Marriage equality, privatisation and the Maori Party and the GC

The marriage equality debate isn’t about to die anytime soon with Te Kaea and the Herald picking up on Hone Harawira’s opposition, or failure to take a position. The Maori Party and the Greens are in support while Labour’s Louisa Wall has a bill in the ballot that would legalise same-sex marriage. Despite strong support from these quarters, our male MPs seem to be stubbornly against or, like in Hone’s case, refusing to take a position. It’s a pity because opposition to equality goes against Maori values. It’s also poor form for some Maori MPs to demand equality for Maori, yet refuse to demand equality for other marginalised groups. Step up male MPs. 

 
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Although the Maori Party voted against the privatisation bill, they also voted against Labour’s amendments to the bill. Again, this was poor form. Apparently a blanket decision was made to vote against amendments that did not concern Maori or the Treaty. This wasn’t good politics. Voting for the amendments would have indicated the Maori Party’s supposedly strong opposition. Instead, the Maori Party voted with the government thus making their opposition to the substantive bill look very, very hollow.

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The GC wrapped up last night and I’m going to change my opinion - again. The show was nothing like Jersey Shore and nothing like a documentary. It was an excellent piece of storytelling in a format that was just right for the demographic. The show was full of fluff, there’s no doubt about that, but it also confronted some interesting questions, for example what does it mean to be Maori in Australia. Arguably we didn’t get a wholesome answer, but we got enough to draw our own conclusions. The show’s worth a second go.

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It’s Matariki… Happy Maori New Year.

Revisiting the GC

I’m revisiting my opinion on the GC. After a few weeks watching the show, it’s nothing like I imagined. Last month I labelled the show racist. This call, in the context of the first episode, was a fair one. However, the show hasn’t taken the trajectory I expected it to.

The GC suffers from an identity crisis. There’s a tension between recreating Jersey Shore and on the other hand presenting a realistic portrayal of Maori on the Gold Coast. These two ideas don’t sit well together. For ratings sake, the producers have to make the show entertaining and that involves relationship dramas, the boys on the prowl and so on – Jersey Shore stuff in other words. However, the rationale of the show was to present a realistic portrayal of Maori on the Gold Coast and the show was funded along those lines. Finding an acceptable balance is hard task and one the makers of the show don’t seem to have achieved. I’m sure Bailey Mackey, one of the producers, want’s to strike a balance and present Maori in a positive light. However, the format of the show isn’t conducive to doing so. The show is not billed nor designed as a documentary – it’s a reality drama series and comes across as such.

Failing to strike a balance has resulted in mixed reviews. On the one hand, commentators have praised the show as reflecting the aspirations and reality for young Maori. Unlikely commentators, most notably Fran O’Sullivan, have praised the show:

Instead of wallowing in some tribal backwater, they have skipped across the Tasman to build successful entrepreneurial futures alongside other Kiwis in Australia and enjoy the "sun, surf and sex" lifestyles.

Although O’Sullivan’s phrased her point poorly, its essence is true. The GC portrays what is becoming the best option for Maori – Australia. Although, as Paul Little says and I agree, the Gold Coast is a “cultural desert” it’s a desert with jobs, money and opportunity. The opportunity to cast off the cultural and political baggage that comes with being Maori in New Zealand.

Much of the negative criticism has claimed that the show does not realistically portra Maori on the Gold Coast. I tend to agree with this view. Few Maori, if any, would spend most of their time on the beach, on the town and mucking around in front of a mirror. How many property developer slash scaffolders do you know?

Much of the criticism is in this vein and, for the most part at least, is just middle class sneering. Wellington and Auckland intellectuals throwing stones from their sophisticated towers. Having said that, some of the criticism from those towers has been insightful. Paul Little makes the point that:

With their distorted values and priorities, Tame, Jade, Zane and their "neffs" (friends) could hardly be more representative of contemporary NZ culture and identity. Whether they intended to or not, the show's makers have created a subtle, devastating critique of NZ today.

To a certain extent, the cast of the GC represent New Zealand youth culture, more specifically Maori youth culture. The cast represent what the values many young Maori hold and their approach to life.

Of all my complaints, however, I don’t like the level the show is pitched at. There is no time given to how the cast deal with conflicting cultural values. How do the characters reconcile their lives in Australia with their upbringing and obligations back home? But, of course, the show isn’t designed to answer these questions and fair enough. If anything these aren’t questions for a prime time show, they’re questions for Maori. One's I don't really know the answers too.

Is The GC racist? (updated)

It opens a little something like this: nearly 130,00 Maori now reside in Australia. This show is about a bunch of them... they're all chasing the dream of money, sex, and fame on The GC.

Yes, I'm talking about TV3's new show, The GC. The show follows a group of Maori living in Australia, a group apparently chasing the dream on the Gold Coast. Aside from being painfully boring, the show is racist in concept.

Shows like The GC, think Jersey Shore and Geordie Shore, are designed to showcase humanities worst. Narcissism, arrogance, ignorance, stupidity and every other foul characteristic you can think of. With this in mind, naturally the producers selected a group of Maori to showcase these characteristics. This, I think, is racist.

The same is done on Jersey Shore and Geordie Shore. In the case of Jersey Shore, Italian Americans are used to show off these less than admirable qualities, as opposed Anglo-Americans. Anglo-Americans are considered your typical White American whereas Italian Americans are fringe white, or less than mainstream in other words. The same is true on Geordie Shore, lower class hooligans are used as opposed to your ‘typical’ and ‘mainstream’ middle or upper class Briton.

It’s the 21st century equivalent of portraying other races as less than human. On the show Maori are cast as being motivated by base instincts. Sex, money and other forms of instant gratification. And, although it never expressly said but it is a clear implication, the viewer is led to believe this what Maori in Australia get up to. Maori are cast as primitive – motivated by sex, alcohol and the next fad.

Of course, the reality is far from what is presented on The GC. Most Maori are working 9 to 5 jobs and supporting their whanau, not driving around in cars all day, sunbathing and saying stupid shit.

At least, I suppose, The GC is more tame than Jersey Shore and the like. The producers on those shows often manufacture fights, gratuitous sex and venal routines (gym, tan, laundry etc) to drive home the narrative that the characters, and by implication their race, are primitive.

Or maybe I’m reading too much into this? Maybe it’s just a show for entertainments sake? Well, it definitely wasn’t entertaining – and I’m the target market. What do you think? This is only off the top of my head and could do with refining/retracting etc

For another discussion on racism in New Zealand television see this post I did on Shortland Street last year.