# "A dingo's got my baby": 30 years since the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 17, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dingos-got-my-baby-30-years-since-the-disappearance-of-azaria-chamberlain/550508 "2010-08-17T06:36:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dingos-got-my-baby-30-years-since-the-disappearance-of-azaria-chamberlain/550508/21 "2010-08-19T04:33:08Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > > [@Cazzle](#): > > > > I was three when Azaria disappeared so I guess I don’t remember that, but I do remember the coverage of the trial and retrial in the years that followed. I’ve believed Lindy was innocent since I was old enough to form an opinion on the case. I’ve never been able to laugh at “a dingo’s got my baby” jokes, as I’ve discussed on these boards before, because I still find it so tragic. Losing a child is a terrible ordeal for any family, but the Chamberlains suffered so much more than most. > > When you think about it, it is really sick to make “dingo’s got my baby” jokes because a baby did die and that would be horrible for any family to experience. But I blame the name of the animal. If it were just a wild dog people wouldn’t have found it humorous but dingo is a funny, cutesy name and people unfamiliar with the animal don’t find it that threatening sounding. > > I also blame all the initial speculation that it wasn’t the dingo and people found it okay to mock it. And the Holocaust really happened, too. Millions of Jews actually died in actual ovens. There are people alive today whose loved ones were killed during the Final Solution. But I love jokes about the Holocaust. I’ll laugh at the next “dingo’s got my baby” joke three times in your guys’ stead. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dingos-got-my-baby-30-years-since-the-disappearance-of-azaria-chamberlain/550508/22 "2010-08-19T04:49:28Z")
Well. There are situations where it isn’t appropriate to joke about them. Tea time with the Chamberlain family is one. And there are situations where it would be weird if you didn’t crack a joke. Like if you were eating baby back ribs and a dingo ran in and stole one of the table. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dingos-got-my-baby-30-years-since-the-disappearance-of-azaria-chamberlain/550508/23 "2010-08-19T05:07:29Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > And there are situations where it would be weird if you didn’t crack a joke. Like if you were eating baby back ribs and a dingo ran in and stole one of the table. I’m hoping that somewhere, at some point in time, this has happened. ---
**Author:** ![Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buckler_of_Swashing)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dingos-got-my-baby-30-years-since-the-disappearance-of-azaria-chamberlain/550508/24 "2010-08-19T05:14:27Z")
I was four years away from being born when it happened, but remember that media coverage concerning the case was still somewhat regular when I was growing up and it still pops up on the news from time to time. re: the ‘Dingo took my baby’ joke, it is my impression from my experience of the use of this joke in popular culture, that the intent of it is more to make gentle fun of or reference to Meryl Streep’s handling of her role/Australian accent in the movie where she played Lindy Chamberlain. It’s a funny line to say in an overly-dramatic way with a foreign accent. Maybe I’m reading it all wrong, but when I hear the joke made it always seems like a reference to the movie - or the fact that the line now exists within the pop culture lexicon surrounding Australia and how it is perceived internationally (and is probably often said in general ignorance of the specifics of the incident) - rather than a reference to the actual case being made because the joker thinks the child’s death is hilarious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-dingos-got-my-baby-30-years-since-the-disappearance-of-azaria-chamberlain/550508.md?page=1)