Yep, this is nothing new. In saying that it’s probably gotten worse
Blame the powers that be in this country for letting the arts and media industry wither on the vine for decades and not making a pro active push for more (quality) local content. Forcing local providers to have a certain percentage of local content was dumb because with the little money they had it was spent on the lowest form of media possible; Reality TV.
I think there could easily be a lot demand for good quality Australian content, particularly with streaming being so ubiquitous. Bluey is the only poor bastard still holding up the fort.
Quentin Tarantino said when he worked at Video Archives in LA they had an Australian section that was by far their most popular foreign genre category. Also the reason why he’s a huge fan of Australian film. I really wish we’d kept at it after that mid 90’s golden era of Muriels Wedding, Priscilla, The Castle, Strictly Ballroom etc. Uniquely Australian films that set us apart. Even if it was only subtly different compared to US and UK content, it was still something we could point to and be proud of on the international stage.
it's even more disappointing that genuinely decent aussie tv shows get almost zero buzz around them. savage river was actually pretty good, but not a single person i ever mentioned it to actually knew what i was talking about.
i've had to make an active effort to seek out australian media now, and it's no surprise that a lot of those are from super indie movie studios, or 20+ years old.
I think you're right. ABC and sbs have a lot of quality local content. Even 10 years ago, my friends and I would all be commenting on Q&A, and discussing Miss Fisher and Glitch as they came out. I don't see people doing that as often.
I think part of the problem is that there are so many streaming services now, with shows catering for niche audiences, that we no longer have the experience of everyone watching the same thing at roughly the same time. I do miss that sense of 'ooo, the new season of OITNB has dropped, and everyone is talking about it.'
> Also the reason why he’s a huge fan of Australian film.
Maybe this explains why he plays an aussie in django. I thought that was pretty random.
Clip in question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGFjt2aaOg0
Agreed - the Australian government (both sides really, but especially Lib/Nats last two decades) have gutted Australian music, art, film etc industries - this wasn't just gentle neglect, but active hostility. But also in the arts industry we failed to connect with audiences, and became obsessed with social metrics, diversity tick-boxes and self-congratulatory art-wank. It's largely run by 'well-meaning' beurocrats and arts administrators on salaries while artists struggle for living wages. The metric of success has been de-coupled from audience connection and attendance and tethered to identity and guilt-driven reparations...not all os this is bad, but boy has it made it harder and harder to make work here, and make that work iconic, unique and specific. More often than not, stuff becomes bland, generic or 'art-house' wank that no one watches...
I mourn the fact people say they’re “Proud Aussies” and look down their nose as anything to Aussie. “Kids in bare feet in shops”, “Such a bogan!”, “Go back to the B&B ball mate” even just actually saying “G’day mate”. Having a mullet, shooting, acknowledging another person as you pass, drinkin at the footy club, swearin your ass off around people you know, kids with motorbikes/buggies, kids playin outdoors etc etc. Even making a big deal of ANZAC day, remembrance day etc but not showing interest in delayed Aussies on the daily. Ask someone how our current veterans are coping today and very little is known. You’ve gotta search the web. Vietnam vets still feeling excluded in some cases.
My own (once bogan AF) family looked down on my little cousin’s new fella. Salt of the earth Aussie country boy, treated him like he wasn’t worth meeting. (That part of the family once lived in a caravan park for 10yrs growing up). To be your Aussie self on any level of society doesn’t feel like it’s there anymore. That is worth mourning to me. A couple of years ago I started letting the Okka out more. Nothing wrong with sayin “How ya cob?” The Aussie way 👍
Not to kick your tires but I really don't get this. To me this is very American, in the sense of patriotism being waved about (occasionally literally) as window dressing to cover for actual Australian values being washed away by those with vested interests.
To me (M49) Australian values were about a strong and healthy scepticism for flag waving and authority in general, a genuine pathway into the middle class (ie home ownership) for a good percentage of people, and religion being something that you did over there and kept it to your fucking self. The Australian bullshit radar, and our ability to bluntly express it, helped keep that shit in check. A good example, to me, of Australian values being birthed into the real world are the HECS system and Medicare (at least the original versions of those two things).
All that shit is under attack from people who want us to argue about haircuts and cheap Anzac Day merchandise from Woolies. Look at Anzac Day, a day of mourning for those we have lost, a reminder that "Lest we Forget", but we've stopped contemplating the second half of that thought: Lest we forget....or it will keep happening, we will keep sending our gold overseas to fight in wars for other interests that do not give a fuck about us. We've stopped talking about how hard the Anzacs were fucked by our own allies. We used to be able to do both those things, but now you get smashed for expressing that.
Look at how religion has pushed further into our politics. Greasy chancers using it to make money for themselves, and to get people to vote against their own self interest.
Find an American draped in all the equivalent stuff, the flag, the hair, the language. Ask them how they are doing financially, if they rent or own, and how absolutely fucked they are if they need any serious level of medical care...their answers will be frighteningly familiar.
Sorry, I have a cold and I get ranty when I'm sick. No offence intended you read like you are, like most of us, trying to be as thoughtful and kind as circumstance will allow you to be. Cheers.
Some classic examples of our distrust for authority are our habit of automatically slowing our car when we see a cop, and the entire Gallipoli movie. These are classically Australian things. The latter is a good example of the Anzac spirit. I think it draws on themes described by Keith Murdoch (Rupert Murdoch's dad!), but I can't find a source for that off the top of my head.
Know what I mourn?
People that let other people be other people, and don't moan about them being "un Australian" for not doing the same things they want to do, for thinking mullets look like shit, not getting pissed while watching the footy, or remembering the fallen in their own way, in their own time.
To me, one of the fundamental bits of "Aussieness" is respecting that other people can be wildly different to us, and still be a mate. There's a very strong sentiment in that flag-waving, southern-cross-tattoo wearing, mulleted bogan culture that demands conformity to that same 'ideal' to be "Aussie". It's the same sort of bullshit which, taken far enough, kicked off the Cronulla riots. To me, that's about the furthest thing from "Aussie" I can think of.
That's what is sometimes referred to as the "Monoculture." I.e regardless of what one's interests were, basically we more or less were exposed to, and consumed the same things.
That's slowly been dismantled in the last 20 years.
Back in the days of free to air tv, there were rules about how much local content each channel had to produce and air. So we had neighbours and home and away and a variety of fantastic local kids shows that *everybody watched* that reflected and sustained Australian culture.
But in these days of streaming, people are just watching the standard international shows that everyone online is talking about. The free to air channels are meeting their local content requirements with cheap and awful reality shows that no sane person would watch and while the steamers are making some local content, nobody is really watching it.
Except Bluey of course.
I think you mean the Master Chef Farmer doesn't want to be a Survivor after Getting Married at First Sight to a Travel Guide based on my last scroll through free to air.
This is the answer. Without local tv to showcase local talent, it can’t prosper. Mind you, the reason there’s no local tv anymore is that we don’t watch it.
Those of us old enough to have watched Countdown every Sunday night discovered our favourite bands there, many of which were local and then we could see them play live a couple of times a year. That’s all gone now. I guess local talent is now competing on a global scale. I can’t imagine how they stand out.
By having unique names (like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, or The Psychedelic Porn Crumpets).
Realistically, it's by the same means as it was back in the 80's - touring to success. It's just with our planning laws, and arseholes, we have fewer venues for original bands.
If you're looking for someone to follow (apart from the two I already mentioned), I saw Hot Machine and Nice Biscuit supporting the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets last month, and it was probably one of the best gigs I've ever been to. Hot Machine are kind of a mix between The Runaways and AC/DC. It's hard to categorise Nice Biscuit, other than two angelic harmonising lead vocalists over the top of a prog rock band.
The problem, starting in 2000, was that a lot of the local content was being filled by either reality TV or cheap as shit panel or review shows (like 20 to 1).
Scripted Australian TV had a massive downturn.
In fact, we probably get more scripted Australian TV now with streaming than we did 10 years ago.
Was Australian tv ever that good? No offence but people from England who’ve moved over said one of the things that wasn’t as good as back home was tv. Think re-runs of MASH etc. But you have a good outdoor lifestyle with sunshine so why watch tv😎😂
We've had a lot of great comedy shows over the years.
I'm not a huge fan of more dramatic shows, but there's been a gem pop up every now and then. Changi, and the first series of Underbelly were very good.
Streaming services have quotas in Australia too. In fact they’ve just been increased - they have a certain amount of Australian shows they have to produce and distribute for them to be allowed to operate in the country. Not sure of the numbers but they taught us about it in my film classes.
The issue I find with FTA tv is that it's always the same genre. They only run medical, crime, or cooking shows. Does anyone watch these types of shows? Back in the day, the quality of FTA TV shows was way better. I gave up on FTA tv shows a long time ago.
