Susie O’Brien: Chris Lilley’s comedy is uncomfortable and outrageous — but that’s the point
If Chris Lilley pulled every potentially offensive character, he wouldn’t have a show. Let the latest outrage over his new series be a reminder that exceptional comedy is never safe or bland, writes Susie O’Brien.
Susie O'Brien
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We must stand up for comedy that’s entertaining, funny and clever, even if it’s also offensive and challenging.
We do not want to end up in a cultural wasteland where comics are silenced to protect the feelings of others.
I’m reminded of that as I follow the outcry over Chris Lilley’s new TV series, Lunatics.
FIRST LOOK AT CHRIS LILLEY’S COMEBACK SHOW
If Lilley pulled every potentially offensive character, he wouldn’t have a show.
The trailer for Lunatics offers the kind of objectionable misfits and malcontents we’ve come to expect from him.
There’s Keith, a retailer with sexuality issues, Becky, a tall American university student who’s obsessed with her social media followers and Gavin, a dysfunctional youth who’s about to become an English earl.
The show starts on Friday and Lilley has already come under attack for his “problematic representation of people of colour” and dubbed “bigoted”, “mediocre” and “mean-spirited”.
Lilley has also been criticised for being a man playing a lesbian and a woman of colour and for lampooning people with mental health issues.
But why shouldn’t he? Imagine if the no-offence, no-appropriation rule was applied to actor Mike Myers: No Fat Bastard (sizeist). No Shrek (problematic representation of creatures of colour). No Austin Powers (sexual harasser). No Dr Evil (bad role model).
It’s ridiculous.
Disability advocate and appearance activist Carly Findlay accuses Lilley of “cultural appropriation, mockery and mimicry of marginalised people through acting”.
Like many others, Findlay accuses Lilley of “blackface” even though the character in question — Jana, a South African lesbian pet psychic to the stars — is actually white.
An author and prominent sufferer of the skin condition ichthyosis, Findlay also accuses Lilley of “disability appropriation”.
She calls the title of the show an “ableist slur”.
I admire and respect Findlay’s analysis of disability issues, but I think Lilley is worth defending.
Unlike the loons on the old The Footy Show with their mean, mocking humour, Lilley offers us characters with a kernel of truth in each of them.
When we go along with him for the ride, uncomfortable truths about human nature emerge.
It’s not always easy watching and Lilley doesn’t always get it right.
His S.mouse character, an African American rapper, is one I struggle with at times.
But there’s a point to his humour and he’s pushing boundaries to get us to think about race, gender and class.
Part of the problem is the inconsistent application of the notion of cultural appropriation.
For instance, there is no reason why Lilley has been panned for dressing up as Jonah from Tonga, but not Asian schoolboy Ricky Wong.
The Jonah from Tonga series was banned in New Zealand because of the negative stereotype of Pacific islanders — Jonah is a foul-mouthed misfit who abuses teachers and shows off in class. And yet Lilley gives us more than that; he also deftly addresses Jonah’s difficult relationship with his father, his battles with his peer group and his struggles to read.
One of Lilley’s most enduring characters is Mr G, the self-absorbed drama/dance/singing teacher.
“She’s what the kids would call a slut, which is a terrible thing to say about someone who’s just died, but apparently there’s no denying she was one,” Mr G said in one Summer Heights High episode.
There is also Ja’mie King, a private school princess who bullies those around her.
“And seriously, like, I don’t want to be a bitch, but she’s like the fugliest girl I have ever met in my life,” she says.
Even some of Lilley’s minor characters are perfectly-pitched. They include a number with a disability. Remember Pat Mullins, a Perth housewife with one leg shorter than the other who was trying to roll from Perth to Fremantle?
With Mullins, Lilley gave us more than “disability appropriation”, he gave us a kind-hearted, memorable character who overcame great adversity. Her death at the end of We Can Be Heroes was touching and very sad.
I am also uncomfortable with the idea that people who might at first think Lilley is funny, should be educated to see that’s wrong. Findlay used to be a Lilley fan but “learnt how damaging he is and threw out the DVDs”.
“I’m happier for knowing and doing better and for supporting authentic casting,” she writes on Twitter. The notion of “authentic casting” worries me when it’s applied in this context.
Yes, Lilley is a straight, middle-class, able-bodied white man, but this doesn’t mean he should only play straight, middle-class, white, able-bodied male characters.
With characters like Mullins, Mr G, Jonah and Ja’mie , there’s no reason why he shouldn’t play females, gays and characters with a disability, as well as Asians, blacks and Islanders.
Findlay wonders “why are people so excited” about Lunatics.
Perhaps because people are looking forward to a laugh.
We know we will be confronted and challenged, and possibly offended, but entertained as well. I can’t wait.
— Susie O’Brien is a Herald Sun columnist
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