Australian fans of the American comedy show 2 Broke Girls responded in uproar over the racist joke about Indigenous Australians, which aired on Tuesday evening.
During the season four episode, titled And the Fun Factory, a male character is shown chatting up an Australian woman online before explaining, "She's part Aboriginal but has a great personality", to a friend.
Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Reddit have been swamped with angry people, and those defending the racial slur joke.
"How dare you make such a racist disgusting joke about Aboriginals. If it had been said about an African American it would never have made it to screen. Not impressed!" wrote an Adelaide-based fan posted to the show's Facebook page.
"So, I like your show, but as an Aussie viewer, I was a little shocked by the 'she's half Aboriginal, but she has a great personality' line. Being politically incorrect for the sake of comedy is one thing. But the only punchline of THAT joke is 'aboriginal women are all ugly'. It was racist. It was clearly intended to be ironic, or 'so racist it's funny'. But it was not funny," wrote another.
Racially loaded jokes are not new for the TV show, which stars Kat Dennings (Thor, Californication), and Beth Behrs (American Pie, Monsters University) as two struggling waitresses.
The show regularly includes jokes about the appearance and culture of diner owner Han, who is of Asian descent.
In 2012, showrunner Michael Patrick King, who also directed Murphy Brown and Sex and the City, defended the show's racially charged "humour" and the willingness to walk the line between offensive and funny.
"People pull away from something if it's not in good taste. More and more people are leaning in to 2 Broke Girls," King said.
"I feel no need to pull away from the brand of 2 Broke Girls which is 'in-your-face girls.' It is ballsy. It is right in your face, and hopefully funny."
Seriously shocked by the racist comment about Australian Aboriginals on
#2BrokeGirls — Daniel Percival (@mrdpercival)
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
I'm wondering what
@warnerbrostv and
@2BrokeGirls have to say about the racist slur in
#2BrokeGirls episode that aired in Australia tonight? — #Ally (@__ally___)
February 17, 2015
Fairfax Media