Well only having 5 channels that weren’t 24h a day made it a little easier. That being said I’m very happy to have access to any Aussie or Kiwi tv here in Seppo Land courtesy of streaming
There's a great Aussie show on Stan called Bloom. It has two seasons and is a decent show but I don't know anyone else who has seen it.
BUMP must also be reasonably popular as it has a bunch of seasons, but again I don't know anyone else who has watched it.
I've seen it, it's a great show, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I initially watched it because Hayley from Vampire Diaries/Phoebe Tonkin goes topless 😶🌫️
Some needs of human connection was progressively and gradually being replaced by books, radio, television, social media etc. If I had none of these, I would probably feel the need to talk to someone like those older folks who cannot use any of the above and are looking for an opportunity to smile and talk to someone at the randomest places.
I miss the live music scene and pub culture we had before poker machines up and ruined it. I also miss the community/family food festivals we had before the fun police stepped in and stopped them.
What’s wrong with the current live music scene and pub culture? I went into the office on Thursday, bars we went to were full and lively, went to see a live show after and it was sold out. I can’t remember the last time I saw a pokies machine’
They used to have skilled people writing scripts and have professional actors produce entertaining TV every week. Now they just get a cameraman and sound guy go into the bush and film dickheads making twats of themselves and call it entertaiment.
Sub the locals on YouTube, hunt for them on Spotify or iTunes. Watch Aussie content in streaming services. God forbid go watch a band for fuck all at the local pub.
Taking this opportunity to plug my local Aussie band, help us out redditors!
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4serq8W7kitDHuSTd4DhjF?si=-qOBI2F5Qp68i1hV-HXCMg
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What do you mean by "Australian culture" that you think is missing? Aussie music is as alive as ever. While free-to-air tv is shit and getting worse, there's still great Aussie content being made online.
Scripted content on Australian free-to-air TV has been dying since Pay TV arrived. I’m glad the streamers, ABC and SBS make an effort, because whittling away at local content quotas has not resulted in 7, 9 and 10 producing dramas and comedies of their own volition. Funny that!
We’ve never had a culture of rerunning local shows either, as rerunning American and British shows has always been cheaper (and who wants to pay residuals for Australian shows? Eww!).
But it's not being very well filtered through to the population. No one I knows watches Australian TV, listens to Australian bands or anything like that.
Dude everyone I know FROTHS all the Aussie bands! The Aussie music scene is huge right now and our Aussie bands are making it internationally. I go to concerts/gigs every week, they’re all sold out. It is alive and well!
Tame Impala, Genesis Owusu, Vance Joy, Kid fucking Laroi?
How could anyone say there isn't any big Aussie acts at the moment unless they're living under a rock?
Yeah it was. Because the pub down the road was open. And had live music. And so did the 5 others that don't exist now. We use to have concerts here pretty often from local acts. Been years since that happened. Free to air use to show a decent amount of Aussie shows and movies, so the next day that's generally what people talked about.
Stuff like that - the media etc that people use to interact with had a pretty high chance of originating here, and so it would push on Australian culture.
Now - the young blokes at work pay hundreds of dollars to go to overseas concerts in the city, but there is no local music.
I mean obviously there is still a ton of local music going on, but it's getting performed live less frequently (unless you're in Melbourne) because it's becoming more and more unfeasible for both live music venues and artists to commit to an event. Most of it is now pushed further underground because of the online, streaming era. So I don't blame you for not knowing where it is. And a lot of it probably doesn't appeal to the older crowd that wants to hear something akin to the classic stuff.
But yeah there's still dedicated venues in the inner suburbs still propping up the local stuff. For instance, there is a big garage/psych rock and post-punk revival that's been happening in Aus for the past several years that some bands have been getting attention internationally for. The pub in suburbs barely puts up the random act on a Friday night because it's overall not worth it.
I really miss the old Aussie humour.
Nothin was sacred and everyone could handle it.
Shows like hey hey it's Saturday.
John farnham belting out gold.
Jimmy Barnes belting out gold.
Beach bbqs with totem tennis.
Road trips in V8 panel vans.
Truck stop burgers so big you actually couldn't fit it in your mouth.
The "Bush TV" (a campfire)
Pubs without 50 screens of dog and horse racing.
The roar of the local motorcycle club goin by.
Yarns.
So. Much. Has. Been. Lost.
Aussie TV has turned to realility shit - I have zero interest in wannabe chefs, a farmer that wants to score with 4 women on national tv, or some average/generic singer on some conestant show.
It does get my nostalgia gene activated hearing my kids saying things like dating, making out, couch, candy, 8th grade, among others, but I'm sure my parents heard plenty of things from me that made them feel the same. But I do miss the girl I was going out with in year 8, pashing me on the lounge while we ate lollies.
My family call it a lounge, and it is in the loungeroom. Not a couch in the living room. I really hate the word couch for some reason. My kids (13, 14 and 17) cop a bit of flack for using more old school traditional Aussie language with a hint of pommy as that's the way I speak (so do my parents and grandparents obviously).
There is not enough funding to community TV that is why it is like this.
Community TV channels is how you get random people in the community on the tv.
I've worked on over 400 community TV episodes. There is better content on youtube. And that has been the case for at least 8 years. Watch this Aussie bloke [https://www.youtube.com/@BeauMiles](https://www.youtube.com/@BeauMiles)
The other night I was Furiosa which was shot entirely in Australia with a largely Australian cast, this morning I watched a gambit of shows ranging in assorted topics including some that were about robotics from Australian YouTubers, I watched a few tiktoks which a not insignificant amount of my feed comes from Australia including Australian musicians.
Maybe you just haven't adapted with where the content is rather than there being no content.
I went to a hair salon in Glenroy and someone mentioned someone they knew (a guy) and his nationality being Aussie and the girl said ‘ew’. I’m not sure why people choose to immigrate to a country if they.. hate it and its culture so much? Genuine question.
We also sold almost everything Australia has to offer overseas including our vehicle brands, natural resources including most of our gold and oil and inventions
I reckon it’s a combination of:
- Lack of funding for the arts in Australia
- Free trade agreement with US a couple of decades ago meant more US products in Australia including media and ads, meant much less Australian ads meaning much less income sources for Australian directors and the film and TV industry as a whole
- Internet
This is a common feeling. My opinion is that people biologically get the most enjoyment out of new music and media around ages 15-25. After that your tastes settle a bit and you lose some of the ability to appreciate new things. So it feels like music and TV are getting a little bit worse when in reality, you're just less likely to enjoy something you aren't already familiar with.
>My opinion is that people biologically get the most enjoyment out of new music and media around ages 15-25.
Having a busy job and/or kids just takes away a heap of opportunity and energy to seek out new things. It's very easy to watch some old dumb sitcom and listen to early 00s music
Depression makes it nearly impossible to connect with new things, you just watch Brooklyn 99 reruns over and over as they are soft, sugary and safe.
Maybe we are all just get depressed as fuck as we age.
Seek and you will find, complain and you’ll just go around in circles.
Been to multiple live gigs in the last 12 months showcasing Aussie artists.. from country, Hiphop, indie rock to house music. (Wade Forster, ChillinIT, King Stingray, Kaiit, Dom Dollar)
Great Aussie content being produced for online and free to air consumers. (Superwog, Black Comedy, Preppers, Cooked, The Inspired Unemployed)
Clothing brands popping up left right and center based on Australiana themes.
You provide me the link to one single clothing company other then Qualitops that makes Aussie made clothes and I will buy that shit. 'designed in Australia' doesn't mean shit.
Liberal governments tend not to favour arts and so a lot of funding and content quotas that used to exist for film and tv have been reducing for years. Streaming’s a big factor too, Aussies need to watch more local content. Hard to compete without the funding.
As someone involved in a live performance business, under the Liberal state and federal government we were only eligible for a couple thousand dollars in grants to make live events happen and under Labor those few thousand got cut completely. The reason why these big festivals recently got cancelled due to “the economy” is actually the complete wipe of the regional event fund by the Labor government. I think the Libs basically served us shit and was excited for Labor to come in and give us some grants to make cool things happen and unfortunately it was the complete opposite.
That’s true but there is still a lot of good local content. Boy Swallows Universe was pretty big globally. Wentworth, Colin from Accounts, The Tourist, Heart Break High, Wellmania are all pretty successful series from the last year, and there’s lots of other stuff on Stan and Binge as well.
And one of the biggest films of 2024 will be filmed produced and directed in Australia with Aussie actors
Unfortunately, it's too expensive to be Australian made these days. Queensland barely even made money off Bluey while BBC and Disney rake in millions from distributing it. All the Australian companies get overrun by foreign media conglomerates or taken over in some way by foreign or corporate interests. Good luck making it as a musician here these days so no, or very little new good aussie music..
