The character of Ziggi Blasko in David Williamsons play, Influence, is portrayed as a negative force throughout much of the play.

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Is Ziggi Blasko portrayed as only a negative force in Influence?

The character of Ziggi Blasko in David Williamson’s play, Influence, is portrayed as a negative force throughout much of the play. He is seen as an uncaring and self-centred rich person. Ziggi has a lot on influence on not only the people he is close with, but also the public who listens to his radio show. For most of the play he uses in influence in a negative way, however, there is a small section of the play where the audience does get to see a more genuine and caring side to Ziggi Blasko.

Ziggi Blasko is the popular host of a talkback radio station. Like most of these hosts, on air he is very opinionated and talks about many controversial topics that get his ratings up. However, unlike other media figures, Ziggi actually seems to believe what he is saying. This is primarily how Williamson portrays Ziggi as a negative force for most of the play. The issues that he talks about on his radio show are the ones that Australians are most divided about like “the working poor”, elites, child criminals and feminists. But the topic that really shows Ziggi’s negative force is the topic of Muslim extremists. Ziggi expresses his racist opinion on air that many Muslims are terrorists and pose a threat to Australia’s national security. This is a prime example of Ziggi’s negative force in the play. Ziggi has a lot on influence on the public due to his radio show, yet the opinions he expresses are racist and these opinions shift over to public who listen to his show. Therefore this brings out his negative force as many people will listen and agree with what he’s saying. Even when his housekeeper, Zehra, who is Turkish-Muslim confronts him about it and makes a point that it is a small minority group that are extremists, Ziggi continues to fight back against her and insist that he’s right. He thinks that everything he says it right and will put down anyone who goes against him, therefore showing his negative approach to these situations.

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Another prime example of Ziggi’s negative force in the play is when he tells his dad not to reveal his big secret, just so his career isn’t ruined. After Marko tells his family of his past, Ziggi manages to turn it into an argument about his own career, showing that he really doesn’t care about how bad his father feels, he just needs to ensure his career and public image is safe. Williamson shows Ziggi’s force when Marko agrees to keep quiet because he genuinely cares about his son and says, “I can’t allow my sins to destroy you.” ...

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