The Weekend: What does your taste say about you?

The best local TV shows, staying on the train and staying out of cults

Kia ora and welcome to The Weekend with Madeleine Chapman

There’s a saying that I used to like that goes: you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. I used to like the saying because I love psychological categorisation and it made me think, for a whole 30 seconds, about who I choose to spend my time with. 

I collected my five closest people and tried to build a picture of myself. It was a strange and inaccurate representation (of course). It’s an inaccurate read of a person, but before we can truly get to know someone, we use these shortcuts to build a picture, and a lot of it comes down to their taste. 

Does the person have good taste in people? In other words, look at their five closest friends.

Does the person have taste when it comes to cultural, social and political issues? In other words, do you think they’re considered and thoughtful?

Does the person have a tasteful presence online? A newer one but I’ll tell you what, it’s extremely jarring to meet a pleasant and mild person in real life only to discover that they’re shockingly unpleasant online.

And perhaps least important but most common, does the person have good taste in music/movies/books/TV?

There was a time when I would hold someone’s entertainment preferences tightly as a representation of them as a person. Someone I thought was cool loved something I thought was terrible? I must have made a huge mistake in my original assessment of them. This is both an ungenerous and deeply flawed way of thinking about three dimensional people. But it’s not uncommon. Millions of people around the world have made hating particular artists (and their fans) a core part of their personalities.

The danger in this approach really hit home for me in 2019 when I realised I’d have no more male friends if I disowned every person in my life who loved the trashfire film that was The Joker. 

About a year ago, I shared one of my favourite Joan Didion essays with my partner and eagerly awaited her review of it. She was decidedly unimpressed and I was gutted. Why? Who knows, perhaps I had assigned self-worth to my tastes (ill-advised, don’t recommend it).

Now, I am far more self-aware about my own unpopular tastes (see: every food ranking I’ve done sparking much outrage) that I find genuine enjoyment in learning what arbitrary pieces of art others feel strongly about. Recently, I loved watching the gross, ridiculous body-horror The Substance. And loved even more that people whose tastes I’m usually aligned with hated it. 

In two weeks I will be reviewing Coldplay’s concert at Eden Park for The Spinoff. I am not a massive fan but know enough about their shows to know I’ll have a great time. And when I messaged my partner to ask if she wanted to join me, this time I did it gleefully, knowing with 100% certainty that she would hate it.

Reading the Spinoff’s top 100 NZ TV shows of the 21st century this week has made me realise how easy it is to dismiss local offerings, often literally because they’re local. Alex Casey and Tara Ward love local TV more than anyone else I know, and they made it clear the Top 100 was to be a celebration of our incredible productions, not an attempt at objective judgment of worth or quality. The process of putting the list together required an acceptance of all tastes and a willingness to see only the best in each show. 

So it was perfect that the most looked-down-on show New Zealand has ever produced (Shortland Street) was rightfully handed the crown and given the glowing endorsement it deserved. 

That’s not to say we’ll abruptly stop writing critical reviews of New Zealand TV – in fact, it’s more important than ever to critically assess our work – but rather that it’s reminded us writers of the breadth of taste in our readers, the varied reasons people get enjoyment from TV, and that no taste is better than the other.

Because if I’m honest, if I truly revealed my full taste in media and if I was judged as a person on it, I wouldn’t have five friends to speak of.

Catch up on The Spinoff's top 100 NZ TV shows of the 21st Century with the full list of 100 or in bite-sized pieces.

Monday: 100-81
Tuesday: 80-61
Wednesday: 60-41
Thursday: 40-21
Friday: 20-1

This week on Behind the Story

Senior writer Alex Casey spent the past couple of months deep in local television, leading one of our most ambitious projects to date: The Spinoff top 100 NZ TV shows of the 21st century. Every day this week we have counted down 20 shows, each given its time in the sun as a crucial piece in our cultural puzzle. On Friday, we released the final 20, crowning a winner and drawing to a close more than 30,000 words published on New Zealand Television in one week. Alex joins Madeleine Chapman to discuss the complex process of judging local television, the surprise hits and the value in looking back at what we’ve produced as a country.

Listen here, on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

What it takes to take your business to the world

New Zealand’s economy is built on exports. But becoming an exporter is a lot harder than just making a good product and sending it overseas. That’s where NZTE can help. With an international team of advisors and an extensive suite of free resources, NZTE can support businesses at every stage of the export journey. Read more about the support they offer – and the things prospective exporters should consider – in our story here (sponsored).

What does Auckland look like if you never get off the train?

On Thursday, Lyric Waiwiri-Smith travelled on every train line in Auckland without ever leaving a station. As a 24-year-old who doesn’t have a drivers licence and so uses public transport for everything, she thought, “what if I never got off the train?”

