Summer Heights High

I have been able to view in the past two weeks two DVD box set series of ABC drama which I had missed when I was overseas in Borneo.

Both are absolutely exceptional.

I thought the first one was unique until I saw the second one!

The first one was 'Summer Heights High' about life in an Australian High school.

The second was "We can be heroes" about a competition for 'Australian of the year'

Both are mockumentaries

The remarkable thing about these two dramas is that they both take the mickey out of 'Dinky-Di' Australian culture.

This for me is a totally new phenomenon.

They also attack the banality of the media.

I do not remember being able to watch this sort of stuff fifteen years ago before I left Australia for Borneo.

These dramas are just SO funny!

This man Chris Lilley is surely an acting genius.

I believe he is a recluse and shuns publicity, and this does not surprise me at all because I imagine he will not be popular with some Aussies.

He savagely attacks the vanity of the Australian establishment culture.

For me this is a sign of a maturity-a coming of age of Australia.

At last they are BEGINNING to laugh at themselves - and not at other people.

This is genuine humour.

I feel 'grounded' -an Australian- for the first time since my arrival twenty years ago.

summer heights high humour in Australia

At last, I have found some real humour in Australia.

I once knew a friend (not a Pom) overseas who revealed a quite commonly held antagonism to Australians (which most Aussies seem to be unaware of) when he said

"Australians are just a just a bunch of people who laugh at other people and other people's misfortunes"

I know what he means. How any times have I seen Aussies roaring with laughter at someone else's expense. Yet, they almost never seem to laugh at themselves.

Finally, I've found something completely different.

"Summer Heights High" is a DVD box set about life in an Australian High school.

At last I've seen some real humour.

It's taken me twenty years to find it but it has been worth the wait.

Some friends of mine gave it to me and my son and daughter have now bought it.

If you see it in the shops be sure to buy it -you will not be disappointed.

I have actually laughed out loud sitting watching it on my own in my little lair here. As you probably know by now it takes quite a lot to make me laugh. (It does help if you have a bottle of Coopers handy , but it is not essential for the humour to be appreciated.)

Aussies laughing at themselves-and NOT mocking others?

Am I joking?

No, indeed I'm not.

There is hope.