Matua Kahurangi
Matua Kahurangi is unapologetically provocative and infamous for his incendiary writings that challenge societal taboos and stir relentless debate.
The Spinoff dropped an article with a headline that could only be described as clickbait catnip: “Who is Matua Kahurangi and Does it Matter if He’s Fake?” Written by Liam Rātana, the journalist behind Ātea, it opened with a mic-drop line about “a search for the person behind a social media account ridiculing Māori”.
Ridiculing? Really? If that’s the case, then we need to rebrand the term to include “pointing out things we’re too awkward to mention at the marae”.
Yes, I run a small X account. Yes, I post content about Māori issues that’s sometimes satirical. But let’s clear up any confusion: Satire doesn’t equal ridicule. Case in point: My cheeky post about The Battle of the Big Tiki. This was about the ever-expanding size of hei tiki pendants we saw at Waitangi this year. Admit it, some of those things are getting dangerously close to wearable furniture. It’s not an attack: it’s observational comedy.
But apparently, I’ve stirred the pot enough to inspire someone to scrape metadata from my account in an effort to Sherlock Holmes their way to my identity. Liam Rātana’s digging reminded me of those mystery thrillers where someone gets really invested in the origins of a haunted painting. Except in this case, I’m just a guy with an X account and a measly 4,000 followers. Chill.
Sure, my posts have gotten some traction lately – nearly a million impressions over the last couple of weeks, if the metrics are to be believed. And yes, I saw that one Facebook post of mine shared over 2,000 times (even though I don’t do Facebook – Boomer territory). Maybe that explains why some people are so determined to find out who I am. Or maybe it’s just the death threats. Hard to say.
But here’s the thing: The obsession with ‘exposing’ me just feels weird. It’s as if people are waiting for a big unmasking scene, like I’m the villain in a Scooby-Doo episode. What do they want? To put a face to my hot takes on cultural events? To make it easier for the folks who’ve threatened me to pop by for a cuppa?
At the end of the day, I’m just a bloke sharing his opinions. I’m not saying I’m always right (in fact, I’ll happily admit when I’m wrong), but I’m not going to shy away from talking about things that are uncomfortable or off limits in polite company. If people don’t like my content, they’re more than welcome to keep scrolling. It’s a big internet. Plenty of drag story time videos to cleanse the timeline.
Until one of those death threats becomes reality, I’m going to keep doing what I do. I’ll keep poking at the taniwha in the room and cracking jokes where they fit. Because someone’s got to talk about the things that make us squirm – and maybe, just maybe, laugh about it too.
Cheers, Blue Cheese.
This article was originally published on the author’s Substack.
