It started as role play really. Sort of a web three, parallel universe prank, a faux reality in which I crafted for myself what at the time was a vaguely engaging literary persona: an irritable duffer, cantankerous but lovable. I imagined the crusty physical manifestation, played with the writing style, dummied around with a few columns and then … and this is years back now … fired off my first submissions to the editor of The Australian. He never suspected, ran every word, even swallowed my imagined back story of a corporate history for the character that lent ‘Frank Devine’ something close to a hint of journalistic eminence.
It’s pretty much had its day now, labored, unfunny. Rather like what you might hoover out of Boris Johnson if you could liposuck adipose prose.
So I’m sorry. This will be the last you hear from Frank Devine. I’m killing him off, just like my fabulous, but ultimately ill-fated and gout ridden MacNicholl project of the seventies. I’ll keep the Albrechtsen stuff coming, but to be honest I’m not sure how many legs are left in the whole Santamaria drag persona thing. Funny at the time though.
7 Comments
well as long as you aren’t pretending to be the “Miranda’s dad” part of Frank we can forgive most stuff…
Suddenly it all makes perfect sense… except for one thing. Who’s Miranda Devine?
OK, now come clean on your other personas: Piers Ackerman & Andrew Bolt. Please – purge them too! @stilgherrian yours truly…but she’s got some mileage in her yet – imagine the smug parenting columns yet to come! – so I’m going to run with her a little longer.
Stilgherrian, she’s the divine Miss M
Stilgherrian
It is quite simple. The persona of Frank Devine is, in reality, Jonathan’s shadow. This could be construed as the way Jonathon is integrating his personality by using the persona of Rank Devine as a means of identifying those negative elements of his psyche repressed by his health seeking but as yet fully integrated psyche. Therefore, having such a conflicted and bitter shadow as this would obviously mean that his anima would also carry some of these conflicts. Therefore Miranda Devine is really the externalisation of Jonathan’s anima. Once again, this shows the workings of a psyche in the process of integration. In addition, this means that neither of the Devines are truly real which makes me a far happier and relieved person.
Say it isn’t so, Jonathan. You were entirely convincing – perhaps TOO convincing – as a senile fascist.
A great innings Jonathan. Channeling for the neoconservatives wasn’t for the faint-hearted. Yeah sure, we know you’re not looking for recognition with the shine well off badges and crystal bowls but there’s joy in ‘fessing up – coming clean is your reward for the years you dedicated to their cause. We’re proud of you!