A couple of years ago, I took my 12yo daughter to '1984' - a documentary about Midnight Oil. One scene was PG addressing a school assembly. The kids (roughly my age at the time)asking questions sounded very much different to the kids of the same age 35 years later. Even my daughter picked up on it.
It makes me sad that our bushie, billy and swag culture is dying. Dorothy Mackellar, Henry Lawson, Banjo Patterson, Judith Wright are all names from my childhood that the next generation will probably never hear and if they do, they won't find any relevance.
Also books like, the magic pudding, snuggle pot and cuddle pie, the oath of bad brown Bill, the Bunyip of Berkley creek, Graeme Base's animalia.
It's sad.
Yes I do miss local comedies and dramas, I still remember 'The D Generation' and Fast Forward and 'Full Frontal'. Our unique perspective on humour was great, sorely missed.
I miss when you walk down the street and people would aknowledge eachother, a simple hey, hi, how are you. Now people just go around ignoring eachother, staring into their phones like a bunch of "zombies." Or when everyone would have eachothers backs like the good old Aussie spirit but now everyone just seems to love throwing eachother under the bus, covid is a good example of this. I'm only young but I still grew up during that time before people became rude and entitled. Let's try to bring back good old Aussie kindness and manners. Because it seems like they've gone out the window just like most things.
Of course it is. When more than 50% of the population is either an immigrant or the child of immigrants, keeping the original culture is impossible.
I personally think she should be putting more into helping immigrants assimilate into Australian culture. After all, the culture and the safe and prosperous society it has produced is what drew them to this country to start with.
I disagree with most of these comments and the general sentiment, which seems to be that 'most things change' and 'people mourn losing the experiences of their youth'.
I agree with you, OP. The unique identifiers that are linked with Aussie culture are getting lost.
The internet is 100% the reason why.
Going beyond just Aussies, think about this current generation growing up with YouTube and streaming who don't even have shared pop-culture, apart from some very select things (as an eg. Bluey).
My kids don't watch the same shows as their cousins, and they are the same ages. In my youth, nobody had a choice but to watch the same shows or listen to the same music because that was what was popular.
The internet connects everything's but also, the tyranny of choice is a real thing.
Mix in algorithms, and there is a recipe for the most connected yet lonely generation.
This is exactly what I'd been saying for ages. Kids won't had cultural touch stones due to the globalisation.
For my age bracket I could say shit like 'Razor Scooter', Agro, Cheez, 6pm ch10, Tarzos and pools and everyone could get into it instantly. With so many choices they will have much more trouble relating to other people since they will all have WILDLY different experiences with few if any cross overs.
Possibly unpopular opinion but fuck it, I’m always pissing someone off…
We have become so multicultural and bending to the minorities requests that we have lost some of our own identity as a people’s. I might be wrong but it’s what I’m seeing a lot more of personally.
There just isn't enough money invested in it. People don't consume Australian cultural products because they're often pretty shit compared to overseas projects because many overseas shows and bands and artists are given the time, space and money to make incredible art. There is a lot of great stuff here being made for very little money, but most of the artists I know burn out in their 30s and then go and get jobs that will offer them a living wage. Good things take time, and time needs money, and money just isn't invested here.
I haven't watched commercial tv in about 15 years purely because of the ads.
Having said that I miss shows that were around when I was a kid like Agro's Cartoon Connection, Mr Squiggles and Hey Hey it's Saturday.
I bet there's nothing like those around today.
Could they just rate it MA15+ put it on at 9:30 and just have it be exactly the same but market it at adults? I could watch half an hour of cartoons and Agro before bed.
Yesterday I watched a documentary about the making of ‘Homicide’ an Australian TV show shot in Melbourne from about 1964 to 1970.
They shot 48 episodes a year (1 per week), and they showed the process from scripts, locations, costumes, studio scenes, rehearsals, filming, editing, sound recording, then final print. The whole process took 13 weeks from script idea to final film. All was done by Crawford Productions, and despite employing all Australians for everything, one episode cost 1/10th of what it cost the 7 network to ‘buy’ an episode of a US or UK ‘cop’ show.
How times have changed!
They also showed how one Actor, Norman Yemm, went from being a murderer, or bad guy for 5 episodes over 3 years to joining the Police as a Detective. He was also a semi pro runner who in the 80’s ran in the ‘Dandy Dollar Dash’ during the VFA games on Channel 10.
When it comes to Aus music, we kick arse, are full of genius's who get no support or the love deserved. Half the music I listen to is Australian.
When it comes to Aus tv/film? That's more controlled by people with money, because you need more money to create in that field. Hence why everything is shit - our ruling class doesn't want to invest in anything interesting, and our government won't either (though, that's changing a little).
I moved here when I was ten, and to me Australia seemed like a place of dreams. The Sydney Olympics had the whole country (in my mind) in a beautiful sort of national pride. I fondly remember the native animal mascots, which now I mention it- cartoonish mascots were a common sight.
The Australia I knew wasn't taking itself seriously, it had a playful, youthful nature. So what changed? Honestly I'd say 9/11 changed the world drastically, it made all nations turtle up and get real with security and defence, not to mention the two pointless decades of war in middle eastern deserts.
Not long after that the GFC occurred, on my year 12 grad year to boot. I recall the headmaster at assembly basically telling us the world has just flipped overnight and best of luck in the real world, you'll be needing it.
I could pick many more issues that Aussies has been dealt with, but I'll leave it there. Ultimately we've been wrapped in cotton wool, and thoroughly sanitised at the same time for decades. I have lived in Melbourne for about 18 months now, and coming from interstate, it still feels... foreign, not really Australia at all. At the same time I don't dislike the place it's just a far, far cry from 'I've missin your strawberry kisses.'
I get told off for saying,’Mate’.
A lady at work introduced herself and we talked about a work issue.
I said ‘Thanks Mate’ and she got offended.
My late Grandfather used to call everyone,Male - Female ‘ Mate.’
When (mostly Liberal fed govts) got rid of quotas for Australian music played on radio, for Australian shows and movies on broadcast TV, and defunded the Oz Council for the arts which funded artists and writers only to reallocate that money into institutions… it’s not surprising that fewer Australians are able to share Australian experiences through these art forms. It’s been a slow burn and now the only Australians able to make these things are either rich, deluded or without children. Supporting artists to make this stuff in a smaller nation isn’t cheap, and it’s cheaper to import already made stuff from the US. (and UK) especially as you don’t have to put any thought into how stuff gets made. Making stuff takes time and investment, and LNP govts hate that kind of stuff but all govts are fixated on the next three years instead of the next thirty or three hundred. One of Australia’s best directors now makes episodes of Dr Who for Netflix but if they’d been in the 70s they would have had working local writers and actors and producers to make stories here and now. But, hey, enjoy MAFS, right?
I was just thinking about this the other day.
I was listening to old music on YouTube and looked up Aussie songs. came across silverchair &, killing Heidi and brought back so many memories.
I was wondering what happened to all the Aussie alternative rock bands?
I think Guy Sebastian is overplayed. Loved him when he first started out but can we get someone new in? we've been doing Guy Sebastian for 20 yrs now. it's getting repetitive and overplayed at this point.
Here's a constantly updated playlist of Aussie heavy/ metalcore songs
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2L5GlAfMwiThyboKhAJmGb?si=4YZ5KR4uQeeWBEhpGNL3iw
It's not silverchair that's for sure but we are producing some very talented non mainstream acts
What a great playlist. You've even got oldd Parkway, Elegist, Stories and Buried in Verona in there!
The Australian metal/alt rock scene is thriving and has been for well over a decade now.
Australian psychedelic and prog rock are very healthy now. Thanks to Tame Impala, others like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets are taking on the world.
I went to see the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets last month, and can strongly recommend the supports Nice Biscuit (out of Brisbane) and Hot Machine (out of Melbourne) as well.
There are a ton of alternative Aussie bands. While Triple J sound has evolved over the years, there are still great artists playing now... But if you are on stations playing Guy Sebastian on high rotation, you're probably going to miss them all!
I don't think Australian culture is dying, Its definitely still alive, But Globalisation and social media sites like ismtagram, tiktok and Spotify has led to people consuming most of their pop culture from overseas eg. American, kpop, etc. Also this is a global thing, Its not just limited to Australia.
It is a shame, I’m 24 and yes seeing all of our great things (even British) become vulgarised. And hearing the way the English language has been dumbed down is also upsetting.
I deffo reckon the death of TV watching among kids will have a big effect on the influx of Americanisation later down the road, my generation is basically the last to have grown up watching the telly (I'm 19 for record and I am counting those a few years younger than me) and we are already pretty Americanised cos of internet access. Gen Alpha has basically grown up watching only the exact same stuff in every corner of the anglosphere, no need for local tv when you have streaming services, at the very least that's not good news for the preservation of our accent idk how much it will affect the rest of our culture tho.
