Dumb, Drunk and Racist
Are Australians dumb, drunk, and racist?
Every country has its stereotypes. Australia’s reputation is apparently the worst in India. In this six-part series, journalist Joe Hildebrand takes four Indians on a road trip around Australia to discover whether Aussies are really just a bunch of dumb and racist drunks.
Amer, 21, is a thoughtful and intelligent law student. Throughout the series, he seems the most deeply affected by what he experiences, the good and the bad. Mahima, 24, is a call center worker and the object of verbal abuse by angry Aussies who don’t want her to call them. Gurmeet, 26, is a journalist and a conservative guy who both applauds and is challenged by sex and gender issues in Australia. Radhika is an education consultant who advises students against going to study in Australia because it’s perceived as being dangerous for Indians.
Clockwise from the top: Joe, Gurmeet, Radhika, Mahima, and Amer.
Joe and the four Indians visit Sydney, Melbourne, Alice Springs, and the heartland of Australia, which happens to look and feel a lot like the heartland of America. In fact, much about this show feels familiar – the warmth, hard work, and friendly, welcoming attitudes as well as the anti-immigrant sentiment, ignorance, and the legacy of what was done to the country’s indigenous people.
I enjoyed Dumb, Drunk and Racist. Though it’s not particularly deep and it doesn’t ask the Indian tourists to examine India’s own cultural contradictions, it’s a humorous look at real issues and it was eye-opening at times.
Each episode is only 30 minutes. For those in Australia, you can watch it on the ABC website. For those of you in the U.S., I’ve collected the episodes on my YouTube channel. You are warned that the series contains coarse language, mild violence, and some nudity.
Have you seen Dumb, Drunk and Racist? What did you think?
I am, proud to say, TV free, so I didn’t see it.
Are Australians dumb? No dumber than people anywhere else. No country has a monopoly on stupidity, I’ve noticed.
Are they drunk? Certainly. I’m convinced that the powerhouse of the Australian economy is the local pub.
Are they racist? On the whole, no. They are probably some of the least racist people I’ve encountered. That said, I don’t think frustration with other cultures or people who behave differently is really racism. I don’t like talking to Indians at call centers, either, but that’s because I have a hard time understanding them or they don’t understand me, which means it wastes a lot of my time trying to get my problem solved. That has nothing to do with racism.
I wouldn’t say Australians are dumb or racist either though there are certainly issues to work out with the Aborigines and some anti-immigrant sentiment, but no more than other countries I suspect. Drunk? Yeah, probably.
What’s fun about this 6-episode series is the Indians. Apparently Australia gets a really bad rap in India and these four people get to check it out first hand.