What do non New Zealanders think of this movie?

I'm Spaniard and I loved it! I think I understand most of kiwi humor I've seen in the film and I love it, it's very funny.

Well, in fact I watched many films from New Zealand and I love all of them. But most of films from NZ never come to Spain. Some of the films were released in Spain from NZ that I remember in the last 10 years: River Queen, The Lovely Bones, Black Sheep, Whale Rider...and I think that's all.

I feel there would be several things that would go over non-kiwis heads. Indeed, even kiwis who weren't alive during the 1980s and have no idea just how massive the social upheavals were that occurred during that decade in NZ.

There's some things that may seem odd to a non-kiwi; like Boy and his brother and cousins all living with their nana. However, in Maori culture this is very normal. I taught at a school with ~70% Maori: out of a class of 30, around 20 would be Maori and perhaps 4 or 5 of them would be living with their grandparents not parents. It's not unusual.

They're mostly little things, but perhaps they add up to a greater message.
For example, the only two times the TV is shown (iirc) is first a clip from a comedy show of a Maori bloke in a dress: said Maori bloke was Billy T James, a great NZ comedian. Not only was he hilarious (though very NZ-oriented, so perhaps much of his humour would be lost on non-kiwis), he was really the first Maori comedian to make it big in NZ - he had his own TV show for several years.
That Taika showed a Billy T James clip perhaps was a nod towards a great comedian who undoubtedly influenced Taika, as well showing us just how much change was occurring in NZ to Maori at that time. Billy T James did pioneer Maori becoming more acceptable on TV.

The 2nd clip was the 'Goodnight Kiwi' which was an animation TVNZ showed at the end of programming each night. Back then, there was just 2 TV stations - both govt owned - and they stopped broadcasting at midnight. The 'Goodnight Kiwi' was something of an institution, which would bring back nostalgic memories for those of us old enough to remember him (and his cat). I still remember the first time I was allowed to stay up to watch kiwi - I was really excited. Literally, people would write into TVNZ to request they show the clip earlier just so their kids could see it!
Perhaps Taika was giving those of us who lived through those times a nostalgic trip as well as reminding us how different and simpler that era was, despite being just 25 years ago. To give another example of how different NZ was back then: in 1984 there was still no weekend trading. Late night was Friday (by 'late' I mean up to 6, sometimes 7(!), pm) and no shops allowed open on the weekend. When the govt first introduced legislation to allow Saturday morning trading, there were huge protests. Now of course we have 50+ TV channels and shops open to all hours, everyday. The Past is truly a different country.


The Thriller-haka at the end had 'Poi E' as its song. This is a song which would mean nothing to anyone who didn't grow up in NZ in the 1980s. It was a #1 hit in NZ - using this song in the movie again, like Billy T, showed how Maori were becoming more accepted and mainstream by the 1980s.

There's more to it than just this though. The song itself was written as a protest against the economic policies of the time. Up until the early 1980s, most small towns, like Waihau, survived on usually just one major industry - usually either forestry or the freezing works (abattoir). You didn't need much education to work in either which meant, as Maori were invariably at the bottom of the education scrapheap, these were Maori-dominated industry. It wasn't uncommon to have entire whanau (extended family) working there; even 3 generations of the same family. These were jobs for life.
Unfortunately the new government at the time decided these were uneconomical to continue operation and suddenly shut most down (a la Thatcher and the mines in Britain around the same time). Result was those small towns died. The town that 'Poi E' came from used to have a Freezing works but by 1984 had something like 90% unemployment (and 90% Maori).
The govt policies of the 1980s disproportionately affected Maori, and not for the good. They destroyed small towns where most Maori lived, driving them from their roots into town (which is something touched upon in 'Boy'), creating intergenerational unemployment and poverty, drove them into gangs and cut their link to their ancestral lands. Those policies created Jack the Muss in the 'Once were Warriors' (which if you haven't watched you really should: be warned it's not a comedy like 'Boy' though it could be viewed as a very sad sequel to 'Boy': Jake could well be what Boy grew up into.)
Having 'Poi E' on the soundtrack would not mean anything to a non-kiwi but you can see it has a lot of meaning to a kiwi, and it's no accident it was included. Taika was definitely saying something there. 1984 could be seen as the turning point for Maori and NZ in a lot of ways; some positive, some negative.

I could go on, but I guess you get the picture and most of you have probably been bored to tears/sleep by now anyway!