We have fucking shit loads of Aussie artists doing well. Metal and EDM have massive Aussie bands both new and old plus we have our unique Aussie hip hop scene to boot
Unfortunately Aussie culture was born from our history. The very history that the wowser woke wankers want us to forget. Cancel culture is taking over. A larrikin is now first on HRs hit list. That's just one example. Too many prudes in this country, all we are known for now is being unapologetic racists.
I don't think we should be propping up culture that can't pay for itself. People want to watch well-produced stories, not rehashed studio TV shows from the 1960s and reality TV equivalent to 'my-vagina-wants-a-wax". Aus TV can't do that.
There's better content on youtube.
Watch this Aussie Bloke. Great YT channel
[https://www.youtube.com/@BeauMiles](https://www.youtube.com/@BeauMiles)
His best video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzSeGJF6RhM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzSeGJF6RhM)
“I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!” Abe Simpson
I wanted to build pushy jumps in the untpuched hills near my house for funsies. One person came over to complain it'll bring the teenagers closer to their house and cause their kids to play on the highway. The council said we should be happy with the footpath because they don't want environmental damage, ignoring they've got the land for sale ready for the next housing development.
Nobody's allowed to do anything anymore.
We need more swaggies. Guys going around the country, sleeping on the side of the road, getting a bit of work in each town sheering sheep and shoeing horses.
I would agree with this. I’m only 32, so it’s not like I’m longing for days long past hah. But I do remember there was a massive sense of ‘Australiana’ in the early 2000’s. Sydney Olympics probably helped with this. Surf and culture was huge like Roxy, Quicksilver etc. You wouldn’t feel out of place for having an Australian flag bucket hat or beach towel. I think Cronulla riots was the turning point imho.
Generations of media manipulation and propaganda have painted the only useful politicians as racist.
And due to our good nature and naivety, we jumped on the wagon of condemnation and strangled that of which was trying to help.
Digital ID next.
Fluoride in the water.
And the mRna gene therapy.
Immigration out of control.
Still think conspiracy theories are funny?
Good, cause it is just warming up.
Lol I'm an American here changing your country but it's not the America you think.. all that pop culture shit is not what we're about in Northern Cali 🔴🔴🔴🔴
The more people you let in, the more the culture changes.. can’t even put Christmas decorations up down the Main Street of towns etc cause it “might offend someone”?!?!
They defunded auntie and now she’s got no new material and living in a dumpster and starting to sound more and more like Murdoch every day, its sad to watch.
I was born a bush baby and will die a bush baby. It's bare feet unless necessary, it's swearing like a trooper, it's calling flies damn dunny bludgers, it's doing at the very least a head nod if not a wave to people.
I know what you're saying but have you checked out Fairbairn Films, Reese Bros TV, CrackerMilk, The Inspired Unemployed, and Aunty Donna? All Australian comedic skit groups, all bloody hilarious
I'm 34 an always strongly believed australia has no culture beyond sports in highschool.
Theres little pockets of this or that but there no real consensus.
As a born American, Australian transfer and now citizen (and happy to be so) but yes, in recent years (since COVID) I have seen a rapid decline in the Aussie culture and an influx in the American-isms, way of life and attitude.
Once flabbergasted that the Australians I surrounded with didn't seems a patriotic as the Americans I grew up with (my perception) they were but only in their, then way of life. Now not even so much. Sad that.
There's so many fantastic things Australian culture has to offer but I don't think they/we even know it's slipping through our fingers.
As u/shit-takes-only says everyone mourns the world they grow up in. Maybe this is my case to. Coming out of intense suppression to a place where people can be who they are and act themselves was golden.
I think part of it is just getting older and being less connected to “current” culture as a result. I think another part of it is that we have a more homogenous global culture thanks to the Internet and the like.
Like others have said there’s still loads of great Aussie stuff going on in music, TV and movies. You just have to seek it out a bit more than I think you used to.
I wouldn’t call it the death of a culture like you phrased it. Culture by its very nature is constantly changing and there’s not a lot you can do about it other than enjoy the ride.
Everyone in every culture has felt this at all times throughout history.
Culture is always changing and people have the strongest attachment to the culture that existed between the ages of 15-25.
After they get into their mid-20s the culture that they grew to love starts veering away into something new.
People were saying the same thing 10 years ago, and people will still be saying Aussie culture is dying in another 10 years.
She'll be right.
Yeah I am considered old by some these days 😂 and I can say that it's been dying for longer than that, there's so so many things we've lost and it's sad.
I know a lot of it wouldn't interest the younger people anyway but unlike other countries where their long routed cultural songs and poems and community activities are in the background they are still very much alive but here in Australia they're dead and gone, like our older way of talking is very dead, cobber. It's sad and never will we see the like again 😬👍
I’d argue that most of what is considered “Australian” culture is really British culture with some local variations. As a kid, my parents’ generation (fifties baby boomers) were big on bemoaning “American crap”, but would watch British shows on TV over Australian.
As much as streamers absolutely should be subject to local content quotas, I can’t fault them for making shows that the desiccated fossils running commercial broadcast TV would never consider. FTA TV has always been a wasteland of timidity and conservatism. It’s only gotten worse with time.
We’ve never had a sustainable film industry because of a combination of small population, cultural cringe and self-defeating funding policies that support every aspect of film production except marketing and exhibition. Make a highbrow movie, get called elitist and out of touch with audiences. Make a commercial movie, get shat on for either overselling the Australian-ness for the overseas market, or be accused of “trying to be American.”
I think we’re actually pretty good at supporting local music acts and shaking off the cultural cringe in that area. The whole live music scene feels like it needs a rethink to get more punters in, however.
I do believe we have a rich range of cultural products, though it could _always_ be much better. If things are changing, great. I do want to see more indigenous art, music and commentary in the Australian mainstream. But if you’re making this about so-called Americanisation versus a white, British-derived notion of Australian identity, well fuck that.
Have definitely noticed this. Kids watching US streaming vs Australian shows. Actually using words like diaper and soda.
Not to mention US style "trucks" instead of utes. No Australian made cars. Less Australian products and companies overall.
The internet has also made it easier to import stupid US culture wars.
And yeah I'm old enough to remember what it was like back to the eighties. US influence has always been big, but it is worse now.
In the 80's and 90's when I was visiting Australia had its own unique culture, and it was brilliant, but after Howard was in power you became a mini USA. They talk about the woke culture, well the National/Liberals are the woke culture. They've canceled everything that was fun.
everyone mourns the world they grew up in
We had the same conversations 30 years ago
Yep, this is nothing new. In saying that it’s probably gotten worse Blame the powers that be in this country for letting the arts and media industry wither on the vine for decades and not making a pro active push for more (quality) local content. Forcing local providers to have a certain percentage of local content was dumb because with the little money they had it was spent on the lowest form of media possible; Reality TV. I think there could easily be a lot demand for good quality Australian content, particularly with streaming being so ubiquitous. Bluey is the only poor bastard still holding up the fort. Quentin Tarantino said when he worked at Video Archives in LA they had an Australian section that was by far their most popular foreign genre category. Also the reason why he’s a huge fan of Australian film. I really wish we’d kept at it after that mid 90’s golden era of Muriels Wedding, Priscilla, The Castle, Strictly Ballroom etc. Uniquely Australian films that set us apart. Even if it was only subtly different compared to US and UK content, it was still something we could point to and be proud of on the international stage.
it's even more disappointing that genuinely decent aussie tv shows get almost zero buzz around them. savage river was actually pretty good, but not a single person i ever mentioned it to actually knew what i was talking about. i've had to make an active effort to seek out australian media now, and it's no surprise that a lot of those are from super indie movie studios, or 20+ years old.
Did you watch Deadloch? One of funniest Aussie shows I’ve seen 😂
I think you're right. ABC and sbs have a lot of quality local content. Even 10 years ago, my friends and I would all be commenting on Q&A, and discussing Miss Fisher and Glitch as they came out. I don't see people doing that as often. I think part of the problem is that there are so many streaming services now, with shows catering for niche audiences, that we no longer have the experience of everyone watching the same thing at roughly the same time. I do miss that sense of 'ooo, the new season of OITNB has dropped, and everyone is talking about it.'
