The everyday Aussies of Gogglebox are a tiny snapshot of why our country is OK

Politicians and trolls might fight bitter ideological battles, but everyday Australians like the cast of Gogglebox are better representatives of our country, write Claire Sutherland.

Is Australia racist? Not according to the Delpechitra family. (Pic: Supplied)

If you’ve ever spent any time on Twitter — watching aghast as blokes with two followers torment Lily Allen about the stillbirth of her son, or as black comic actor Lesley Jones is assailed with ape pictures until she deletes her account — there’s a good chance you’ll have a pretty jaded view of the human race.

Ditto if you’ve ever read any anonymous responses to online articles about Islam, feminism, homosexuality, environmentalism or parenting.

Meanwhile, our adversarial political system means our two main parties are preoccupied with the symbolic meaning of policies, rather than whether they make any sense.

Abuse is tossed out from both sides of the great right/left divide, whether it’s anyone with an interest in balancing the budget being branded a fascist or the tiresome and now so-overused-it’s-cringeworthy “frightbats” in place of “feminist”.

But take an occasional step out of the cesspool of extremes and things don’t look so bad.

My weekly dose of Gogglebox Australia, on Foxtel and Channel Ten, always leaves me feeling refreshed, hopeful and convinced that the average Australian is reasonable, compassionate, willing to listen before leaping to judgment and more likely to occupy a spot on the political spectrum that’s a little to the left or a little to the right of centre, depending on the issue, and not screeching from a spot they won’t budge from on the extreme edge of either side.

The show features 11 groups of Australians, who sit at home and watch the same collection of TV shows while cameras record their every reaction. There’s the gay couple, Wayne and Tom, the young mates Adam and Simon, the Jackson family, with their six kids, the older posh couple Mick and Di, the Delpechitra family of Sri Lankan background and Keith and Lee, the council worker and retired bank worker, among others.

Council worker Keith and retired bank worker Lee are also professional couch potatoes, thanks to their roles on Gogglebox. (Pic: Supplied)

None of them sought out the reality show limelight — they were all cast after producers eavesdropped on their conversations at supermarkets and cafes and picked them as good examples of talkative, good-humoured Aussies willing to speak their minds.

Every single week they surprise me with their attitudes to all matter of issues and every week I’m slightly ashamed at my incorrect assumptions about how they’ll think.

Take Keith’s reaction to watching documentary Born in the Wrong Body, about transgender children.

Keith is rarely seen without a beer in his hand, and he has a bottomless pit of smutty jokes at the ready. I was expecting a gag, or at the very least a bit of uncomfortable shifting in his seat.

Instead he said: “You’d have to go along with it. As long as your child’s happy.”

His wife Lee agreed.

“Society can be cruel, Keith,” she says. “And they’re kids, brave little kids.”

Meanwhile, across the country in the Dalton household, company director Matt Dalton admits “I reckon I’d really struggle with it”.

Just ordinary Australians, discussing issues openly and honestly, with no name-calling or ridiculing.

The Silbery family of Melbourne, including three generations of women, Kerry, Isabelle and Emily. (Pic: Supplied)

On this week’s show the cast members watch Ray Martin’s SBS hidden camera show Is Australia Racist?

The Delpechitra family are unanimous.

Son Wendel says: “Is there racism in Australia? Probably. But is Australia a racist country? No.”

When the cameras capture everyday Australians standing up to racists his father Patrick pumps his fist and says “Go Australia!”.

In the Dalton house, Kate Dalton admits “When I see a full burka I sometimes feel confronted.”

There’s no racism there, just an honest admission probably heard around many Australian dinner tables.

Later the cast watch A Current Affair’s story on the proposed “healthy welfare card”, which prevents welfare recipients using their payments to buy alcohol, cigarettes or gamble.

Melbourne housemates and Asian Australians Zina and Vivian watch as Pauline Hanson explains why she’s backing the idea.

“Who would have thought I’d agree with Pauline Hanson,” Vivian says, shaking her head.

Zina and Vivian found themselves agreeing with Pauline Hanson.

When the cast watch a Four Corners report on Syrian refugees fleeing their country to a welcoming Germany, great-grandma Emily Silbery, from a generation often characterised as suss of foreigners, notes sadly “and we just offer them a concentration camp”.

Don’t let me put you off the show. The show is mostly about Tom enjoying outlandish cocktails, Simon and Adam ribbing each other about their love lives and Anastasia calling people “malaka” before cackling like a drain.

But it’s when you get a through-the-front-window view of what ordinary Australians think about vexing issues that I find the show most effective.

I’m under no illusions the producers of Gogglebox Australia sought out members of the National Front when casting and I’m aware as a sample size this is hardly a Newspoll.

Plus, you could probably argue that the cast members might be keeping any controversial views for airing when the cameras aren’t there.

But that doesn’t stop this show giving me a warm feeling about my fellow Aussies.

And none more so than when Patrick Delpechitra says in his charming Sri Lankan accent of fellow Sri Lankan Australian and star of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Nazeem Hussain: “Is that Waleed Aly?”

Claire Sutherland is RendezView Acting Editor.

Originally published as The everyday Aussies of Gogglebox are a tiny snapshot of why our country is OK