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Mar. 11th, 2009 09:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labellementeuseThere's a new Kiwi comedy on TV, it aired last night, here are some things I think about it.
1. It is called Diplomatic Immunity. You can watch the first episode here.
2. It is about a white guy working in a consulate, in Auckland, of an imaginary Poly nation. The white guy is in disgrace and has been sent to the consulate to be a watchdog against corruption after he had sex with a British royal (I think said royal is also fictional, but I'm not sure.) The imaginary Polynesian nation receives aid from New Zealand and the NZ gvt/MFAT/whoever is concerned that the money is going to waste on, e.g., clipping the king's toenails with golden toenail clippers. For the record, the nation also has the best standard of living in the whole Pacific because of the king's generosity.
3. I think this premise is pretty blatantly racist. It also reminds me of rhetoric about people on the dole with satellite dishes. It's buying into cultural stereotypes about lazy PIs. It was written by a white guy who said he got the idea for it after working on shows like Bro'Town, where he felt what it was like to be a cultural minority. (For the record, dude: you didn't feel what it was like to be a cultural minority, you felt what it was like to be working with a lot of other people who are not the same race as you. You retained all the privilege that white New Zealanders have: you were still a representative of the dominant culture.)
4. There are some jokes which I thought were genuinely funny. The standard greeting is "Bulofa", which of course is a blending of bula and talofa (greetings in Fijian and Samoan, respectively.) Making this joke is a way of making fun at the blended view white people often have of PI cultures, which aren't monolithic but which we sometimes treat as if they are (saying someone is PI is a little bit like saying they're African or Asian.)
5. Some of the jokes are retreads which were funny and a little bit insightful ten years ago the first time I heard them, but aren't anymore. We've all heard jokes about Maori or Pasifika people conning white people into believing that some practise is good or acceptable because "it's cultural." On one level, this joke is about white people's cultural consumption and exotification of other cultures, especially those aspects which are picturesque or colourful (pun not intended, sigh.) I think that level is basically OK. On another level, though - especially in this context, where we're talking about a Pacific culture using New Zealand aid money to have the king's toenails clipped in a massive ceremony - I think this is a joke about people of colour deliberately exploiting white people's ignorance and PC culture, and I really dislike that level. Because it's doing two things: 1. it's criticising a culture where white people accept the word of people of colour about race and racism; and 2. it's trying to depict people of colour, not as people who are trying to regain some power in a society where there are numerous structures of privilege working to remove that power (especially from migrants), but as people with power - the power to con white people, but not the power to have control of and protect their own country, economy, culture.
6. Also, it's sexist. If I never see another sexually aggressive older woman on TV pursuing a younger man presented as HA HA HILARIOUS SCARY LADY - I will still have seen way, way too many.
7. Final word: I wish New Zealand could come up with comedy that didn't depend on racism, sexism, and people of colour running their own cultures and people down. I don't want to keep being asked to accept shows like this and Bro'Town because, dude, Samoan people are totally working on it, and they don't think it's racist, right?
8. This is not related to any of the above points, but: Racefail '09, that's happening and it's still happening. There are vast quantities of thoughtful stuff being churned out by fans on the topic but it's basically shameful that the catalyst for this is the (ongoing) behaviour of white people who refuse to accept that their actions are really hurting other real people. If you've been living under a rock, or whatever, I like this post as a "So, you're a white person who's just starting to read about Racefail" guide. That post links to this post which is also good, with many links inside and outside this particular discussion, and which links to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rydra_wong, whose journal is currently functioning as a massive link aggregate. If you have a spare hour, read a few of these posts and the comments. (Some of them will provide links to the catalysts, too, which I just looked for briefly but I kept being distracted by other interesting stuff and if I keep linking this post will just go on and on and on and I have an appointment this afternoon, so.)
9. Here are some writers of colour that I like: Witi Ihimaera (Whale Rider is excellent and if you are a slash fan you'll probably like The Uncle's Story). Patricia Grace (anything, but Cousins and Electric City are good.) Zadie Smith. Joy Cowley (Starbright and the Dream Eaters, Ticket to the Sky Dance, The Silent One.)
1. It is called Diplomatic Immunity. You can watch the first episode here.
2. It is about a white guy working in a consulate, in Auckland, of an imaginary Poly nation. The white guy is in disgrace and has been sent to the consulate to be a watchdog against corruption after he had sex with a British royal (I think said royal is also fictional, but I'm not sure.) The imaginary Polynesian nation receives aid from New Zealand and the NZ gvt/MFAT/whoever is concerned that the money is going to waste on, e.g., clipping the king's toenails with golden toenail clippers. For the record, the nation also has the best standard of living in the whole Pacific because of the king's generosity.
3. I think this premise is pretty blatantly racist. It also reminds me of rhetoric about people on the dole with satellite dishes. It's buying into cultural stereotypes about lazy PIs. It was written by a white guy who said he got the idea for it after working on shows like Bro'Town, where he felt what it was like to be a cultural minority. (For the record, dude: you didn't feel what it was like to be a cultural minority, you felt what it was like to be working with a lot of other people who are not the same race as you. You retained all the privilege that white New Zealanders have: you were still a representative of the dominant culture.)
