in the name of authentic drama. But this was a bit unnerving. This was someone I knew. Well, not personally. It’s not like she’s been to my place for tea or anything. It’s not that I’m rude - I have invited her, but she hasn’t responded. You know what famous people are like. 

Seeing Lisa’s rudey bits was a bit like barging in on your cousin in the toilet that time when all the rellies got together for Christmas lunch. A bit hard to look them in the eye after that.

It made me wonder why it seems okay for actors and actresses to throw off their clothes in an effort at realism. Am I really that obtuse that I can’t draw conclusions from a discrete camera angle instead? Admittedly I do believe all our rudey bits should be kept private, but let’s say there’s some people who have no qualms about nudity and sex scenes on TV (and I’m sure there’s more than a few who do feel this way). Do we really want to watch it? Is there some sort of perverse voyeurism in watching these sorts of shows? Because in real life, I don’t get to see many naked people – not the person at the servo, the mailman, the church pastor, my neighbours, or the school bus driver. They all feel the need to carry out their duties fully clothed. And I quite appreciate that. I hope it stays that way.

One of the problems with seeing these wonderful actors - whose main priority in life is their public persona - is that they are prepared to take their clothes off to enlighten the world through their amazing commitment to the art of acting. Their body is honed and sculpted and says “Come hither”. My body, in comparison, says “I’ve just had my third child and I’m a bit partial to cake.” I find it a bit hard to compete with those images.

Another issue is the values portrayed. What’s on TV is apparently not meant to represent real life, but somehow the distinctions get blurred. I know what I see on the television is not real – obviously. Our TV is way too small to fit the whole cast of Sea Patrol inside. Not to mention the Arafura sea and a Navy ship.

Apart from that though, it does strike me as a little odd that we watch people on television essentially sleeping around, whether it is in a drama or a comedy and we find that okay entertainment, but as we teach our kids we say, “Don’t sleep around.” It’s surely a case of Do as I say, not as I do… or rather, Do as I say, not as I watch. Hmmm. You know what I mean.

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