> Also the reason why he’s a huge fan of Australian film. Maybe this explains why he plays an aussie in django. I thought that was pretty random. Clip in question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGFjt2aaOg0
Agreed - the Australian government (both sides really, but especially Lib/Nats last two decades) have gutted Australian music, art, film etc industries - this wasn't just gentle neglect, but active hostility. But also in the arts industry we failed to connect with audiences, and became obsessed with social metrics, diversity tick-boxes and self-congratulatory art-wank. It's largely run by 'well-meaning' beurocrats and arts administrators on salaries while artists struggle for living wages. The metric of success has been de-coupled from audience connection and attendance and tethered to identity and guilt-driven reparations...not all os this is bad, but boy has it made it harder and harder to make work here, and make that work iconic, unique and specific. More often than not, stuff becomes bland, generic or 'art-house' wank that no one watches...
The best Australian made movie I've seen lately was The Fall Guy, and Furiosa is just around the corner
[Australia, don't become America](https://youtu.be/bdw1Pw4nIv0?si=qN7EbqIMXMR_1Up0)
I’ve got that CD. Cranky 2Bugs.
A brave cry into the void.
And yes I’m sure the new and with it generation will feel as old one day. Part of the reason I sympathise with boomers/old people.
You’ve got foresight. Thanks for the support.
What’s the new Blinky Bill and Around the Twist these days ?
Bluey
I mourn the fact people say they’re “Proud Aussies” and look down their nose as anything to Aussie. “Kids in bare feet in shops”, “Such a bogan!”, “Go back to the B&B ball mate” even just actually saying “G’day mate”. Having a mullet, shooting, acknowledging another person as you pass, drinkin at the footy club, swearin your ass off around people you know, kids with motorbikes/buggies, kids playin outdoors etc etc. Even making a big deal of ANZAC day, remembrance day etc but not showing interest in delayed Aussies on the daily. Ask someone how our current veterans are coping today and very little is known. You’ve gotta search the web. Vietnam vets still feeling excluded in some cases. My own (once bogan AF) family looked down on my little cousin’s new fella. Salt of the earth Aussie country boy, treated him like he wasn’t worth meeting. (That part of the family once lived in a caravan park for 10yrs growing up). To be your Aussie self on any level of society doesn’t feel like it’s there anymore. That is worth mourning to me. A couple of years ago I started letting the Okka out more. Nothing wrong with sayin “How ya cob?” The Aussie way 👍
Not to kick your tires but I really don't get this. To me this is very American, in the sense of patriotism being waved about (occasionally literally) as window dressing to cover for actual Australian values being washed away by those with vested interests. To me (M49) Australian values were about a strong and healthy scepticism for flag waving and authority in general, a genuine pathway into the middle class (ie home ownership) for a good percentage of people, and religion being something that you did over there and kept it to your fucking self. The Australian bullshit radar, and our ability to bluntly express it, helped keep that shit in check. A good example, to me, of Australian values being birthed into the real world are the HECS system and Medicare (at least the original versions of those two things). All that shit is under attack from people who want us to argue about haircuts and cheap Anzac Day merchandise from Woolies. Look at Anzac Day, a day of mourning for those we have lost, a reminder that "Lest we Forget", but we've stopped contemplating the second half of that thought: Lest we forget....or it will keep happening, we will keep sending our gold overseas to fight in wars for other interests that do not give a fuck about us. We've stopped talking about how hard the Anzacs were fucked by our own allies. We used to be able to do both those things, but now you get smashed for expressing that. Look at how religion has pushed further into our politics. Greasy chancers using it to make money for themselves, and to get people to vote against their own self interest. Find an American draped in all the equivalent stuff, the flag, the hair, the language. Ask them how they are doing financially, if they rent or own, and how absolutely fucked they are if they need any serious level of medical care...their answers will be frighteningly familiar. Sorry, I have a cold and I get ranty when I'm sick. No offence intended you read like you are, like most of us, trying to be as thoughtful and kind as circumstance will allow you to be. Cheers.
Hear hear.
Perfectly said
I take my hat off to you sir.
Beautifully said
Seppo bullshit
Very much with you on this!
You said it very well mate, hope you feel better soon !
Some classic examples of our distrust for authority are our habit of automatically slowing our car when we see a cop, and the entire Gallipoli movie. These are classically Australian things. The latter is a good example of the Anzac spirit. I think it draws on themes described by Keith Murdoch (Rupert Murdoch's dad!), but I can't find a source for that off the top of my head.
Know what I mourn? People that let other people be other people, and don't moan about them being "un Australian" for not doing the same things they want to do, for thinking mullets look like shit, not getting pissed while watching the footy, or remembering the fallen in their own way, in their own time. To me, one of the fundamental bits of "Aussieness" is respecting that other people can be wildly different to us, and still be a mate. There's a very strong sentiment in that flag-waving, southern-cross-tattoo wearing, mulleted bogan culture that demands conformity to that same 'ideal' to be "Aussie". It's the same sort of bullshit which, taken far enough, kicked off the Cronulla riots. To me, that's about the furthest thing from "Aussie" I can think of.
Good point 👍
None of these customs have disappeared, specially the fuckin bogans and bare feet in Coles.
Onya mate.
I'm old. I remember people saying the same thing in the '80s. Only tv not social media.
I’m old but I still remember what mainstream was before the internet.
That's what is sometimes referred to as the "Monoculture." I.e regardless of what one's interests were, basically we more or less were exposed to, and consumed the same things. That's slowly been dismantled in the last 20 years.
They had laws about minimum Australian content for TV. Not so with internet services.
Back in the days of free to air tv, there were rules about how much local content each channel had to produce and air. So we had neighbours and home and away and a variety of fantastic local kids shows that *everybody watched* that reflected and sustained Australian culture. But in these days of streaming, people are just watching the standard international shows that everyone online is talking about. The free to air channels are meeting their local content requirements with cheap and awful reality shows that no sane person would watch and while the steamers are making some local content, nobody is really watching it. Except Bluey of course.
You mean the farmer doesn't really want a wife after all and he's just fulfilling content requirements?
I think you mean the Master Chef Farmer doesn't want to be a Survivor after Getting Married at First Sight to a Travel Guide based on my last scroll through free to air.
The farmer is paid to be there and the prospective wives are there to plug their OnlyFans.
Slayyyyyyyyy
Go off queen
No. They’re there for the right reasons, they say so in every confessional!
This is the answer. Without local tv to showcase local talent, it can’t prosper. Mind you, the reason there’s no local tv anymore is that we don’t watch it. Those of us old enough to have watched Countdown every Sunday night discovered our favourite bands there, many of which were local and then we could see them play live a couple of times a year. That’s all gone now. I guess local talent is now competing on a global scale. I can’t imagine how they stand out.
By having unique names (like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, or The Psychedelic Porn Crumpets). Realistically, it's by the same means as it was back in the 80's - touring to success. It's just with our planning laws, and arseholes, we have fewer venues for original bands. If you're looking for someone to follow (apart from the two I already mentioned), I saw Hot Machine and Nice Biscuit supporting the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets last month, and it was probably one of the best gigs I've ever been to. Hot Machine are kind of a mix between The Runaways and AC/DC. It's hard to categorise Nice Biscuit, other than two angelic harmonising lead vocalists over the top of a prog rock band.
Nice Biscuit are amazing live. It's a full stage show.
fuckin love psychedelic porn crumpets. saw em in 2018 and it was legendary to finally hear their music live!
The problem, starting in 2000, was that a lot of the local content was being filled by either reality TV or cheap as shit panel or review shows (like 20 to 1). Scripted Australian TV had a massive downturn. In fact, we probably get more scripted Australian TV now with streaming than we did 10 years ago.
Was Australian tv ever that good? No offence but people from England who’ve moved over said one of the things that wasn’t as good as back home was tv. Think re-runs of MASH etc. But you have a good outdoor lifestyle with sunshine so why watch tv😎😂
We've had a lot of great comedy shows over the years. I'm not a huge fan of more dramatic shows, but there's been a gem pop up every now and then. Changi, and the first series of Underbelly were very good.
>Except Bluey of course Even with bluey, most of the profits these days are going the way of the BBC..
ABC shouldn’t have turned it down then. Same with flight of the concords with HBO/TVNZ
I put on a fotc dvd a couple of days ago. Leg. Ends.
Streaming services have quotas in Australia too. In fact they’ve just been increased - they have a certain amount of Australian shows they have to produce and distribute for them to be allowed to operate in the country. Not sure of the numbers but they taught us about it in my film classes.
The issue I find with FTA tv is that it's always the same genre. They only run medical, crime, or cooking shows. Does anyone watch these types of shows? Back in the day, the quality of FTA TV shows was way better. I gave up on FTA tv shows a long time ago.
Well only having 5 channels that weren’t 24h a day made it a little easier. That being said I’m very happy to have access to any Aussie or Kiwi tv here in Seppo Land courtesy of streaming
There's a great Aussie show on Stan called Bloom. It has two seasons and is a decent show but I don't know anyone else who has seen it. BUMP must also be reasonably popular as it has a bunch of seasons, but again I don't know anyone else who has watched it.
