How Benson Boone’s visit to Wollongong exposed the insecurities of Sydney’s city slickers
Two weeks ago, the American pop star Benson Boone was spotted on the Blue Mile in the heart of Wollongong. What ensued was a media frenzy unlike anything the tenth largest city in Australia had experienced before.
At first, it seemed like Sydney’s media might actually be casting an innocent eye over yonder towards its often-forgotten southern sibling. You’d be mistaken for thinking this was a well-intentioned pursuit, because it did not take long for the talking heads to reveal their true colours.
Matt Shirvington of Sunrise was the first cab off the rank, scoring a sit-down interview with Mr Electric Blue. “I really love Australia, so I came back to visit some friends,” the singer revealed.
“In Wollongong?” asked Mr Shirvington, in an inquisitive, yet unmistakably judgemental tone. “For those that live in Sydney, we kind of know Wollongong as being an hour south, on the beach.”
“But it’s not the first place you’d choose to visit in Australia,” the presenter continued probing.
“Why Wollongong?”
The great name of Wollongong was used by the reporter as if it was a slur.
Mr Shirvington, wanting to expose the singer’s secret girlfriend from the Illawarra, is so desperate for a gotcha moment he simply cannot fathom any other reason for wanting to visit the only place in eastern Australia to have two lighthouses located in close proximity of each other.
The presenter went on to describe Wollongong as a “town,” employing misleading diction to underestimate the city of over 280,000 Gongolians that make this place what it is. Make no mistake, this strategic misuse of language is what George Orwell warned us about in Nineteen Eighty-Four.
In this moment, Mr Boone’s answer does not matter. With one ignorant comment, the ex-Olympian turned television host reveals just how out of touch he and his fellow latte-sipping city-slickers in corporate Sydney are.
Like, we literally have a living palm tree on a pole. Why aren’t we taken seriously?
Nic Kelly from commercial radio station Hit FM added to the relentless pile-on. “I love that you chose Wollongong, ‘cause not many people would,” he utters with a shit-eating grin.
It’s hard to imagine a scenario where anyone in the legacy media is gobsmacked about a potential visit from Mr Boone to Tamarama, Manly, or Coogee. Sadly, this is nowhere near the first time Wollongong has been the punchline for those north of the Red Rooster Line.
It seems impossible to meet new people in Sydney and for them to not be taken aback when mentioning you’re from here. You’ve no doubt encountered someone pitying you for the commute.
While at a gig in Newtown recently, I told a new friend where I had come from that evening. Perhaps I’m just accustomed to the drive which brings me into the Sydney CBD, but it really does not seem like spending 70 minutes on the M1 is an activity worth dropping your jaw for. “Wow, you came all the way from Wollongong?” Yes. The answer is yes. I don’t want a pat on the back.
A friend from UOW recently secured a position at a prestigious Sydney law firm. He was told by an administrator that it was nice of them to hire a Wollongong student for a change, instead of defaulting to plucking out a University of Sydney student. They’re acting like his employment is merely an act of charity or DEI because he’s from the Illawarra.
As Mr Boone showered praises on our region, for a brief moment in the media, it seemed like Sydney had been outshone. It took a massive American pop star at the peak of his powers to overturn the long-standing indifferences people held of Wollongong.
The fact the singer repeatedly stated in interviews he didn’t have any food recommendations from Sydney eateries, before raving on about Levendi’s Mexican-style chicken wraps and how he “couldn’t get enough of them,” must have surely been rubbing salt in the wounds of the state’s elite.
So let us have this one Sydney. When the next celebrity hops around our coastal city, instead of asking “why,” maybe ask “why not?”
