MovieChat Forums > Lilyhammer (2014) Discussion > Racist and xenophobic show

Racist and xenophobic show

posted 12 years ago by DeutschlandUberAlles
38 replies | jump to latest

This show is racist, xenophobic and presents Americans as being stupid, thuggish buffoons and Arab immigrants as being overly religious, unwilling to integrate into Norwegian culture and having bigoted, conservative attitudes.

Norwegians on the other hand are mostly presented as being intelligent, level-headed and as being hard done by for being expected to put up with all these thuggish, ignorant foreigners that come to live in Norway.

This show seems to take the angle that immigrants are basically a burden on Norwegian society and offer nothing to Norway as a country.

I am British and I can't imagine the BBC making a show like this because it would be considered racist to portray foreigners in that way.

[–] dandyif 12 years ago

This is a low-brow, dark and deadpan comedy show. Keep that in mind before you blow a gasket. It was never meant to portray anything but a made up reality. The xenophobic elements are intended to be there, and are right there in the open for everybody to see, and therein lies most of the comedy. Every character in the show shows some sort of stereotype. Some of those stereotypes you might miss because of cultural differences, but they are all most definitely stereotypes. The show mocks foreign elements, local elements, and most of all, the authorities. Would you accuse Little Britain or Monty Python of xenophobism based on their sketches about fat people, poor people, Asians or Africans? No, you wouldn't. It's because it's innate that the show is just silly. Same thing goes for Lilyhammer. Don't take it so seriously.

[–] JustCallMeAndy 12 years ago

Ive not seen this yet, ive been informed its a dark comedy, and within that framework, everything is permitted.
If you are so easily offended, i do hope you never see one of my movies.

[–] chex13 9 years ago

Except that the racist elements are not part of the comedy. The islamophobic storyline is horrendously boring and beaten to death, presented in a way that is not funny, there doesn't seem to be any attempt at comedy - just a constant 'the muslims are coming' undertone to every single episode.

[–] lydiagaebe-169-197169 10 years ago

I'd click the "LIKE" button if there was one in here!

[–] McNools 12 years ago

Not sure if we watched the same show here, but the show seemed to be making fun of norwegians more than anything, with the whole plot about suspecting him to be a terrorist and thinking he was from the middle-east etc. And the norwegians are mostly shown to be all goofy and simple-minded (except for some of them).

[–] Testpattern 12 years ago

@dandyif: You've hit the nail squarely on it's proverbial head. Thanks for such a
thoughtful and concise explanation.

@McNools: If memory serves (rarely does it, but if it does in this case) the
reason the officials targeted Frank as a terrorist is because they
had a photo of the ACTUAL terrorist (not a suspected terrorist, but
an albeit FICTIONAL, actual, known, terrorist) whose resemblance to
Frank was more than coincidental, because the photograph was
obviously Frank made-up to look more, uh, Middle Eastern. So, given
their limited resources and the apparent world-wide vigilance
regarding possible terrorism, the stage is purposely set for several
nuggets of comedy gold to be artistically mined.

If any stereotypes ever drawn were not to some degree true, they wouldn't be
funny. There has to be a kernel of truth to trigger either discomfort or
awkward surprise and that in turn, makes most folks laugh.

"Ordinary men avoid trouble. Extraordinary men turn it to their advantage."

[–] mac_alain 12 years ago

People like the OP who have let their train of thought be manipulated by God knows who, make me lose my faith in people

BTW smoking is bad for you

[–] youngian67 12 years ago

I thought Frank integrated very quickly and the cop paranoid about foreign terrorists is portrayed as a bit of a buffoon.

[–] lucasqvintus 12 years ago

What is with this always commenting on racism just shut up and watch or don't wach this awsome show! I dont know how it is in Norway but Try living in sweden for a while where its "rasist" to be swedish or have a swedish flag... i hate everyone but me, please die

[–] chakobsa 12 years ago

With a name like Deutschlanduberalles I'm surprised you're so offended about perceived racism.

'It's the harbour towns that the grey metal ships call home'.

[–] Kyumonryu 12 years ago

most stupid nick ever. You find this funny?

"...but they hung him anyway."
"Hanged, Ami. Your father was not a tapestry."

[–] MNorge 11 years ago

Well BBC is airing this series on BBC4 ...

[–] jimmyberluti1 11 years ago

Norway should be about %20 percent white. If you don't agree you are a racist.

[–] Suppeelsker 11 years ago

Hahahaha! Norwegians are portrayed like intelligent individuals in this show?? They have terrible accents and half of the characters are stupid! This is not racist, not xenophobic, it's a tv-show with a lot of humour..

[–] Skoony 11 years ago

Ikke mat trollet (hint: brukernavn)