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Aussie Soaps- Are they Racist?


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Old 08-08-2013, 00:06
vaslav37
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A bit of a hot potato maybe...

I dont watch Home and Away but out of curiousity I checked its website- every character is white.

Neighbours had the Kapoors but now they are gone, Neighbours also has a regular gay character in Chris Pappas'

I am not sure about H & A on that one.

Are casting directors in Australia afraid to hire ethnic Actors?
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Old 08-08-2013, 00:13
AndreaMC
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OMG is it obligatory to have ethnic minorities in a show or something? And how does there absence spell racism? Instead of just being a question of, they're not there?.
We're all so friggin pidgeonholed nowadays aren't we
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Old 08-08-2013, 00:15
lionkingonstage
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it isn't racist in the slightest.

If I was a producer I would rather hire someone for their talent and not the colour of their skin. Just saying.
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Old 08-08-2013, 00:18
phill363
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Home and Away had Elijah a few years ago who was a black Reverend who dated Leah.
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Old 08-08-2013, 00:20
AndreaMC
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I think all this obsession about looking at people and considering their race and background is stopping people from seeing each other as human beings first and foremostly and from treating each other accordingly. Be proud of who you are, no 1. and treat others how you would like to be treated yourself.
That;s all you got to remember in this life.
It's not rocket science.
Stop trying to measure and compartmentalise everything and give in to your creative side. That's were happiness lies
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Old 08-08-2013, 00:24
vaslav37
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I guess in H & A case, a small coastal town in New South Wales is made up primarily of white people so its realistic in a sense...
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Old 08-08-2013, 00:25
evole
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I enjoyed my time in Australia ( lived there for nearly 2 years) , but Honestly, it was pretty racist so if their soaps are fully white, then it's not too terribly surprising. They annihilated the Aboriginals and maintain a white Australia policy until the mid 70's, so give them a break, they're trying, lol
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Old 08-08-2013, 00:49
vaslav37
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Me too I really like Australia and have been twice as well as living in Melbourne for six months.

Neighbours did well to introduce the Kapoors but unfortunely they did not last.
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Old 08-08-2013, 00:51
Fred Fonseca
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I enjoyed my time in Australia ( lived there for nearly 2 years) , but Honestly, it was pretty racist so if their soaps are fully white, then it's not too terribly surprising. They annihilated the Aboriginals and maintain a white Australia policy until the mid 70's, so give them a break, they're trying, lol
It was the British that killed the aboriginals.
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Old 08-08-2013, 01:20
evole
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It was the British that killed the aboriginals.
The Stolen Generations policy aka forcibly removing Aboriginal children from their families and the subsequent cultural reprogramming were Australia governmental policies which was genocidal to Aboriginal culture....so yes the British invasion killed Aboriginals, but the misery was continued very effectively by the Australian government.
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Old 08-08-2013, 02:00
dee123
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I guess in H & A case, a small coastal town in New South Wales is made up primarily of white people so its realistic in a sense...
In this sense it is true.
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Old 08-08-2013, 03:59
Bobby_Marz
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Well half of the cast live in Thailand, Sally ect,,

BUT:

Home and Away' denies 'racism' over Jay Laga'aia exit - FEB 2012

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s1...aaia-exit.html
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Old 08-08-2013, 04:04
T.K. Mazin
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I enjoyed my time in Australia ( lived there for nearly 2 years) , but Honestly, it was pretty racist so if their soaps are fully white, then it's not too terribly surprising. They annihilated the Aboriginals and maintain a white Australia policy until the mid 70's, so give them a break, they're trying, lol
Lol. I feel guilty for laughing at that.
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Old 08-08-2013, 04:19
Fred Fonseca
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Well other programs like 'Big Brother' and 'Offspring' - that in Australia rate as well as or better than 'Home and Away' and 'Neighbours', are not all white. So Australians clearly are happy to watch programs with casts that aren't all white.

'Offspring' is all over the news today.

Casting directors in Australia were happy to hire non white actors for the film 'The Sapphires' too, but you wouldn't know it after the cast got whitewashed by the US DVD cover.
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Old 08-08-2013, 04:24
evole
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Lol. I feel guilty for laughing at that.
Don't be, lol...the world is pretty messed up. What's the point of sugar coating it. Plus these quasi pc threads irritate the sh** out me.
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Old 08-08-2013, 05:11
dee123
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Well other programs like 'Big Brother' and 'Offspring' - that in Australia rate as well as or better than 'Home and Away' and 'Neighbours', are not all white. So Australians clearly are happy to watch programs with casts that aren't all white.

'Offspring' is all over the news today.

