Review: TVNZ's That's A Bit Racist doco is nothing new

 TVNZ REVIEW: About four years ago, Māori TV started making one of the best current affairs/comedy shows New Zealand has ever seen
Now TVNZ, with its special series That’s a Bit Racist, is trying to take on the mantle
Those were the days before The Project, before Jeremy Wells stole Paul Holmes’ sign off and and before Anika Moa got her own show
The show was called Brown Eye. It featured Taika Waititi, sometimes in a wig, alongside comedian Jamaine Ross and anchor Nathan Rarere
The trio tackled serious issues in a light-hearted way. Their stories were often enlightening or at least explained a new perspective
If you’d watched that programme, then Waititi’s much talked about statement that New Zealand is “racist as f
” should not have surprised you. The weekly programme had a classroom spoof where Waititi explained colonisation to kids, in studio they interviewed people about the effects of that colonisation: such as child poverty and mental health issues
READ MORE: * Documentary filmed before Christchurch attack finds inequality in New Zealand * Hosking’s controversial Maori comments cleared by BSA * TVNZ to review complaints about Mike Hosking’s comments on Andrew Judd * Bailey Mackey reveals his Brown Eye If nothing else, the show could make you laugh when you may otherwise be crying
What I’m trying to say is, it was bloody good and should never have been canned. TVNZ’s latest release,

a two-part series on racism which started on Sunday night and finishes next Sunday night, is a worthy attempt at education which reveals nothing new
It doesn’t go far enough. Like Brown Eye, TVNZ had plenty of public vox pops, a kids’ skit, comedians and interesting interviews
But it tried to do too much, and in an attempt to keep things nice and light it missed cut-through moments and risked downplaying important points
The first of the series, an hour-long episode, packed in a lot of New Zealand history and a lot of racism alongside spoofs of Play School, celebrity interviews and an interesting story about Murupara
 It’s a chaotic television formula which has blended current affairs with a skit show and a video you may have watched in year 10 social studies
There is also claymation. The woman behind the programme, Jane Andrews, told The Listener she wanted to take a more casual approach to explaining to New Zealanders why this country is in fact racist af
“Bashing people over the head never works. We’ve tried to make it something that people can watch and learn a little bit of New Zealand history,” she said
But her interview with TV Guide, in which they talked white supremacy and alt-right fringe groups, made it seem like they were taking a hard look at New Zealand society
They did not. The editor did well to hold TVNZ, a station hardly devoid of racism, to account
They included archive footage of Holmes, Paul Henry and other reporters as they gallivanted prejudice and bigotry on air
The documentary maker also interviewed Don Brash, who remains as ludicrous as ever
It’s bizarre that this person, a lifelike caricature of racism, goes into interviews of his own freewill to be shown as a manifestation of this country’s problems
Why is he so well known? Media in New Zealand obviously has a lot to answer for. But there were no answers on Sunday night
With more time, a less gimmicky version of That’s A Bit Racist could have revealed some hard truths about life in New Zealand but I doubt it said anything we didn’t know already
 Or at least, I hope it didn’t? Perhaps the most shocking part of the first episode was its interviews with young Kiwis
Many people didn’t know when Te Tiriti was signed, they didn’t know who was on the $50 note, they didn’t seem to grasp that New Zealand has some really concerning economic disparities drawn on racial lines
If this documentary is able to introduce New Zealanders to their own country, then well done
To finish this review, here’s a quiz. It’s short and mirrors the questions asked during the first episode of That’s A Bit Racist
Give it a go and let’s see how much we have to learn about the country we live in
That’s A Bit Racist screened Sunday, July 7 on TVNZ1. Its second episode is on July 14 8
30pm – 9.30pm. Glenn McConnell is a columnist and entertainment reporter.

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