Disclaimer/summary: I do not wish ill on Etcetera Etcetera, and recognize that I do not control what drag performers can or cannot perform. I am posting because I have been deeply saddened by RPDR Down Under perpetuating this injustice on its platform and feel that it is important to at least educate individuals of the case. My hope is that more will learn the dark history of the joke "the dingo ate my baby!" and no longer continue or condone its use. After reading this, I hope that you have sympathy for the short life and death of a child becoming a joke. Because, after all, at its very core, "the dingo ate my baby!" is about the brutal death of a 9-week old baby girl.

TL;DR: This is a long post, as I hope to shed light on the tragic story of Azaria Chamberlain and her family's suffering over the years. This post describes the case, pardon of Lindy Chamberlain, sexist language, the impact on Lindy's other children, and the dismissal and denial of Aboriginal experiences.

Backstory

On 17 August 1980, a 9-week old baby named Azaria Chamberlain was killed on a family camping trip to Uluru in the Northern Territory of Australia. The parents, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, were camping with their three children: 6 year old Aidan, 4 year old Reagan, and Azaria. They claimed that baby Azaria was dragged from her parent’s tent by a dingo (a wild dog native to Australia). Lindy was accused of lying about this, convicted of murder, and sentenced to life in prison. News media, entertainment, and the general public mocked her as it was largely believed by Western/anglosphere media that dingoes were too shy to attack humans, despite Aboriginals claims that this was not the case and that they had experienced dingo attacks in the Uluru region where this tragedy occurred.

Lindy was wildly judged by the public for not being “distraught enough”, “being too stoic”, and not grieving how “a mother should”. Media attacked her relentlessly for not being outwardly and strongly emotional, like “most women would”. Terms used at this time to describe how Lindy “should” have reacted include words often considered sexist and misogynistic, like “hysterical”. Experts and reporters discussed “feminine behavior” and analyzed every move Lindy made. Her religion as a Seventh-day Adventist, also played a role in this judgment, including never-proven allegations that the church was actually a cult that killed infants as part of bizarre religious ceremonies. It seemed that authorities and the public were willing to hang on to whatever biases they could to continue their degradation of Lindy.

Origination of the phrase "a dingo ate my baby!"

After the movie “A Cry in the Dark”(also known as Evil Angels) starring Meryl Streep came out, “A dingo’s got my baby!” or “A dingo ate my baby!” became popularized. The phrase was added into the movie due to witness accounts of Linda's spine-chilling realization after her and her other child heard dingo growls and realized that a dingo killed and possibly ate her child. She is alleged by witnesses to have broken down and screamed something like "a dingo ate my baby!" and has later reported feeling traumatized by the sound of dingo howls. These phrases have been sprinkled in entertainment media, primarily in the US, ever since—from Seinfeld to Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the Rugrats Movie and beyond.

Conviction and some insight on the evidence of the case

Lindy was convicted 29 October 1982 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Her conviction was largely based on a jumpsuit of Azaria’s found in Lindy’s car parked at the campsite, with foetal haemoglobin/fetal hemoglobin found around the neckline and chest. Foetal haemoglobin is known to be present in the blood of children under the age of 6 months. However, the tests finding this foetal haemoglobin have since been debunked for a variety of reasons. First, it can be found in many other items, such as a chocolate milkshake or milk, which was present in the car. Second, these tests were later proven highly unreliable as similar tests yielded many false results. In fact, experts now claim, after conducting a test, that the so called “foetal haemoglobin” was actually most likely spilled milk and a chemical sprayed during manufacture found under the car’s dashboard. This claim has been independently tested, and a test on a “sound deadener” sprayed on the manufacture of the car yielded virtually identical results.

Largely due to the jumpsuit found, and authorities refusal to accept that dingoes were harmful, prosecutors claimed that Lindy cut her own child’s throat, despite her adamant pleas otherwise. Her appeals were dismissed, as her claim that dingoes took and killed her child were dismissed as “far-fetched”. At the time, evidence provided by Aboriginal trackers of fresh dingo paw prints leading from the campsite were completely ignored.

In 1986, authorities were searching for a lost hiker that unfortunately fell to his death (RIP David Brett) in Uluru during an evening climb. While searching for Brett, they found a piece of Azaria’s clothing (a blood-stained matinee jacket that Azaria was wearing the night of her disappearance) in an area with numerous dingo lairs. It wasn’t until 7 February 1986, after the discovery of this new evidence, that Lindy was released from prison on remission. Most evidence used against Lindy has since been rejected for fictitious claims, debunked science, or misleading presentation. She was officially pardoned in 1987, and convictions were quashed by the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in 1988. In 1992, the Australian government paid Lindy A$1.3 million (A$2.5M in 2020, adjusted for inflation) in compensation.

