wace responding

info on testing times

tom tilly, 2019, documentary

info drop the pretense

Xavier symons, 2019, opinion article

nut shell testing times

Tilley’s balanced, investigative voice employs empathy, realism and visual testimony to advocate for harm-minimisation and informed choice.

nutshell drop the pretense 

Symons’s academic and moralistic tone asserts that ethical maturity, not medical intervention, is the key to preventing drug deaths.

nutshell both goal

interrogate the moral and social tensions surrounding youth drug use at music festivals. Yet while each text seeks to protect young Australians, they diverge sharply in how they construct voice and authority.

quote 1 - juxtaposition

Tilley opens with festival montages + applause, symbolising euphoria and freedom before abruptly juxtaposing it with drug deaths → tone shift = urgency.

Pathos through grief

Quote: “It wasn’t an overdose… it was just curiosity.”
evokes pathos, humanising victims as innocent and misinformed rather than reckless.

Ethical neutrality

“Does it save lives or give a green light to drug use?”

positions him as a reflective mediator rather than an advocate, enabling viewers to weigh evidence without prejudice

Authority + irony

Quote: “If it can get into a prison, it’s going to get into a festival.”

Irony + logos, highlighting futility of zero-tolerance and reinforcing the need for pragmatic solutions

Didactic opening

“Drop the Pretence”

which functions as both a reprimand and a moral directive.

declaratives and high modality language

“young people are victims of their own drug culture”

transforming a public-health debate into a discourse of ethical failure

repetition

“they are”
”—“They are mature adolescents… they are the masters of their own lives”

repositions youth from helpless subjects to rational agents, emphasising autonomy and moral accountability

inclusive pronouns

“we need to remind them”

Symons aligns the reader with his moral standpoint, cultivating solidarity through shared responsibility.

Common goal

Both texts seek to protect and empower youth, but diverge on how: education vs discipline.

Tilley education focus

Quote: “I’m not gonna do MDMA because it interacts with my medication.”
real consequence of education + awareness; voice of reason through lived experience.

Symons education focus

Quote: “We need effective drug-education programs.”
same theme reframed morally, knowledge must cultivate ethical restraint, not tolerance.