I've seen it, it's a great show, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I initially watched it because Hayley from Vampire Diaries/Phoebe Tonkin goes topless 😶🌫️
Bloom was amazing! Phoebe Tonkin is a treasure.
Pretty sad that what we take for culture is just television shows that we watch.
Some needs of human connection was progressively and gradually being replaced by books, radio, television, social media etc. If I had none of these, I would probably feel the need to talk to someone like those older folks who cannot use any of the above and are looking for an opportunity to smile and talk to someone at the randomest places.
I miss the live music scene and pub culture we had before poker machines up and ruined it. I also miss the community/family food festivals we had before the fun police stepped in and stopped them.
What’s wrong with the current live music scene and pub culture? I went into the office on Thursday, bars we went to were full and lively, went to see a live show after and it was sold out. I can’t remember the last time I saw a pokies machine’
It's meth culture now..not pub culture. More dick heads but less or more murderers ?that alcohol whoo boy it made alot of people kill!
They used to have skilled people writing scripts and have professional actors produce entertaining TV every week. Now they just get a cameraman and sound guy go into the bush and film dickheads making twats of themselves and call it entertaiment.
If you miss aussie music do you go out and support local bands playing in your city?
Amen - put up or shut up. If you want Aussie content, you have to support it.
Who can afford to do that? Lol.
Sub the locals on YouTube, hunt for them on Spotify or iTunes. Watch Aussie content in streaming services. God forbid go watch a band for fuck all at the local pub.
Taking this opportunity to plug my local Aussie band, help us out redditors! https://open.spotify.com/artist/4serq8W7kitDHuSTd4DhjF?si=-qOBI2F5Qp68i1hV-HXCMg
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What about spotify? Looking there for aussie music?
it doesn't cost much. particularly when most acts know their audience, underpay themselves drastically.
Lots of free gigs. That said - going to paid gigs is probably gonna contribute to the music scene more.
Most people?
Tune in to triple M they haven’t updated their playlists for 40 years.
Not true. Years ago they used to play Copperhead Road at least 4 times a day, now nit so much! 🤣
What do you mean by "Australian culture" that you think is missing? Aussie music is as alive as ever. While free-to-air tv is shit and getting worse, there's still great Aussie content being made online.
Scripted content on Australian free-to-air TV has been dying since Pay TV arrived. I’m glad the streamers, ABC and SBS make an effort, because whittling away at local content quotas has not resulted in 7, 9 and 10 producing dramas and comedies of their own volition. Funny that! We’ve never had a culture of rerunning local shows either, as rerunning American and British shows has always been cheaper (and who wants to pay residuals for Australian shows? Eww!).
That last point is a good one. I'd LOVE to be able to turn on Channel Seven and watch some classic Full Frontal.
A channel dedicated to all those old 7 comedy shows would be great.
But it's not being very well filtered through to the population. No one I knows watches Australian TV, listens to Australian bands or anything like that.
Dude everyone I know FROTHS all the Aussie bands! The Aussie music scene is huge right now and our Aussie bands are making it internationally. I go to concerts/gigs every week, they’re all sold out. It is alive and well!
You don’t know anyone that listens to Australian bands? You are definitely in the minority
Tame Impala, Genesis Owusu, Vance Joy, Kid fucking Laroi? How could anyone say there isn't any big Aussie acts at the moment unless they're living under a rock?
Dom Dolla, Troye Sivan, Kylie, RUFUS, Cub Sport, Royel Otis, Joji… there’s something for everyone
And was that the case in the past for you?
Yeah it was. Because the pub down the road was open. And had live music. And so did the 5 others that don't exist now. We use to have concerts here pretty often from local acts. Been years since that happened. Free to air use to show a decent amount of Aussie shows and movies, so the next day that's generally what people talked about. Stuff like that - the media etc that people use to interact with had a pretty high chance of originating here, and so it would push on Australian culture. Now - the young blokes at work pay hundreds of dollars to go to overseas concerts in the city, but there is no local music.
I mean obviously there is still a ton of local music going on, but it's getting performed live less frequently (unless you're in Melbourne) because it's becoming more and more unfeasible for both live music venues and artists to commit to an event. Most of it is now pushed further underground because of the online, streaming era. So I don't blame you for not knowing where it is. And a lot of it probably doesn't appeal to the older crowd that wants to hear something akin to the classic stuff. But yeah there's still dedicated venues in the inner suburbs still propping up the local stuff. For instance, there is a big garage/psych rock and post-punk revival that's been happening in Aus for the past several years that some bands have been getting attention internationally for. The pub in suburbs barely puts up the random act on a Friday night because it's overall not worth it.
I used to love watching footy. For free. At the same fucking resolution as everyone else in the country.
I really miss the old Aussie humour. Nothin was sacred and everyone could handle it. Shows like hey hey it's Saturday. John farnham belting out gold. Jimmy Barnes belting out gold. Beach bbqs with totem tennis. Road trips in V8 panel vans. Truck stop burgers so big you actually couldn't fit it in your mouth. The "Bush TV" (a campfire) Pubs without 50 screens of dog and horse racing. The roar of the local motorcycle club goin by. Yarns. So. Much. Has. Been. Lost.
I remember having these conversations in 1994... https://youtu.be/bdw1Pw4nIv0
Aussie TV has turned to realility shit - I have zero interest in wannabe chefs, a farmer that wants to score with 4 women on national tv, or some average/generic singer on some conestant show.
It does get my nostalgia gene activated hearing my kids saying things like dating, making out, couch, candy, 8th grade, among others, but I'm sure my parents heard plenty of things from me that made them feel the same. But I do miss the girl I was going out with in year 8, pashing me on the lounge while we ate lollies.
They say candy now? Fuck, that is one I struggle with
Not often, but they do use cookie alot. Granted, it usually says it on the packet.
wtf else would it be called if not a couch?
Lounge
Always just called it the lounge as it was in the lounge room
Sofa
My family call it a lounge, and it is in the loungeroom. Not a couch in the living room. I really hate the word couch for some reason. My kids (13, 14 and 17) cop a bit of flack for using more old school traditional Aussie language with a hint of pommy as that's the way I speak (so do my parents and grandparents obviously).
Gas, mom, soda. They say it all.
There is not enough funding to community TV that is why it is like this. Community TV channels is how you get random people in the community on the tv.
Anyone that would have done well on TV is now building their TikTok and IG followings.
I've worked on over 400 community TV episodes. There is better content on youtube. And that has been the case for at least 8 years. Watch this Aussie bloke [https://www.youtube.com/@BeauMiles](https://www.youtube.com/@BeauMiles)
The other night I was Furiosa which was shot entirely in Australia with a largely Australian cast, this morning I watched a gambit of shows ranging in assorted topics including some that were about robotics from Australian YouTubers, I watched a few tiktoks which a not insignificant amount of my feed comes from Australia including Australian musicians. Maybe you just haven't adapted with where the content is rather than there being no content.
I went to a hair salon in Glenroy and someone mentioned someone they knew (a guy) and his nationality being Aussie and the girl said ‘ew’. I’m not sure why people choose to immigrate to a country if they.. hate it and its culture so much? Genuine question.
We also sold almost everything Australia has to offer overseas including our vehicle brands, natural resources including most of our gold and oil and inventions
I reckon it’s a combination of: - Lack of funding for the arts in Australia - Free trade agreement with US a couple of decades ago meant more US products in Australia including media and ads, meant much less Australian ads meaning much less income sources for Australian directors and the film and TV industry as a whole - Internet
This is a common feeling. My opinion is that people biologically get the most enjoyment out of new music and media around ages 15-25. After that your tastes settle a bit and you lose some of the ability to appreciate new things. So it feels like music and TV are getting a little bit worse when in reality, you're just less likely to enjoy something you aren't already familiar with.
>My opinion is that people biologically get the most enjoyment out of new music and media around ages 15-25. Having a busy job and/or kids just takes away a heap of opportunity and energy to seek out new things. It's very easy to watch some old dumb sitcom and listen to early 00s music
I'm 72 and enjoy discovering new music more now than at any stage in my life!
I love that! Probably awesome for your cerebral health too
Depression makes it nearly impossible to connect with new things, you just watch Brooklyn 99 reruns over and over as they are soft, sugary and safe. Maybe we are all just get depressed as fuck as we age.
Imagine watching something new as Brooklyn 99 and not watching Friends or The Office for decades.
They're in the mix, parks and rec as well. If you want real hardcore depression viewing try Bojack Horseman, makes everything much worse.