Her journey began and ended at her local, the Parnell Station. In between she watched the city and her memories play out on the window. There were smells, delays and lines blending Auckland’s most and least privileged suburbs. She got a real look at all the highs (scenery) and lows (cancellations), the passengers and workers, and the divisions of this huge city that well over a million of us call home.

Gone by Lunchtime US election special: Todd Muller on why it matters and who will win

With the American election just a few days away, the contest is on a knife-edge and the result could spell “disaster” for New Zealand, says former MP and self-confessed US political nerd Todd Muller. He joined Toby Manhire in a special episode of Gone By Lunchtime to discuss the US election and the state of the race, why Kamala Harris’s momentum has ebbed, and what it all means for New Zealand.

Best known as a former minister and for a short, tumultuous time the leader of the National Party, Muller these days pays minimum attention to NZ politics and as much time we possible watching the American election campaign. He tells Toby what kind of leadership would be good from a New Zealand perspective, and where he’d put his money if forced to bet on a winner.

The Fairul Izad family | EP03: Home Education

Episode three introduces Irma, who left her career as a chartered accountant to home educate her two sons. When her eldest son was attending school, his love for ballet became an open secret. But now, “you don’t have to hide,” says Irma, who feels her children’s formative years are too precious to miss. Irma now fields questions like “does space have a bottom?” following Montessori and Unschooling education principles.

Made with the support of NZ On Air.

Watch the third episode of Home Education here, or on Youtube.

When does a community become a cult?

The sold out Decult conference in Christchurch last weekend was a gathering held for people wanting to raise awareness of the danger of cults. Shanti Mathias was there gleaning insight into the mechanisms cults use to attract people and keep them there. “Cults show us how we are all looking for purpose, and meaning and belonging, but they weaponise that desire for community instead,” one attendee tells her. So what is the boundary between some kind of social group and a cult?

The stories Spinoff readers spent the most time with this week

Aside from the top 100 NZ TV shows of the 21st Century countdown (which people spent the equivalent time it would take to watch 4,400 episodes of Shortland St reading):

• Lyric Waiwiri-Smith reveals what was in the Anika Moa and Kiri Allan interview RNZ didn’t want you to hear

• I detail the strange, sorry saga that is Act’s obsession with poet, Tusiata Avia

• A beneficiary who wishes she could afford red meat explains how she gets by in this week’s Cost of Being

• Following the appointment of Philip Crump to the board of NZ On Air, Duncan Greive asks if there’s room for conservatives in culture.

• Joel MacManus reviews David Seymour’s new school lunches

Recommended reads for your weekend

• Brodie Kane spills on the beloved rom-com she couldn't stand in this week’s My life in TV

• Sam Brooks raves about Michelle Rahurahu's debut novel, Poorhara. It tells the story of a nation in conflict, a deeply disparate society, and a family surviving through it

• Alt-pop singer Theia shares her perfect weekend playlist

• It’s been 40 years since The Changeover by Margaret Mahy was published, and Claire Mabey re-reads it most years

• A new poem from Act’s worst enemy, Tusiata Avia: ‘I’m writing you a poem about art’

• Hera Lindsay Bird gives sage advice on navigating a relationship with a family member who is spouting misinformation

• A born and bred Wellingtonian residing in Auckland only briefly (the last 14 years), Toby Manhire, admits he may be ready to love Auckland FC

• Toby watched the cricket too. The White Ferns won the World Cup, but there’s something else they really want

• In response to increasing dog attacks, the council has established a proactive animal management team. Liam Rātana rides along

• Don’t want to ruin someone’s big day? We’ve got the The Spinoff guide to wedding etiquette for you

• Splore is taking a gap year. Rob Warner details your other festival options

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Reader feedback of the week

• On The top 100 NZ TV shows of the 21st Century (20-1)

“Great list! And congrats to our queen of TV Robyn Malcolm for getting gold, silver and bronze!”

• On With one electorate set for the chop, could Epsom’s days be numbered?

“I made a submission on changing the northern boundary of Ōhāriu a decade or so ago. That boundary is completely irrational, it runs down the centre line of several suburban roads in Tawa, meaning that the people on one side of the street are in Mana, but on the other side they are in Ōhāriu. I made a couple of suggestions for more rational boundaries that respected local geographical features and communities of interest. My submission was rejected because it would “upset the prevailing situation”. Bah, humbug”

— GrumpyOldGit

• With the World Cup won, there’s something else the White Ferns really want

“Thank you, an outstanding call. Please message everyone you can about this. Suzie Bates may be the greatest ever cricketer to never play a Test match, and that's a travesty.”

— mob_king69

Thanks for reading.

— Madeleine Chapman