Aussie humour isn't restricted to Aussies only - The Castle (1999) Discussion

[–] 19 years ago

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Skit-House was a terrible show. It really blurred the line between stupidity and 'humour.' The best Australian comedy show was probably the old Micallef (?) show on the ABC. Currently, though, Comedy Inc. is hilarious, yet not without it's real dud skits(which there are many). It also has a tendancy to be a little on the 'off' side. It's at it's best with satire and impersonations.

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[–] Winston_fist 19 years ago

Australians and British have a very similar sense of humour. Whilst their productions are often a little different they both understand each others shows.

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[–] wormy_570 18 years ago

I disagree... I think Comedy Inc is shocking. Although, granted it's much better than skithouse. But god, that isn't saying much.

The Micallef Program aside, Australian skit shows have been hopeless since the last episode of Full Frontal.

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[–] Paramnesia22 19 years ago

I love aussie humour. I'm not a fan of british humour though and I really don't understand some American humour. Nothing beats humour like the castle. I personally love Merrick and Rosso, I can't wait for it to come back on.

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[–] TheGame12 19 years ago

I'm Australian and I do think most Australian humor is restriced to us... I doubt many people from outside of Oz would understand a lot of things in The Castle. Heck, even I don't understand some of it.

I'm sorry, but to me, most Australian 'funny' shows or movies are moronic. It's just lame, childish, and not funny... Australian humor doesn't involve funny jokes, just acting stupid. I agree the early Fast Forward stuff, some of that was funny... But the rest is quite embarassing, I wished The Castle wasn't released outside here as it's as bad as Steve Irwin (as in they thinking that's how we are.) I've never met or known anyone as stupid as the people in The Castle, and unfortunately because of this movie a lot of people think we are.

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[–] ivegottheskill 19 years ago

I think Comedy Inc is a lot better than Skit-house, but after seeing both of them, I must say that the old shows like Fast Forward and Full Frontal (both great sketch comedy shows) can never be beaten

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[–] Oriental-Princess 19 years ago

The thing that got me was the aussie accents in the movie....please dont tell me all Aussies sound like that!!! It's so...strong :|

I dunno, i'm proud to be Australian, but some stereotypes are plain embarrassing.... 'G'day mate' and kangaroos bouncin' round the place, meat pies, the accent... It's all SO exaggerated on film, but then pplz from around the world believe it!

~ Angel ~

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] theseaqueen 18 years ago

Thats rubbish, Its annoys me when people go on about how "embarrassing" and "exaggerated" some of the people portrayed in these australian films are. With the exception of "kangaroos bouncin' round the place" (which by the way is never in the film) there ARE people like that is this country!

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[–] s4088035 18 years ago

This kind of stuff bugs me, people saying that Australians like the Kerrigans just don't exist. Australians are stereotyped very badly by non-Australians who know little about the country but the fact is there are a lot of people like the people in the Castle. You want to deny it because that's all foreigners see us as but there really are people like that, I know plenty, I love bogans like the Kerrigans, they're great fun and good-natured.

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[–] Hybz83 18 years ago

I can't understand why people think the accents are exaggerated. I know plenty of people that have accents that strong. I live in Melbourne and I think we've come to generally have a slightly euro-influenced accent as opposed to people living in more outer-suburbs and rural areas due to the populace inhabiting Melbourne. I don't think the characters in The Castle portay anything untrue, nor do I think they'd be anything to be ashamed of. People realise that it's a tale of simple people, that's where most of the comedy lies.

Can't believe someone on this thread actually said that Rove was funny?
Perhaps if you're 11 years old he is.

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[–] camo_be_thy_name 19 years ago

im aussie, and hav pretty broad taste in what I think is funny.some ppl i know disagree with my taste however, whilst some totally agree.
british comedy is my ultimate fave - Fawlty Towers, anything by the Python crew, Little Britain and my absolute fave, The Office. Ricky Gervais and John Cleese are freakin awesome.
but then again, American comedy is awesome too. Seinfeld and Raymond being two of my fave shows ever.waynes world and ferris bueller are always quoted by me.and, dare i ask th question, where would our generation be without th simpsons?what would we talk abot?almost every conversation i ever hav has a simpsons quote thrown in there, or something is said that can be related to a specific episode!sad i know, but true.
as an aussie, i love th humour, but...i hate th over th top, stereotypical aussie image that even our entertainment industry is presenting on screen.i live in th city, hav only seen kangaroos on visits to th country(very rare), only seen koalas at nature reserves and nobody i know has a long aussie drawl wen they say "gday maaaate".
the castle is in my opinion sheer brilliance.its subtle and dry, which i love. the characters and actors playing them are great.hilarious script and produced by a great team.cheers to its success, and heres to many more great australian films!

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[–] sadly_misunderstood 18 years ago

guys, it's a big island, with alot of people, and people all have personalities. So were all gonna have different idea's of what we think is funny. Just cause you guys are from austrailia doesn't mean youre gonna think all the comidies from austrialia are funny, or even understand them all. But there is the ocasianal movie that most of a country thinks is funny.
Canada- "strange brew"

I think it's funny

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] zingzangspillip 18 years ago

The best Australian sketch comedy show ever is The Late Show.

When you smoke, all you are doing is paying someone else for the right to commit suicide.

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[–] KillerPython 18 years ago

Im australian and and i think our humour is crap. The only good one i've seen is probably the castle. something like scrubs or family guy is the best comedy. Rove live is alright which is australian.

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[–] m4ps 18 years ago

KillerPython you sound rather odd. Rove is "alright?" Hardly.

Australian humour is good when someone who's actually funny gets heard.

