★★★★★ 0/5

US rappers brand Lilley’s ‘S.mouse’ “offensive, uninspired”

A potential US backlash on Chris Lilley's Angry Boys gets an early start.

46
Leave a comment

What will Americans think of Angry Boys when they get sight of rapper S.mouse?

There isn’t any official date for the HBO series yet, but Australian entertainment website The Vine decided to get in early, and asked some musos working in the rap industry to take a look at Chris Lilley’s character.

The reaction was almost universal: negative. They criticised the ‘blackface’, the intent, the tone and said it parodied rap as it was performed in the 1990s.

What isn’t so clear is how much of the series they viewed, but given the show hasn’t finished airing in Australia, it’s safe to assume not all of it. The Australian series is also produced by US-born producer Laura Waters, something that probably escaped them. But by the sounds of their anger, it probably doesn’t matter. Or maybe in their eyes that’s even worse?

What is clear is that the show will very probably trigger a reaction when it does air in the US.

But then, isn’t that what comedy is supposed to do?

Here are some select excerpts:

Zilla Rocca, MC – 5 O’Clock Shadowboxers (Philadelphia)
He picked rappers who record dumb songs, talk like illiterates, and live up to the stereotypes of rappers my mum frowns upon: obsessed with money/hoes/clothes with no real street cred and proud to be ‘hood’ all in the same. Sadly, this is not the current state of the American Pop Rapper. He is ten years late on his ‘clever’ takedown. With the internet and invention of smart phones, it’s no excuse.

It’s a very basic principle he violated: white people can only mock black people and black culture if there’s a black person around saying it’s OK.

S.mouse goes way too far and only interacts with black people who are hired to read their lines, not act as the audience’s conscience.

Open Mike Eagle, MC (Los Angeles)
Hell yeah it’s offensive. Blackface is not the kind of thing that just becomes acceptable one day. I don’t give a damn how ‘meta’ this cat thinks he is, it doesn’t give him a pass to exploit the history of race relations for a cheap laugh. The worst part was that the blackface was unnecessary. It didn’t add a damned thing to the presentation of the comedy. He could have done the same thing as a white rapper and stepped around the minefield. Instead, I couldn’t relax enough to find any of it funny. All I could think about is how big of an idiot this guy had to be to think that this was something to be done. Rap-wise it wasn’t offensive. It was uninspired and not at all creative, but it wasn’t offensive in its portrayal of the art or the industry.

Martin Douglas, Producer – 5 O’Clock Shadowboxers, contributor for Pitchfork (Seattle)
The satire would have been massively more effective if a) Lilley had done a little more research on hip-hop culture instead of making a halfhearted parody on something he obviously doesn’t understand, and b) if he would have brushed up on America’s shaky history with race before deciding to play a black character.

You can read more at The Vine.

46 Responses

  2. @Sacs – Chris Lilley has already represented an aboriginal. He did it in ‘We Can Be Heroes’. Actually the character Chris was playing Ricky Wong (chinese) played an aboriginal.

    Some can be seen here: youtu.be/KbXfrS6hZ6c

    He later performed ‘Run Cathy Run’ as Ricky Wong portraying an aboriginal on the Logies and had Cathy Freeman join him on stage.

  4. I defend Chris Lilley’s right to depict a person from another race and not be funny.

    However, I think the S.mouse character is meant to be an anachronism, someone who still behaves like it’s the late ’90s and hasn’t changed with the times.

    So Lilley is parodying a character who is a parody of himself.

  5. @ Lindy

    Snoop Dogg, JayZee, Usher, 50 cent all have huge mansions or luxury apts….need I go on?

    Good luck to them, they all shift a product (sometimes good, other times not so good) enjoyed by a large number of people….Chris Lilleys parody is not far off the mark

  6. well Chris Lilley worked with the americans for HBO so he had to come up with an american character and he came up with S.Mouse. if they are affended, its their fault really. I heard Chris didn’t really want to work with them but they probably paid him a lot, next time leave him the hell alone and come up with your own series! and the whole rap thing being old and 90’s, thats the joke! S.Mouse was popular back in the day and still thinks he is – hence the mall scene.

  7. i haven’t seen this show, but i have seen bits of his other shows and personally think this an idiot, you can be funny without trying to be as outrageous and offensive as possible.

  8. I’m not a fan Chris Lilly or the show

    But it’s Pretty strange how its OK in the US to parody Arabs as terrorists, Jews as ultra orthodox, Asians in whatever guise they want, gay stereotypes, Always using the well known stereotype of Australians yet we cant parody them.

    It’s also with the Japanese mother that Chris Lilly also interpreted I hear no uproar over that…This isn’t really an issue. If it was him just blatantly offending in a way like Tracy Morgan sure…

    But come on America it’s just a harmless parody. Australian humor is much more different than American ones (We don’t need canned laughter…)

  10. What a great survey, ask the people at the butt of a joke whether they like it or not.

    By their reaction I’d suggest he’s closer to mark than they are making out.

  13. As soon as this character appeared I went from “I’m struggling to watch this” to “holy crap he’s really lost it, TV off”. He doesn’t understand anything about what he’s trying to parody. He did it so perfectly with the school in SHH, but Angry Boys is a disaster.

  15. No big surprises to hear that. Lilley has to be the most overrated person in the business at the moment. To think some people who watch his garbage call him a genius, since when is dressing up as women or swearing because he can’t come up with anything clever considered genius?
    You want comedic genius, watch arrested development, the office, extras and curb your enthusiasm. Once you do that, it will be obvious to see just how mediocre all of Chris Lilley’s shows and creations are.

  16. The yanks just need to get over them selves. Chirs takes the mickey out of Australian characters as well and we are not on our high horses complaining!

  17. The Americans should realise this is a perception of the industry rather than an accurate description. Sort of in the same way that they think we have kangaroos as pets.

  18. I don’t like the show.
    That being said I don’t think Lilley is being offensive by using blackface. He dresses up as all sorts of characters, and to dress up as a rapper he decided he’d be a black rapper. Most rappers are black-skinned. Surely, since we are all one race, the human race, we can move past this non-issue.

  20. It’s a very basic principle he violated: white people can only mock black people and black culture if there’s a black person around saying it’s OK?

    So comedians and satirists need permission to shine a light on hip hip culture. Is it because they’re black? 😛

    Satire is wasted on the uninformed and the stupid…

  21. I don’t really care what these pompus yank musicians say….I love this show….I find it hilarious and always look forward to watching it….

  23. Should Chris Lilley have consulted Harry Connick Junior before going ‘blackface’ to American audiences? Would it be funny if he impersonated an Australian Aboriginal? Just asking.

  24. Americans really need to get over themselves and get a sense of humour.

    But coming from a country where 2 & A Half Men was the number one comedy that might take a looooong time ….

  25. essdotmouse does effectively parody american rappers, whose output is the most prejudiced in the modern music industry and who are all attempting to portray a street image while living in mansions…..nice one Chris Lilley

Leave a Reply