Rebel Wilson’s bogan status means common people have links with a Hollywood star
NO longer are bogans objects of derision — in this complicated world they are the poster people for the benefits of a simple, happy life, writes Katie Bice.
Opinion
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REBEL Wilson says she’s a cashed-up bogan. And I couldn’t think of a more classic example of the modern-day embodiment of the bogan.
They’ve come a long way since their establishment as the unsophisticated, flannelette-clad version of America’s trailer park trash.
In fact, being a modern bogan is now almost popular, used by those who aren’t one to try to show a connection to the common people.
There are a few obvious calling cards of the bogan. The ABC and SBS only ever come on your TV if you accidentally step on the remote.
You are never short of something to watch anyway thanks to the endless supply of joyous reality shows.
You say you like wine but your preferred drink is moscato and you have to admit to drinking premixed drinks from a can after age 21.
Shoes are for work and special occasions only. A trip to the shops or walking around outside your house don’t count. But you’re not silly, in winter you can’t go barefoot, so you wear slippers.
Singlets are preferred, probably revealing a ’90s-inspired barbed-wire tattoo. Men wear shorts no matter the weather.
If you’re well travelled it’s to cheap Asian nations where you eat fried rice and wonder why lemon chicken, sweet and sour pork and beef and black bean aren’t as popular there as here.
Speaking of which, when another language slips into the conversation, like je suis, you pronounce it phonetically.
And occasionally you stumble across something everyone else seems to know — eg, that latte isn’t just the name of a coffee but Italian for milk.
I can say all this with authority because I am proudly a bogan and most of the above certainly applies to me — bicep tatt excluded.
I’m proud because as a rule bogans are uncomplicated, honest and easy to please. Which also means we are wonderfully happy.
I couldn’t be a hipster; it seems expensive, I don’t have the fashion sense and men with shaped facial hair weird me out.
My garden is proof I can never be a greenie and, to be honest, I’m too self-centred to be either an activist or an environmentalist.
Left and right are directions and vegans, vegos and their pals don’t sound like they have much fun.
So I’m content over here with my plastic drinking cup and at least now I can say I’ve got something in common with a Hollywood star.
Katie Bice is deputy editor of the Sunday Herald Sun
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