“The Simpsons of the South Pacific:” Transnational media and

diasporic cultural productionKatalin Lustyik

Ithaca College, NY, USA&

Philippa K Smith Auckland U. of Technology, New Zealand

bro’Town• 1st season: 2004 fall, TV3

• “phenomenally successful” among both viewers and critics

• Most successful NZ produced prime time TV series

• Created by the four-man comedy group, The Naked Samoans

• notion of open-ended kinship embedded in its very title – you don’t have to be blood to be a bro’— “serves as much needed bridge form cultural specificity to universal humanism”

• Branding Bro’Town

• International success

Morningside 4 Life!

Global Fame?

When we started it, one of the visions we had in our heads was the thought that one day little children in Iceland would

be saying 'not even ow' and eating their sardine

sandwiches out of Bro' Town lunch boxes.That would be

nice…

Oscar Kightley

Creation• “The Simpsons of the South Pacific”

“so people could get a handle on what they would be watching”

• a result of interplay of transnational media and diaspora cultural production

• The Simpsons in New Zealand (1994-present)

• “highly satirical tone aimed at a more mature audience than other cartoons'' (NZ Broadcasting Authority Standards)

• bro’Town scheduled in an 8 p.m. time slot, right after The Simpsons

• Prime time animation: representing some of the most daring cultural and political satire

in television history

Pacific People in NZ

• NZ total population: 4.1 million -- 80% European descent, 14.7% Maori, 6.6% Asian, 6.5% Pacific Island origins

• One in 16 people in NZ is of Pacific ethnicity, but most visible ethnic group in NZ

• Auckland: largest Polynesian city

• Samoans: 50% of Pacific people,

• Negotiating identity: ‘a New Zealander with Samoan parents,’ proud of background but a ‘New Zealander first and foremost’

Context

• Bro’Town maintains a clearly Pacific flavor (e.g. topics, characters, music, imagery, vernacular)

• reluctance to categorise it as a Samoan or Pacific program: it “has moved on from being a programme for and by Polynesians”

• “The first thing that people think is that it’s a Polynesian show. The themes and everything, it’s NZ, this is about us. We’re quite proud of that: That it’s for us, by us, it’s a first. It’ll only get better from here.”

• for ‘Pakeha’ New Zealanders to be watching a show “created and written by Polynesians with a unique Pacific tint in their humour” is a major breakthrough in the Samoan culture gaining recognition in New Zealand

• strongest appeal to Pacific Peoples (particularly Samoans) who like seeing their everyday culture on TV

Concluding Thoughts• bro’Town created a new type of New Zealand comedy:

-- genre of US animated programs (e.g. South Park, The Simpsons)

-- aspects of traditional Samoan humor (fale aitu), • incorporates a multi-cultural impression of New Zealand • Supported by NZOA, the Government-appointed broadcasting agency charged with

the responsibility of reflecting and developing New Zealand identities in the 21st century

• Pushing boundaries: addressing topics and issues rare in NZ’s mainstream media

• Despite reaching unprecedented heights of political incorrectness, not a single complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority

• Controversies (e.g. commercialism, humor)• Future Research (e.g., Aboriginal People’s TV Network, CA)