Black Comedy: A Hilarious Look at Australian Culture
Black Comedy is a satirical show that cleverly uses humor to highlight aspects of Australian culture through the perspective of Indigenous Australians. The series combines observational sketches, parodies of TV and film, and historical references to provide a fast-paced and entertaining view of society. The first episode features sketches like "Blakforce" and "Lillian," each exploring different narratives with wit and satire.
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A comedy by blackfellas...for everyone Series 1, Episode 1 Title: Episode 1 Original air date: 5th November, 2014 Directors: Beck Cole and Craig Anderson Writers: Jon Bell, Steven Oliver, Elizabeth Wymarra, Nakkiah Lui and Bjorn Stewart
Overview Black Comedy combines a mix of observational and physical sketches, historical sketches and parodies of TV, film and commercials and is a fast paced look at Australian culture through the comedic prism of Indigenous Australians. Source: Wikipedia
Post-Viewing Analysis After viewing S01E01 of Black Comedy, discuss the following questions: How does this text employ comedy to convey meaning? What is its overall purpose? Using the characters/scenes of the following slides, examine the following question for each: Whose narratives are explored and represented through the characterisation of tropes? The first scene (Blakforce) be modelled as a class, the remaining will be completed individually or in pairs.
Blakforce: A Closer Look Parody of sensationalist American TV programme Cops , that has been criticised for largely showing African- American offenders. Blackfellas charged with being guilty of not acting black , e.g. buying a Delta Goodrem album, driving a Toyota Prius, buying organic groceries and eating kale, tapas and quinoa salad. Class discussion: Whose narratives are represented through the characterisation of tropes in the Blakforce scenes? How is this effectively explored through humour?
Lillian - Its because Im black, isnt it?! Lillian is on a first date that appears to be going well - the mood is lively and pleasant until her date, in the dimly-lit restaurant, squints at his menu and remarks that it s a bit dark in here , to which Lillian is appalled at what she believes to be a racist statement directed toward her...and she spirals into a passionate rant that ends in her being shouted dinner.
Star Blak: A Star Trek Parody - - A hostile race seeking to assimilate the Star Blak fleet Tokenistic silent white character - who breaks silence at end of the skit to say, I don t know...They seem to have a nice, big ship in response to the fleet s rejection of assimilation. Shut up, Vanilla is the response. Subversive characterisation demonstrates otherness and highlights the tokenistic and silent treatment of minorities in popular TV and film - THEIR narratives have not been shared. Why you talkin like that? You Aboriginal! [Said to female character with inflated African-American accent] -
The Opening Scene The series begins with a shot of a Captain Cook caricature approaching land and searching through his spyglass. Through the lens of his spyglass, we see a noble warrior trope of an Aboriginal man standing on the edge of a cliff; stoic in appearance, standing on one leg with a spear. The mood shifts suddenly when this character breaks into an Irish-style dance, only to be shifted again as the Aboriginal dancing figure is swiftly destroyed by cannon-fire from the approaching ship with the Captain s nod. Think | Pair | Share After re-watching the opening scene, discuss how humour is used to convey a powerful message.
Additional Reflection Tasks Reflect upon the importance of black voices in Australian film and television, and specifically the lack of authentic narrative from a black voice throughout history. Define the term otherness and explore how it relates to Black Comedy and the characterisation used in its storytelling. What social, cultural, political statements are being made in Black Comedy? Do you find humour and satire to be an effective form of narrative? What other examples can be found?
Resources Images: YouTube and The Conversation Race Relations: http://theconversation.com/black-comedy-the-abc-makes-a-bold-foray-into- race-relations-33744
