Babakiueria

June 30, 2010 7:00 PM

"It's a barbecue area." "They call this: Babakiueria!"
posted by Fiasco da Gama (11 comments total)

Still in the process of watching, but folks with anthropology backgrounds will definitely recognize a similar tone to that in the famous Nacirema article (PDF).
posted by barnacles at 7:17 PM on June 30, 2010 [3 favorites]

I don't have an anthropology background and it struck me right away as a take on the Nacerima, an article I read in a really boring class in '94. I'd like to see a study showing that these types of messages actually do change whitey's perception of other peoples (and the world around them) in recognition of them as equals in society and not just a convenient way of thinking that benefits whitey.
posted by jsavimbi at 7:41 PM on June 30, 2010

That was a remarkable film, and a pretty nice satire of many ethnographic films, to be certain. Still, it's astounding how little has changed in the last 25 years and pretty much everything the cops were saying/doing could easily be imagined today.
posted by barnacles at 7:41 PM on June 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

I was just preparing the same post

Don't damn me, damn UbuRoivas who sent me back on an excursion to the haircuts of my childhood. (Thanks Ubu)
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 7:58 PM on June 30, 2010

So, so great. Thanks UbuRoivas and Fiasco da Gama!
posted by catchingsignals at 8:20 PM on June 30, 2010

The adolescent males of Babakiueria are given pink pants to wear. It is a very important cultural rite of passage called "The 80s".
posted by Chipmazing at 11:21 PM on June 30, 2010

Really, really good.
posted by bystander at 1:07 AM on July 1, 2010

Babakiueria, 1986: 'We're doing everything we can to help them . We've created 32 jobs in the last year, and built seven new houses.'

SIHIP, 2010: '...the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program (SIHIP) in the Northern Territory that has seen seven houses completed in two years...'

I'm so glad we've created a program that's half as effective as an imaginary program created almost quarter of a century ago.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 1:13 AM on July 1, 2010 [3 favorites]

Geoffrey Atherden, who wrote this, is one of the sharpest minds in Australian television. I have yet to be disappointed by anything he's done.
posted by flabdablet at 2:31 AM on July 1, 2010

Good stuff; thanks for posting it.

Another film along these lines, but from the Inuit perspective, is "Qallunaat! Why White People Are Funny".

For books, there is the archaeological satire, Motel of the Mysteries.
posted by gudrun at 7:28 AM on July 1, 2010

I saw this in my native literature class in 1995-6 and it made a huge impression on me. I'm delighted to see it again!
posted by Hildegarde at 9:38 AM on July 1, 2010