Funny:
Full Frontal, Fast Forward, The late show, Chasers war on everything, Chopper, The Castle, Thank God you're here, and a few other things.

Not Funny:
Any sketch show that's on at the moment, Rove, etc.

Our humour is similar to English humour (more so than American humour, but then again - what IS American humour?)

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[–] oltmansg-2 18 years ago

I'm from the Southern-US... and I have shown the movie to several of my friends from the south. All of us agreed that this movie, script and all, could have been shot in the south using southern accents and it would have been the exact same movie, and wouldn't have lost anything in the translation from one culture to the other. The movie may originate in Australia, but it resonates very well in the South I think.

I have quite a bit of contact with people from Melbourne in my work (we have an Aussie sales office based in Melbourne), and they have told me that the movie is very Melbourne and that it's generally less accepted in Sydney. They all meld very well in my group of Southern friends, so I'd think that you Aussies from Melbourne would fit in real well around here (northern Alabama).

This movie is easily one of my top 10 favorites. :)

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[–] Mincom 18 years ago

I think that may be too much of a culture shock for the Melburnians.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] keenan_chad 18 years ago

p1: I'm hungry
p2: Hi, i'm Pete, nice ta meet ya!
or
p1:i feel like fish 'n' chips
p2:you sure dont look like em!?

this is an example of what i call "dad jokes", most aussies are brought up on this crap... and we love it.
I believe Aussie humour is bit of an aquired taste. If you date it back to the late 1800's with the likes of Henry Lawson's short stories (take a look at 'the Loaded dog' :P); it was set that us Australians have our own destinct style. I think (at least to ourselves) that we specialise in 'black humour' and the comical criticising of other cultures and especially our own. we have to admit that 90% of Australian films dont really cut it in the big world of cinematography (mostly due to low budgetting) but i think us and a bit of the world have warmed to this rugged style, colloquial humour and cheesy storylines. They are iconically Australian, and they should remain this way.

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[–] vic_1 17 years ago

best aussie comedy show is the glass house hands down, damn those commi's in parliment axing it, rove can kiss my left not

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[–] ShirinShirinShirin 17 years ago

the office is the best british comedey ever i love it!!! apparently they tried to make an american version...i feel it will fail miserably..

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[–] WhataBastard 17 years ago

If you want to see an awful australian "Comedy" then try finding the wedge

This is for the people that aren't Australian.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] MrPrudence04 17 years ago

"the office is the best british comedey ever i love it!!! apparently they tried to make an american version...i feel it will fail miserably.."

Dude, do you live in a cave? The American version has been around for quite a while and has been very successful over there. Granted it isn't nearly as good as the British one, but is still quite entertaining.

The people behind this (The D Generation) have been some of the greatest comedy writers this country has EVER produced. That said, they are mostly Melbournians so it's no surprise to me that it's "Melbourne humour".

Aside from the odd reference, I'm sure it would translate well to Americans with the yobbo(occa) Australian/Southern American correlation.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] swalsh137 17 years ago

I don't think that the characters were stupid. Every country has people that are not that hip and sophisticated, but that does not mean that they are unappealing!

I am from the United States and there are a ton of shows that make Americans look ridiculous. I don't think people would judge the whole country based on these shows, though.

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[–] tha_ej 17 years ago

Funny:
Full Frontal, Fast Forward, The late show, Chasers war on everything, Chopper, The Castle, Thank God you're here, and a few other things.

With you on that. No coincidence that 3 of those listed are Working Dog productions. Can add another WD production to the list as well - I miss The Panel. Comedy Company should be mentioned as well.

I also have to clear up the myth that The Castle is "Melbourne humour", what utter crap (and typical Melbourne elitist attitude ;)). I'm from Sydney and I don't know anyone who doesn't find it hilarious.

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[–] swalsh137 17 years ago

I thought that this was a great movie.

Although I am American, I grew up watching British comedies and find them much better than our shows (except for Seinfeld!!) I find Australian humor very similar to English humor.

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[–] ShirinShirinShirin 17 years ago

anyway i consider not succeeding to meet the standards of the first office as 'miserably failing' anyway i believe anyone who has seen the first one is unlikely ro like the american version...it was probably successful because people thought it was new, original and unmatchable...

p.s yes i do live in a cave...is that a problem?

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[–] WhataBastard 17 years ago

It seems to me that:

American comedy is more slapstick.
English comedy is more one line jokes and stuff
Australian comedy ussually says what we're all thinkingabout something or the complete opposite, Take "We Can Be Heroes" for example -Ja'mie King saying about the card she recieved from the World Vision girl that she sponsered saying that it is very nice, she's syill a crap drawer though.

Does anyone else agree? i bet you don't

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[–] WhataBastard 17 years ago

Oh yeah, and i wonder when the new line of successful commercial COmedy shows will come back, like te late 80's early 90's shows. It would have to come eventually.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] WhataBastard 17 years ago

Upper-class aussies aren't very Aussie at all, They are still born Australian but don't act like it. If that makes sense, I'm not saying people overseas are the upper-class aussies or anything like that.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] VWangel_87 17 years ago

Yes , I agree The Castle is an extremly realistic working class family
I swear the character of Daryl Kerrigan is based on my dad ,they are so alike it is freaky(even their jobs)
Also our family constantly has the ive gotta move the camira to get to the commodore to get the boat out problem in our garage.
The first time i saw the castle my whole family thought it was absolutly stupid , but after watching it a second time we took a long hard look at ourselves and realised that how similar our family is to the kerrigans. Now it is one of our fav films.
upper class people probaly don't relate to the characters and thats why they don't enjoy it .

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] ParnoldP 8 years ago

Personally I'm from Australia and I don't enjoy most of the humour that originates here, I much prefer American comedy.

"Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?"

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