Image via Princess Pictures /  Australian Broadcasting Corporation //

Wonder if more titles will be taken down in the future…

Ever since the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests against the poor treatment of African-Americans and other people of colour in the world, millions upon millions of people have been forced to reflect on the treatment and depiction of black people and people of colour in popular culture. As a result, various celebrities have been taken to task for their past racial depictions, forcing numerous public apologies and acknowledgements of wrongdoing.

This reflection has also extended to the streaming world, with streaming platform Netflix deciding to remove four comedy shows by Aussie performer Chris Lilley from it’s Australian and New Zealand services. Although Netflix has offered no direct comment on the matter, they have confirmed that the four shows have been removed permanently.

The shows in question include Angry Boys, Summer Heights High, We Can Be Heroes, Jonah From Tonga (arguable his most well known character). Lilley used blackface in Angry Boys to portray an African-American rapper named S.mouse, as well as brownface in Jonah From Tonga to play Tongan high-schooler Jonah Takalua. He’s also played several Asian characters.

Lilley isn’t the only actor to have his shows pulled, with the BBC sketch comedy show Little Britain being pulled just yesterday from BBC iPlayer. The show saw creators Matt Lucas and David Walliams play various non-white characters include Lucas playing a transexual Thai woman named Ting Tong, as well as Walliams acting in blackface while portraying a woman named Desire DeVere.

“Times have changed since Little Britain first aired so it is not currently available on BBC iPlayer,” a BBC spokesperson said. Times are definitely changing, and it’ll be interesting to see what other titles will be challenged or taken down as a result of the current cultural climate…