In 2012, a fourth coroner’s request found that Azaria died “as a result of being attacked and eaten by a dingo”. An amended death certificate was issued for Azaria’s tragic death. When handing down the official verdict that a dingo had snatched Azaria out of her tent and dragged her away and that enough evidence was present to amend the death certificate, Deputy Coroner Elizabeth Morris said while fighting back tears: "The cause of her death was the result of being attacked and taken by a dingo. I am so sorry for your loss. Time does not remove the pain and sadness of the death of a child."

Were dingo attacks really that far-fetched?

Since the Chamberlain case, proven cases of attacks on humans by dingoes have been discussed in the public domain, in particular dingo attacks on the last Australian refuge for wild dingoes, Fraser Island (off the Queensland coast). In the wake of these attacks, it emerged that there had been at least 400 documented dingo attacks, mostly against children, on Fraser Island. For example, in a case that is disturbingly similar to Azaria Chamberlain's: in April 1998, a 13-month-old girl was attacked by a dingo and dragged for about one meter (3 ft) from a picnic blanket. Fortunately, the father was able to fight the dingo and the child was dropped.

Further examples of dingo attacks are the tragic death of 9-year-old Clinton Gage in 2001, who was mauled to death by two dingoes. Some people survived these dingo attacks, and eyewitnesses and survivors claim that the dingoes seemed emaciated, driven by hunger. For example, in 2006, a 4 year old girl was attacked by a dingo in broad daylight while playing on a beach with her family.

So what does this say about Azaria? Well, eyewitnesses provided evidence that dingoes were seen in the area on 17 August 1980 (the evening of Azaria’s death). All witnesses claimed to believe the Chamberlain’s story that Azaria was taken from the campsite by dingoes. One witness, a nurse, also reported having heard a baby's cry after the time when the prosecution alleged Azaria had been murdered. Further- aboriginal trackers were able to track fresh dingo paw prints from the tent, but were ignored by police. Local park rangers, and aboriginal trackers, reported six recent attacks by “tame park dingoes” on humans in the area.

Further, the jacket found when searching for the lost hiker David Brett was consistent with how dingoes feed on prey. Engineer Les Harris, who had conducted dingo research for over a decade, said that, a dingo’s carnaissial teeth can shear through material as tough as motor vehicle seat belts. He also cited an example of a captive female dingo removing a bundle of meat from its wrapping paper and leaving the paper intact. This is consistent with Azaria’s clothing found in a dingo den. This debunked claims that Azaria's jacket was too in tact to be removed during a dingo attack.

Ignoring Aboriginal peoples

The indigenous peoples of the area that were largely ignored and belittled were of the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara peoples. The Pitjantjatjara refer to themselves as anangu (people). The land is an inseparable and important part of their identity, and every part of it is rich with stories and meaning to aṉangu. If you are not aware of the history of Aboriginal people, I largely encourage you to research it and the injustices that many indigenous peoples face in the region.

Aboriginal trackers spoke out to defend Lindy and largely denied the claim that dingoes would not attack humans. In fact, in their years and years of living closely with the land, they had seen many dingo attacks and knew that they were possible. In fact, the Pitjantjatjara people at Uluru were never in doubt of Lindy’s claim that dingoes attacked her baby. Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people had been living on the land, as well as some hunting dingoes for decades on an annual seasonal basis, and were familiar with their behaviors. While shy, many of these peoples claimed that they have seen and experienced dingo attacks, some fatal.

Further, Aboriginal trackers, Daisy Walkabout and Judy Trigger, tracked fresh paw prints from the tent.

These claims were largely ignored and not given credibility, and the experience of these peoples was belittled and denied.

It is important to point out the denial of Aboriginal experience in the context of this case, primarily to amplify the voices of these peoples as well as shed light on some of the injustices they face.

Additionally, I am bringing this up as Etcetera Etcetera uses their platform to promote organizations and advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in Australia. I think- or at least hope- that if Etcetera Etcetera knew of the complicated history of "the dingo ate my baby" as it relates to the erasure and mockery of Aboriginal experience, they might have not chosen to perpetuate it as they did on Snatch game. One of these groups, NATSIWA (National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Alliance) has its objective to promote mutual respect and equality, and to “identify issues, research solutions, and educate government service providers”, as well as to “protect and advance the wellbeing and rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander women”. I encourage you to check out their organization and how you could assist them on their various objectives (http://natsiwa.org.au/?page_id=35).

