Leunig cuts a forlorn figure on Enough Rope

On tonight's episode of Enough Rope Andrew Denton spoke with Australia's most famous, and controversial, cartoonist, The Age's Michael Leunig. Denton rightly has the reputation as Australia's most masterful interviewer, needling and prodding when it's necessary, but astute enough to know exactly when to pull back so as to coax even the most reticent celeb or public figure into opening up. But his job tonight was a walk in the park, because Leunig was simply so captivating in his self-loathing and paranoia that Denton just needed to sit there and ask the simple questions.

For most of the interview, Leunig sat uncomfortably in the hotseat as he starred down at the floor. Rarely did Leunig look up to meet Denton's gaze, unless, of course, he was forced up by one of the long uncomfortable pauses Denton so often leaves between questions, which he drops in on occasion in the hope the subject will give a little more away. He was scattered as he tried to find words for what he described his profession - a "last resort" after working in factories up until the age of 20.

As a sometime fan of his fuzzy and cushy liberalism, it was a sad sight watching Leunig walk an increasingly fine line between scatterbrained utterings and compassioned insights into his job as a cultural, political and social commentator. There was a naivete in his high-pitched, airy voice, and a droopy sadness in his eyes as he looked down at the floor, transfixed by some recessive memory or black thought that he'd bottled up and unintentionally let out on national television. His family, he said, were largely estranged, although he admitted he was still the black sheep of his family. And he's long been a black sheep among Australia's popular political cartoonists, where cynicism and sarcasm reign supreme, and ambiguity is treated with cautious disdain. Living far from Melbourne at his farm in eastern Victoria, he produces his daily cartoons from home and spends the rest of his time raising and home-schooling his two children while working on his property. He has no time for Australia's Sydney-Melbourne media establishment, and would probably like to keep it this way.

Leunig's long been attacked by conservative columnists like the Herald Sun's Andrew Bolt, as well as from within the political blogosphere (see Andrew Landeryou), and tonight's performance will only add fuel to their fire. But it really shouldn't. If anything, it should probably tell them to back-off because tonight Leunig looked to be in a sad state - someone who would rather be out of the journalism game (if that's what you'd call it) than be misunderstood any longer, or driven further into despair. Even the most conservative of pundits can acknowledge when someone's almost beat, and back-off. This isn't bloodsport, it's just journalism guys.