Netflix Cuts Chris Lilley Shows From The Platform Over Brownface Controversies
Four comedy shows featuring Aussie actor and writer Chris Lilley have been pulled by Netflix here and in New Zealand, Variety confirmed this week.
The cancelling of the shows, which include Angry Boys, Summer Heights High, We Can Be Heroes and Jonah From Tonga, comes in the wake of the global reckoning with systemic racism and injustice, a movement that began following the murder of George Floyd at the hand of a police officer in Minneapolis. Following the Black Lives Matter protests in the US, several Australian cities held large-scale marches last weekend protesting against the police brutality and racism that First Nations Peoples face every day in Australia.
The shows, which originally aired on the ABC, have also been removed from the network's streaming platform, iView.
Lilley has long used racial (and racist) depictions of POCs for entertainment on his shows. He's used dark makeup to play an African-American rapper named S.Mouse in Angry Boys, Tongan schoolboy Jonah Takalua from Summer Heights High. His first show, We Can Be Heroes, which won awards, saw Chris play a Chinese physics student named Ricky Wong.
Soon after the cancellation was announced, fans took to Twitter to unload their thoughts. Some agreed with the decision; others didn't, calling it censorship. Many wondered why this hadn't been brought up sooner.
Lilley’s shows Ja'mie: Private School Girl and Netflix original, Lunatics, remain on the service. Keeping Lunatics on the platform is an interesting choice from Netflix, given the inclusion of character Jana, a South African woman with an afro wig, has long been criticised as racist. Neither Netflix nor Chris Lilley has commented on the pulling of the shows.
Main Image Credit: Summer Heights High, Princess Pictures for the ABC