Casting directors in Australia were happy to hire non white actors for the film 'The Sapphires' too, but you wouldn't know it after the cast got whitewashed by the US DVD cover.
LOL. Fans got upset because a character bit the dust. However some were tweeting the band The Offspring
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Old 08-08-2013, 05:29
Fred Fonseca
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LOL. Fans got upset because a character bit the dust. However some were tweeting the band The Offspring
As Niz says: Its just a damn TV show. Don't let it get to you so much.
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Old 08-08-2013, 06:15
Bomani channing
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Lol at all the clowns spouting robotic pc rhetoric like this isn't a problem. Australia is suppose to be a multricultral society, u say they should cast ppl based on talent not colour. Well obviously there can't only be whites auditioning can they. Out of all the minorities that do you mean 1 can't be selected? Come off it. The cast is practically white by design no if ands or buts.And yes it is racist to pretend otherwise is either naïve or ignorance
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Old 08-08-2013, 07:03
B*witched
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I liked the Kapoors and would have been happy to see them stay, all they needed was some decent storylines. TBTB made Priya into an unsympathetic character pretty much straight away, Ajay was nice but a bit bland, same for Rani. I don't see why Neighbours can't integrate other nationalities into their cast, not everyone agrees with having the characters be all white and would like to see something that reflects reality more.
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Old 08-08-2013, 07:30
Keeki
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Lol at all the clowns spouting robotic pc rhetoric like this isn't a problem. Australia is suppose to be a multricultral society, u say they should cast ppl based on talent not colour. Well obviously there can't only be whites auditioning can they. Out of all the minorities that do you mean 1 can't be selected? Come off it. The cast is practically white by design no if ands or buts.And yes it is racist to pretend otherwise is either naïve or ignorance
Soaps are perceived differently here than in the United Kingdom. Australian soaps are expected to be harmless escapism, not representative of Australian society. I prefer Aussie dramas to soaps and all of the drama series that I watch have non-Caucasian actors in major roles.
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Old 08-08-2013, 07:42
Fred Fonseca
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Soaps are perceived differently here than in the United Kingdom. Australian soaps are expected to be harmless escapism, not representative of Australian society. I prefer Aussie dramas to soaps and all of the drama series that I watch have non-Caucasian actors in major roles.
Well unlike the UK, soaps aren't the most popular type of program in Australia. 'Neighbours' has tiny ratings in Australia.

'Neighbours' and 'Home and Away' are partly funded upfront by the UK broadcaster (five), who has input into story and content of the shows.

Meanwhile Australian made programs for an Australian audience are more racially (and otherwise) diverse.

If people in the UK think these Australia-UK co-productions (with audiences in the UK greater than their audiences in Australia) are too white, perhaps they need to get onto channel Five about it?
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Old 08-08-2013, 07:45
Bomani channing
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Soaps are perceived differently here than in the United Kingdom. Australian soaps are expected to be harmless escapism, not representative of Australian society. I prefer Aussie dramas to soaps and all of the drama series that I watch have non-Caucasian actors in major roles.
You can't get more escapist than american soaps and even they manage to incorporate minorities. I don't even understand what point you are trying to make. So their soaps aren't suppose to be a reflection of society, u say they are used as escapism. Well if society is multicultural and this fictional show used as a form of escapism is all white, what does that say? You just anchored my point.
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Old 08-08-2013, 07:50
Fred Fonseca
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You can't get more escapist than american soaps and even they manage to incorporate minorities. I don't even understand what point you are trying to make. So their soaps aren't suppose to be a reflection of society, u say they are used as escapism. Well if society is multicultural and this fictional show used as a form of escapism is all white, what does that say? You just anchored my point.
Right and the all-white 'Neighbours' and 'Home and Away' are more popular in the UK than they are in Australia. Says it all, really.
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Old 08-08-2013, 07:56
little-monster
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I've always found Australia's lack of gay characters over the decades to be more worrying. What is with that?
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Old 08-08-2013, 08:04
Fred Fonseca
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I've always found Australia's lack of gay characters over the decades to be more worrying. What is with that?
Maybe you need to google Australian prime-time soap operas from mainstream commercial television networks like: 'Number 96' (1972-1977), 'The Box' (1974-1977), 'Skyways' (1979-1981), 'Prisoner' (1979-1986), 'The Secret Life of Us' (2000-2005), all of which had gay and lesbian characters, gay couples, lesbian couples.

Seriously. Are you lot trying to make yourselves look ignorant?

Perhaps you would like me to post in the FULL list? Please let me know if you'd like to see that. (I'll bet you won't, though.)
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