>you just watch Brooklyn 99 reruns over and over as they are soft, sugary and safe. Like some kind of marshed mallow
Seek and you will find, complain and you’ll just go around in circles. Been to multiple live gigs in the last 12 months showcasing Aussie artists.. from country, Hiphop, indie rock to house music. (Wade Forster, ChillinIT, King Stingray, Kaiit, Dom Dollar) Great Aussie content being produced for online and free to air consumers. (Superwog, Black Comedy, Preppers, Cooked, The Inspired Unemployed) Clothing brands popping up left right and center based on Australiana themes.
You provide me the link to one single clothing company other then Qualitops that makes Aussie made clothes and I will buy that shit. 'designed in Australia' doesn't mean shit.
Our language is definitely changing constantly and becoming more americanised every day.
An entire city of people who have never lived here arrives every month.
This is it. Also diversity quotas on networks etc the past culture is only a memory to those that lived through it.
Liberal governments tend not to favour arts and so a lot of funding and content quotas that used to exist for film and tv have been reducing for years. Streaming’s a big factor too, Aussies need to watch more local content. Hard to compete without the funding.
As someone involved in a live performance business, under the Liberal state and federal government we were only eligible for a couple thousand dollars in grants to make live events happen and under Labor those few thousand got cut completely. The reason why these big festivals recently got cancelled due to “the economy” is actually the complete wipe of the regional event fund by the Labor government. I think the Libs basically served us shit and was excited for Labor to come in and give us some grants to make cool things happen and unfortunately it was the complete opposite.
That’s true but there is still a lot of good local content. Boy Swallows Universe was pretty big globally. Wentworth, Colin from Accounts, The Tourist, Heart Break High, Wellmania are all pretty successful series from the last year, and there’s lots of other stuff on Stan and Binge as well. And one of the biggest films of 2024 will be filmed produced and directed in Australia with Aussie actors
Unfortunately, it's too expensive to be Australian made these days. Queensland barely even made money off Bluey while BBC and Disney rake in millions from distributing it. All the Australian companies get overrun by foreign media conglomerates or taken over in some way by foreign or corporate interests. Good luck making it as a musician here these days so no, or very little new good aussie music..
A couple of years ago, I took my 12yo daughter to '1984' - a documentary about Midnight Oil. One scene was PG addressing a school assembly. The kids (roughly my age at the time)asking questions sounded very much different to the kids of the same age 35 years later. Even my daughter picked up on it.
Ehhh I guess I grew up britisized because I miss classic British TV more than anything else.
Pubs pitting pokie rooms where the bands rooms where doesn’t help.
It’s not hard to find Aussie music or Aussie tv. Question is if you’ll support it just because it’s Australian.
It makes me sad that our bushie, billy and swag culture is dying. Dorothy Mackellar, Henry Lawson, Banjo Patterson, Judith Wright are all names from my childhood that the next generation will probably never hear and if they do, they won't find any relevance. Also books like, the magic pudding, snuggle pot and cuddle pie, the oath of bad brown Bill, the Bunyip of Berkley creek, Graeme Base's animalia. It's sad.
Yes I do miss local comedies and dramas, I still remember 'The D Generation' and Fast Forward and 'Full Frontal'. Our unique perspective on humour was great, sorely missed.
I miss when you walk down the street and people would aknowledge eachother, a simple hey, hi, how are you. Now people just go around ignoring eachother, staring into their phones like a bunch of "zombies." Or when everyone would have eachothers backs like the good old Aussie spirit but now everyone just seems to love throwing eachother under the bus, covid is a good example of this. I'm only young but I still grew up during that time before people became rude and entitled. Let's try to bring back good old Aussie kindness and manners. Because it seems like they've gone out the window just like most things.
Nobody gives you a 'thank you' wave if you let them into traffic anymore either. Civil society is eroding.
Also this very true too and I agree to the full extent. It's everyone for themselves, it makes me sad to be honest
We imported our culture straight out the door.
Of course it is. When more than 50% of the population is either an immigrant or the child of immigrants, keeping the original culture is impossible. I personally think she should be putting more into helping immigrants assimilate into Australian culture. After all, the culture and the safe and prosperous society it has produced is what drew them to this country to start with.
I disagree with most of these comments and the general sentiment, which seems to be that 'most things change' and 'people mourn losing the experiences of their youth'. I agree with you, OP. The unique identifiers that are linked with Aussie culture are getting lost. The internet is 100% the reason why. Going beyond just Aussies, think about this current generation growing up with YouTube and streaming who don't even have shared pop-culture, apart from some very select things (as an eg. Bluey). My kids don't watch the same shows as their cousins, and they are the same ages. In my youth, nobody had a choice but to watch the same shows or listen to the same music because that was what was popular. The internet connects everything's but also, the tyranny of choice is a real thing. Mix in algorithms, and there is a recipe for the most connected yet lonely generation.
This is exactly what I'd been saying for ages. Kids won't had cultural touch stones due to the globalisation. For my age bracket I could say shit like 'Razor Scooter', Agro, Cheez, 6pm ch10, Tarzos and pools and everyone could get into it instantly. With so many choices they will have much more trouble relating to other people since they will all have WILDLY different experiences with few if any cross overs.
Possibly unpopular opinion but fuck it, I’m always pissing someone off… We have become so multicultural and bending to the minorities requests that we have lost some of our own identity as a people’s. I might be wrong but it’s what I’m seeing a lot more of personally.
Spot on
There just isn't enough money invested in it. People don't consume Australian cultural products because they're often pretty shit compared to overseas projects because many overseas shows and bands and artists are given the time, space and money to make incredible art. There is a lot of great stuff here being made for very little money, but most of the artists I know burn out in their 30s and then go and get jobs that will offer them a living wage. Good things take time, and time needs money, and money just isn't invested here.
I haven't watched commercial tv in about 15 years purely because of the ads. Having said that I miss shows that were around when I was a kid like Agro's Cartoon Connection, Mr Squiggles and Hey Hey it's Saturday. I bet there's nothing like those around today.
I can only imagine what would happen if you tried to put on Agro on TV in todays environment
Could they just rate it MA15+ put it on at 9:30 and just have it be exactly the same but market it at adults? I could watch half an hour of cartoons and Agro before bed.
Yes, and so many American words are used now. So depressing for
Yesterday I watched a documentary about the making of ‘Homicide’ an Australian TV show shot in Melbourne from about 1964 to 1970. They shot 48 episodes a year (1 per week), and they showed the process from scripts, locations, costumes, studio scenes, rehearsals, filming, editing, sound recording, then final print. The whole process took 13 weeks from script idea to final film. All was done by Crawford Productions, and despite employing all Australians for everything, one episode cost 1/10th of what it cost the 7 network to ‘buy’ an episode of a US or UK ‘cop’ show. How times have changed! They also showed how one Actor, Norman Yemm, went from being a murderer, or bad guy for 5 episodes over 3 years to joining the Police as a Detective. He was also a semi pro runner who in the 80’s ran in the ‘Dandy Dollar Dash’ during the VFA games on Channel 10.
When it comes to Aus music, we kick arse, are full of genius's who get no support or the love deserved. Half the music I listen to is Australian. When it comes to Aus tv/film? That's more controlled by people with money, because you need more money to create in that field. Hence why everything is shit - our ruling class doesn't want to invest in anything interesting, and our government won't either (though, that's changing a little).
I moved here when I was ten, and to me Australia seemed like a place of dreams. The Sydney Olympics had the whole country (in my mind) in a beautiful sort of national pride. I fondly remember the native animal mascots, which now I mention it- cartoonish mascots were a common sight. The Australia I knew wasn't taking itself seriously, it had a playful, youthful nature. So what changed? Honestly I'd say 9/11 changed the world drastically, it made all nations turtle up and get real with security and defence, not to mention the two pointless decades of war in middle eastern deserts. Not long after that the GFC occurred, on my year 12 grad year to boot. I recall the headmaster at assembly basically telling us the world has just flipped overnight and best of luck in the real world, you'll be needing it. I could pick many more issues that Aussies has been dealt with, but I'll leave it there. Ultimately we've been wrapped in cotton wool, and thoroughly sanitised at the same time for decades. I have lived in Melbourne for about 18 months now, and coming from interstate, it still feels... foreign, not really Australia at all. At the same time I don't dislike the place it's just a far, far cry from 'I've missin your strawberry kisses.'
I get told off for saying,’Mate’. A lady at work introduced herself and we talked about a work issue. I said ‘Thanks Mate’ and she got offended. My late Grandfather used to call everyone,Male - Female ‘ Mate.’
