Skip to main content

The Racial Hatred Act: Case study 4

 Case study4I don't know what I can laugh at any more

Introduction:

  • comedy and censorship

Report:

  • Radio National's Breakfast Program reporter Chris Bullock's story
    on the censorship of a racist joke from RN's The Boxseat comedy program

Comment:

  • Chris Bullock on
    why the breakfast program team aired the joke when The Boxseat program
    team chose not to.

Please note that none of the reports in the case studies have been the
subject of complaints or queries under the Racial Hatred Act.


Chris Bullock's on-air introduction to
the joke:

Cultural correctness or cultural sensitivity, depending on your perspective,
is the most commonly cited example of political correctness in Australia.
Several members of the Coalition Government, including the Prime Minister,
argue it's the mantra of the Aboriginal and multicultural industries.

Cultural sensitivities meant that this joke by Lee Perry did not make
it to air on Radio National's comedy program, The Box Seat:

 

The joke:

I'm lucky to be alive. I nearly didn't make it here tonight. I had a
car accident with an Asian driver who was coming up a one-way street the
wrong way. I felt sorry for him, it's an easy mistake to make. I mean those
huge one way arrow signs can be bloody confusing (audience laughter).

The scary thing about it, right, is that they have Asian driving schools.
Like, what the hell are they teaching their students? (In an accented voice):
OK, now get in the right lane. No, no. What are you doing? You don't use
the indicator, just get in the right lane (audience laughter). OK. Now
we're going to reverse park. Back, back, back, keep going, back, back.
Good. You hit him. You're doing really well (audience laughter).

OK. Now you have a green light, but don't go yet. Wait till guy behind
you get the shit. OK now go. But very slow (more laughter).

 

Chris Bullock's on-air interview with Libby
Douglas, The Box Seat producer, reveals her team's deliberations
in reaching their decision not to air the joke:

CB:The decision not to use the joke was made in a program meeting.
Libby Douglas is one of the producers.

LD: The joke got a very positive response at the venue. People
laughed almost in spite of themselves. You get a lot of that now in the
kind of correct nineties. People still want to laugh at things like that
and look around them to see who's laughing first. The comedian will often
say: hey, if you think it's funny, laugh.

CB: Was there disagreement in the production meeting about whether
this particular joke should be in?

LD: There was, and I argued that we should run it as a reflection,
whether good or bad, of what was happening in the venues in Sydney. And
this was something recorded as a current performer on the circuit. My executive
producer disagreed and felt that, taken out of context of the live venue,
where people have chosen to go and pay to see a particular performer, (compared)
to what's coming out of the end of their radio are quite different things
and therefore you have to be a little more selective about what we allow
into essentially people's living rooms.


Previous page | Top
of this page
| Main Contents | Next
page