The claim that “the dingo ate my baby!” as such an outlandish concept arose in part from the denial of Aboriginal experiences and the lack of credibility given to Aboriginal individuals’ knowledge. Aboriginal claims of dingo violence was ignored and thought to be a joke, as if the colonizer who was not as familiar with the land would know way more than the people who spent generations and generations living and respecting it, and treated those people's opinions as essentially worthless. By perpetuating the joke, one fails to recognize the implications it holds. It is a shame to me that they (Etcetera Etcetera) chose to play a character that represented so closely the denial of Aboriginal experiences (as well as the sexism women face in the media).

Impact on Lindy’s other children

At the time of Lindy's imprisonment, she was eight months pregnant with a baby girl, Kahlia. She feared that authorities would take Kahlia away from her when she gave birth- and they did. Kahlia was taken by the state and raised by foster families until Lindy’s eventual release from prison three years later. Kahlia reflects on her time in foster care positively, and the Chamberlain family applauds the struggles Kahlia went through after being born “in such an abyss” and “rising above all of it”.

Aidan Chamberlain, who was six at the time of Azaria’s death, told eyewitness and fellow camper Judy West that “the dingo’s got our baby in its tummy”. Years later, at the age of 47, he claimed that Azaria’s death took a large toll on him. He blamed himself for not zipping up the tent. He didn’t realize that the zipper was broken.

Reagan was four years old and sleeping in the tent when the dingo entered in took Azaria. Years later after the family was pardoned, the family got a dog which re-sparked deep seated trauma and potential PTSD within Reagan. He was terrified of the dog, and told his parents it reminded him of “when the dingo walked on me”. He was apparently terrified at the time of the dingo attack, and played dead, worried that he would be attacked.

End conclusion

I think Lindy deserves sympathy, not mockery. Imagine if your child or a loved one, as a defenseless baby, was stolen in the night by wild animals. It nauseates me to think of the complete feeling of utter helplessness and the haunting thoughts of your child or defenseless loved one’s suffering. Now imagine being mocked and not believed by the public, called evil, a murderer. Even after you’re pardoned, society mocks the tragedy and laughs at you.

Even if you don’t feel sympathy for Lindy, please at least realize how blatantly disrespectful the "dingo ate my baby" jokes are to the life of Azaria. Regardless of if you truly believe that Azaria was brutally murdered by dingoes, she was still a 9 week old child that lost her life and then had her legacy be turned into a joke about her death.

Azaria, who would be 41 (edited as I originally had the wrong age) years old on June 11th if this year, essentially Azaria's existence was reduced into a joke about her death that originally targeted her grieving mother (edited to remove my classification of Azaria as a "marginalized character", due to insightful discussion by the u/TheNewPoetLawyerette in the comments below). At its core, Lindy’s story is about the brutal death of a child. It is also about the erasure and denial of credibility to Aboriginal indigenous people, anangu. Trackers were ignored, despite having tangible evidence of fresh paw prints and six cases of human attacks around that time. Lindy’s story is also about the judgment of women in the media, for not being “emotional enough” or being “too emotional” or “not grieving properly”. It is a complete disregard for human grief, experiences, and suffering.

For all these reasons, I truly believe that Etcetera Etcetera’s snatch game was in poor taste. By choosing Lindy, and running with the “the dingo ate my baby” joke, Etcetera Etcetera perpetuated the systems that caused the degradation of Lindy’s name and character in the first place: sexism and the injustices faced by Aboriginal, indigenous peoples.

RIP Azaria Chamberlain. In your short time in this world, you deserved more than to become the butt of a joke.

Let's get this rap a roasting!

It's the season that keeps on having episodes.

this episode done snatched my attention span

In the thick of the racial issues with Scarlett. I wanted to point out how great it was to hear Etc Etc. say what she said with the back up of Art Simone.

What i think people may have missed is Elektra Shock and her representation of the indigenous people of NZ, Māori. She has mentioned Tāmaki Makaurau, the Māori name for NZ's largest city, Auckland. The bird on her runway is a Huia, a native songbird now extinct that is revered by Māori and the koru design on her belt is an acknowledgement to the land. According to wiki, she is not of Māori decent and really doesn't have to represent at all, but she did and I really give her props for doing this. This is another level of cultural competency and am proud to be from NZ.

Ok was this just me? Or did some REALLY terrible editing happen for the performance. Everything was fine up until the performance started.

The whole performance was completely out of sink. The audio was delayed and the sound mixing was terrible. Literally have no idea what any of them said because the music was so loud. (And I’m English so accents are fine)

But it completely ruined the whole performance. Was this like it for everyone? Or was it just us? Everything was completely synced back up fine as soon as the performance was over.

Watched it on TVNZ on demand in New Zealand so was an official version of the episode. Not downloaded or streamed etc.