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Although what constitutes Australian identity is often debated, everyone who lives here has an understanding of the reality of being in Australian. We live in a developed, democratic, educated and multicultural society. Nevertheless, media representations of Australian identify often express much narrower, more stereotypical understanding of what it means to be Australian.

Bart vs Australia

For Australians, 'Bart vs Australia' is probably one of the most notorious episodes of The Simpsons ever. In an interview on The Panel, Harry Shearer publicly admitted that it wasn't their finest hour.

In this episode, Bart fools an Australian boy into accepting a $900 collect call. At the request of the government, he and his family are flown to Australia to make a public apology.

When it was released, many people were offended by the episode which is an extremely stereotypical representation of Australian culture and identity. As one fan of the program noted: "I really don't want to sound like a someone who can't take a joke but Bart vs. Australia really pissed me off. The episode was kinda funny but I don't really appreciate my country being portrayed in such a poor and inaccurate way." After viewing this episode, one of the program's American fans wrote: "Message to all disgruntled Australians: We love your country. We think it's really grand and filled with intelligent,good-hearted people. Nary a single moron in the bunch. But: THE SIMPSONS LAST NIGHT WAS NOT A GODDAM DOCUMENTARY, FER CRISSAKE."

Clearly, the episode is not a representation of reality. Look around and you'll notice a distinct lack of knife-wielding bushmen with exaggerated accents (even in regional centres, you'll struggle to find individuals like the ones portrayed in this program - I know because I used to live in one of the smallest, hickville towns around).

'Bart vs Australia' is a satirical representation of Australian culture and identity. As student of the media, we need to consider why Australian culture been represented in this way.

This representation has been shaped, in part, by the narrative structure of sitcoms. Because of their length, which doesn't allow a great deal of time for character development, sitcoms rely heavily on stereotypical characterisation. To be funny, characters must be instantly recognisable. This episode is a case in point - drawing well known stereotypes from popular culture.

In the episode, Australia is represented as a remote, sparsely populated country. Early in the episode, the audience is introduced to one of the first Australian characters: a man named Bruno whose son was duped into accepting the collect call from Bart. Bruno is understandably annoyed.

Bruno: Ooh! Ah, that's it. I'm going to report this to me member of parliament. [yells out window] Hey, Gus! I got something to report to you.

Gus: That's a bloody outrage, it is! I want to take this all the way to the Prime Minister. [they go down to a lake] Hey! Mr. Prime Minister! Andy!

Andy: [floating naked on an inner tube with a beer] Eh, mates! What's the good word?

Australia's status as a British colony is referred to throughout the episode, while Bart's family is sightseeing, Marge and Lisa find a plaque that reads: "Australia was originally founded as a settlement for British convicts." Lisa turns around to see a group of Australians reaching for her camera. They slink away and approach another target. When The Simpsons visit a local pub, Bart - who is fiddling with his pocket knife - is approached by a man who bears more than a passing resemblance to Paul Hogan.

Man: You call that a knife? This is a knife.
Bart: That's not a knife, that's a spoon.
Man: All right, all right, you win, heh. I see you've played Knifey-Spooney before

This scene is an obvious intertextual reference to Crocodile Dundee, a representation that features similarly stereotypical characters. While at the pub, Marg and Homer have a conversation with the 'quintessentially' Australian bartender.

Homer: Hey! Give me one of those famous giant beers I've heard so much about.
[bartender puts a huge beer in front of him]
Bartender: Something wrong, yank?
Homer: No. It's pretty big...I guess.
Marge: I'll just have a cup of coffee.
Bartender: Beer, it is.
Marge: No, I said "coffee".
Bartender: "Beer"?
Marge: [slowly] Coff-ee.
Bartender: Be-er?
Marge: C -- O --
Bartender: B -- E --

This is another stereotype reminiscent of one of the early scenes in Crocodile Dundee when Australians are represented as beer swilling, larrakins. Indeed, all of the Australian characters are represented as old fashioned, slightly dimwitted whose slang is almost unintelligible. Take this exchange between Marge and the owners of a souvenir shop.

Owner: [sweeping a bunch of toads out] Get out, get out! Shoo, shoo. Get out of here, yuck! These bloody things are everywhere. They're in the lift, in the lorry, in the bond wizard, and all over the malonga gilderchuck.
Clerk: They're like kangaroos, but they're reptiles, they is.
Marge: We have them in America. They're called bullfrogs.
Clerk: What? That's an odd name. I'd have called them "chazzwazzers".

Towards the end of the episode, when Bart insults the Prime Mister and the family fly to safety, angry Australian pelt the helicopter with cans of Fosters.

For a complete transcript of the episode, visit: http://www.snpp.com/episodes/2F13.html