4. There are some jokes which I thought were genuinely funny. The standard greeting is "Bulofa", which of course is a blending of bula and talofa (greetings in Fijian and Samoan, respectively.) Making this joke is a way of making fun at the blended view white people often have of PI cultures, which aren't monolithic but which we sometimes treat as if they are (saying someone is PI is a little bit like saying they're African or Asian.)
5. Some of the jokes are retreads which were funny and a little bit insightful ten years ago the first time I heard them, but aren't anymore. We've all heard jokes about Maori or Pasifika people conning white people into believing that some practise is good or acceptable because "it's cultural." On one level, this joke is about white people's cultural consumption and exotification of other cultures, especially those aspects which are picturesque or colourful (pun not intended, sigh.) I think that level is basically OK. On another level, though - especially in this context, where we're talking about a Pacific culture using New Zealand aid money to have the king's toenails clipped in a massive ceremony - I think this is a joke about people of colour deliberately exploiting white people's ignorance and PC culture, and I really dislike that level. Because it's doing two things: 1. it's criticising a culture where white people accept the word of people of colour about race and racism; and 2. it's trying to depict people of colour, not as people who are trying to regain some power in a society where there are numerous structures of privilege working to remove that power (especially from migrants), but as people with power - the power to con white people, but not the power to have control of and protect their own country, economy, culture.
6. Also, it's sexist. If I never see another sexually aggressive older woman on TV pursuing a younger man presented as HA HA HILARIOUS SCARY LADY - I will still have seen way, way too many.
7. Final word: I wish New Zealand could come up with comedy that didn't depend on racism, sexism, and people of colour running their own cultures and people down. I don't want to keep being asked to accept shows like this and Bro'Town because, dude, Samoan people are totally working on it, and they don't think it's racist, right?
8. This is not related to any of the above points, but: Racefail '09, that's happening and it's still happening. There are vast quantities of thoughtful stuff being churned out by fans on the topic but it's basically shameful that the catalyst for this is the (ongoing) behaviour of white people who refuse to accept that their actions are really hurting other real people. If you've been living under a rock, or whatever, I like this post as a "So, you're a white person who's just starting to read about Racefail" guide. That post links to this post which is also good, with many links inside and outside this particular discussion, and which links to
rydra_wong, whose journal is currently functioning as a massive link aggregate. If you have a spare hour, read a few of these posts and the comments. (Some of them will provide links to the catalysts, too, which I just looked for briefly but I kept being distracted by other interesting stuff and if I keep linking this post will just go on and on and on and I have an appointment this afternoon, so.)9. Here are some writers of colour that I like: Witi Ihimaera (Whale Rider is excellent and if you are a slash fan you'll probably like The Uncle's Story). Patricia Grace (anything, but Cousins and Electric City are good.) Zadie Smith. Joy Cowley (Starbright and the Dream Eaters, Ticket to the Sky Dance, The Silent One.)
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Date: 2009-03-10 11:45 pm (UTC)I never knew Joy Cowley was anything other than snowy white, for the record.
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Date: 2009-03-10 11:59 pm (UTC)Hmm, now that you mention it I'm not sure either! She's in my head as Maori, I think, but I don't remember where I got it from. Book Council (http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/cowleyjoy.html) has a photo... urgh, I'm not sure there's a non-icky way to talk about this, but she doesn't look Pakeha to me?
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Date: 2009-03-11 05:55 am (UTC)I just had a squiz at the biography on her website and she mentions British and Scandinavian ancestry, but nothing Maori. Looks can be deceiving!
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Date: 2009-03-11 10:27 am (UTC)I wish New Zealand could come up with comedy that didn't depend... people of colour running their own cultures and people down.
Huh? You've said often enough in the past that you think it's not the role of white people to criticise what's genuinely offensive in non-white culture, but that that role is best left to those within that culture. But it's hard to square that with your now saying you don't want to see people of colour running their own cultures down. Perhaps by this you mean that you don't want to see people of colour engaged in non-constructive criticism of their own cultures - but are you able to judge what is and isn't constructive, as a white person? Or do you simply feel that these intercultural dialogues should be closed to outside scrutiny, for fear of inadvertently encouraging racists?
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Date: 2009-03-12 06:23 am (UTC)I don't think my position on this is as black and white as you understand it to be. I have some serious philosophical objections to cultural relativism. It's possible that we just haven't discussed it for a long time. However, I do broadly agree with what you say here, and this is kind of my problem. For example, I know there were a number of criticisms of Bro'Town from within the Samoan community, but I tend to agree that it's not necessarily my place to expound on why I think this show or any other is racist. On the one hand, there is media that has involved people of colour (even at a writing/production level, though I think it's worthwhile noting that this show is written by a Pakeha guy) that is still understood as racist. On the other other hand, me standing around making comparisons to minstrel shows or whatever [that is a sarcastic example] is problematic itself because - what, like David Fane isn't smart enough to recognise racism, and clever little Pakeha me can? That's moronic.
I can't really come to a conclusion, so I'm just putting out there what I think and how I feel. These shows *do* depend on race and gender stereotypes. I know that I find the gender stereotypes unfunny and sexist. I find the race stuff unfunny. It doesn't seem like a stretch to me that a show which is sexist is also going to be racist; but on the other hand it's possible there aren't any women in production or writing, but there are people of colour. (TVNZ is fucking useless, so I can't get any information about who is actually working on the show at that level.)
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Date: 2009-03-12 02:26 pm (UTC)