2 Broke Girls, a show figuratively overflowing with offensive stereotypes, has finally earned the ire of its fans Down Under after an episode aired that included a joke made at the expense of Indigenous Australians.
Four seasons into the adventures of two white protagonists and their army of cartoonish supporting characters, the show threw in an off-the-cuff dig at Aboriginal people's physical appearance during And The Fun Factory, which aired on Tuesday night on Channel Nine.
According to Fairfax (well, we didn't watch it), the scene in question depicted "a male character ... chatting up an Australian woman online before explaining, 'She's part Aboriginal but has a great personality,' to a friend".
The reaction from Australian fans has been deservedly swift (and is growing), yet in some ways pretty belated. Stateside, the show has been the target of wide criticism for its overt racial insensitivity since it first started airing in 2011, yet a lot of the people expressing outrage now seemed to feel like this was the first obvious time the show had been insensitive about race.
Well, at least they noticed eventually.
Really disappointed to hear the Aboriginal joke in #2BrokeGirls not even going to DVR it anymore. #CrossedTheLine.
— Kahliaandjake Lynch (@KahliaandJake) February 20, 2015
@Channel9 I was extremely shocked and disappointed with the Aboriginal racism at the start of this show #notfunny #2BrokeGirls
— Andrew (AJ) Portbury (@ajportbury) February 17, 2015
“@ajportbury: @Channel9 I was shocked and disappointed w the Aboriginal racism at the start of this show #2BrokeGirls” #cancel2brokegirls
— larry mOWLen jr (@marquee_o) February 17, 2015
Some fans were even attuned to the offensiveness back in January, when the episode originally aired in the US:
Whoa. I don't feel good about that Aboriginal reference #2BrokeGirls @BethBehrs @OfficialKat @2BrokeGirls
— Lauren Randall (@lcr9690) January 6, 2015
"She's part aboriginal, but has a great personality." BUT? Alright #2BrokeGirls you fucked up #racism
— julia (@voldemortsn0se) January 7, 2015
#2brokegirls episode with the "part aboriginal but has a great personality" joke probably won't get shown in Australia. #fingerscrossed
— C. McHam (@cheesesource) January 6, 2015
A person can dream.