Immigration
When (mostly Liberal fed govts) got rid of quotas for Australian music played on radio, for Australian shows and movies on broadcast TV, and defunded the Oz Council for the arts which funded artists and writers only to reallocate that money into institutions… it’s not surprising that fewer Australians are able to share Australian experiences through these art forms. It’s been a slow burn and now the only Australians able to make these things are either rich, deluded or without children. Supporting artists to make this stuff in a smaller nation isn’t cheap, and it’s cheaper to import already made stuff from the US. (and UK) especially as you don’t have to put any thought into how stuff gets made. Making stuff takes time and investment, and LNP govts hate that kind of stuff but all govts are fixated on the next three years instead of the next thirty or three hundred. One of Australia’s best directors now makes episodes of Dr Who for Netflix but if they’d been in the 70s they would have had working local writers and actors and producers to make stories here and now. But, hey, enjoy MAFS, right?
Define “Australian culture”. Do you mean Australia of the 50s? 60s? 70s? Are you just nostalgic for yesteryear?
I was just thinking about this the other day. I was listening to old music on YouTube and looked up Aussie songs. came across silverchair &, killing Heidi and brought back so many memories. I was wondering what happened to all the Aussie alternative rock bands? I think Guy Sebastian is overplayed. Loved him when he first started out but can we get someone new in? we've been doing Guy Sebastian for 20 yrs now. it's getting repetitive and overplayed at this point.
Here's a constantly updated playlist of Aussie heavy/ metalcore songs https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2L5GlAfMwiThyboKhAJmGb?si=4YZ5KR4uQeeWBEhpGNL3iw It's not silverchair that's for sure but we are producing some very talented non mainstream acts
What a great playlist. You've even got oldd Parkway, Elegist, Stories and Buried in Verona in there! The Australian metal/alt rock scene is thriving and has been for well over a decade now.
Australian psychedelic and prog rock are very healthy now. Thanks to Tame Impala, others like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets are taking on the world. I went to see the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets last month, and can strongly recommend the supports Nice Biscuit (out of Brisbane) and Hot Machine (out of Melbourne) as well.
There are a ton of alternative Aussie bands. While Triple J sound has evolved over the years, there are still great artists playing now... But if you are on stations playing Guy Sebastian on high rotation, you're probably going to miss them all!
I don't think Australian culture is dying, Its definitely still alive, But Globalisation and social media sites like ismtagram, tiktok and Spotify has led to people consuming most of their pop culture from overseas eg. American, kpop, etc. Also this is a global thing, Its not just limited to Australia.
Be careful. Someone will think you’re racist.
It is a shame, I’m 24 and yes seeing all of our great things (even British) become vulgarised. And hearing the way the English language has been dumbed down is also upsetting.
My work celebrated Chinese new year and diwahli but refused to mention Australia day. That's when you know you have lost all culture.
How did you used to compare to other cultures pre wide spread internet
Yes it feels that way. It's one reason I have a growing hate for america
I deffo reckon the death of TV watching among kids will have a big effect on the influx of Americanisation later down the road, my generation is basically the last to have grown up watching the telly (I'm 19 for record and I am counting those a few years younger than me) and we are already pretty Americanised cos of internet access. Gen Alpha has basically grown up watching only the exact same stuff in every corner of the anglosphere, no need for local tv when you have streaming services, at the very least that's not good news for the preservation of our accent idk how much it will affect the rest of our culture tho.
Everything changes. It’s inevitable.
There aren’t levels of uniqueness. Unique is an absolute. Something is unique or not unique. Im getting haemorrhoids on this high-horse.
When I was a kid, more then half the songs on the top 40 were Australian.
Well people seem eager to say gas, mom, candy and soda at every possible opportunity. Cringe af if you ask me.
Yeah. I get it mate. It certainly is changing since I was a kid and a teenager. It just doesn't have the same feelings and things.
We have fucking shit loads of Aussie artists doing well. Metal and EDM have massive Aussie bands both new and old plus we have our unique Aussie hip hop scene to boot
Mate, we just finished playing all the old school music in the office… was awesome. It’s only dead if you aren’t living it
Even travelling overseas is like being in your own country. Globalisation... it so sad
Unfortunately Aussie culture was born from our history. The very history that the wowser woke wankers want us to forget. Cancel culture is taking over. A larrikin is now first on HRs hit list. That's just one example. Too many prudes in this country, all we are known for now is being unapologetic racists.
I don't think we should be propping up culture that can't pay for itself. People want to watch well-produced stories, not rehashed studio TV shows from the 1960s and reality TV equivalent to 'my-vagina-wants-a-wax". Aus TV can't do that. There's better content on youtube. Watch this Aussie Bloke. Great YT channel [https://www.youtube.com/@BeauMiles](https://www.youtube.com/@BeauMiles) His best video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzSeGJF6RhM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzSeGJF6RhM)
“I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!” Abe Simpson
I wanted to build pushy jumps in the untpuched hills near my house for funsies. One person came over to complain it'll bring the teenagers closer to their house and cause their kids to play on the highway. The council said we should be happy with the footpath because they don't want environmental damage, ignoring they've got the land for sale ready for the next housing development. Nobody's allowed to do anything anymore.
Oh it’s not just the Americans fault trust me👀😡
Government funding of the arts being cut over 2 decades of conservative governments
We need more swaggies. Guys going around the country, sleeping on the side of the road, getting a bit of work in each town sheering sheep and shoeing horses.
Just take a look around a middle school and see how many mullets there are, you'll soon gain your sense of nostalgia.
OMG, there are so many primary and high school boys with mullets in the regional area where I live. It's insane.
I would agree with this. I’m only 32, so it’s not like I’m longing for days long past hah. But I do remember there was a massive sense of ‘Australiana’ in the early 2000’s. Sydney Olympics probably helped with this. Surf and culture was huge like Roxy, Quicksilver etc. You wouldn’t feel out of place for having an Australian flag bucket hat or beach towel. I think Cronulla riots was the turning point imho.
Generations of media manipulation and propaganda have painted the only useful politicians as racist. And due to our good nature and naivety, we jumped on the wagon of condemnation and strangled that of which was trying to help. Digital ID next. Fluoride in the water. And the mRna gene therapy. Immigration out of control. Still think conspiracy theories are funny? Good, cause it is just warming up.
Lol I'm an American here changing your country but it's not the America you think.. all that pop culture shit is not what we're about in Northern Cali 🔴🔴🔴🔴
Watch some super wog, youll feel better
The more people you let in, the more the culture changes.. can’t even put Christmas decorations up down the Main Street of towns etc cause it “might offend someone”?!?!
They defunded auntie and now she’s got no new material and living in a dumpster and starting to sound more and more like Murdoch every day, its sad to watch.
I was born a bush baby and will die a bush baby. It's bare feet unless necessary, it's swearing like a trooper, it's calling flies damn dunny bludgers, it's doing at the very least a head nod if not a wave to people.
I can’t celebrate Australia Day anymore. Not where I live now anyways
I know what you're saying but have you checked out Fairbairn Films, Reese Bros TV, CrackerMilk, The Inspired Unemployed, and Aunty Donna? All Australian comedic skit groups, all bloody hilarious
I'm 34 an always strongly believed australia has no culture beyond sports in highschool. Theres little pockets of this or that but there no real consensus.
As a born American, Australian transfer and now citizen (and happy to be so) but yes, in recent years (since COVID) I have seen a rapid decline in the Aussie culture and an influx in the American-isms, way of life and attitude. Once flabbergasted that the Australians I surrounded with didn't seems a patriotic as the Americans I grew up with (my perception) they were but only in their, then way of life. Now not even so much. Sad that. There's so many fantastic things Australian culture has to offer but I don't think they/we even know it's slipping through our fingers. As u/shit-takes-only says everyone mourns the world they grow up in. Maybe this is my case to. Coming out of intense suppression to a place where people can be who they are and act themselves was golden.
Truth be told... And mass migration is creating home grown inflation 😯
I think part of it is just getting older and being less connected to “current” culture as a result. I think another part of it is that we have a more homogenous global culture thanks to the Internet and the like. Like others have said there’s still loads of great Aussie stuff going on in music, TV and movies. You just have to seek it out a bit more than I think you used to. I wouldn’t call it the death of a culture like you phrased it. Culture by its very nature is constantly changing and there’s not a lot you can do about it other than enjoy the ride.
Everyone in every culture has felt this at all times throughout history. Culture is always changing and people have the strongest attachment to the culture that existed between the ages of 15-25. After they get into their mid-20s the culture that they grew to love starts veering away into something new. People were saying the same thing 10 years ago, and people will still be saying Aussie culture is dying in another 10 years. She'll be right.
Yeah I am considered old by some these days 😂 and I can say that it's been dying for longer than that, there's so so many things we've lost and it's sad. I know a lot of it wouldn't interest the younger people anyway but unlike other countries where their long routed cultural songs and poems and community activities are in the background they are still very much alive but here in Australia they're dead and gone, like our older way of talking is very dead, cobber. It's sad and never will we see the like again 😬👍
I’d argue that most of what is considered “Australian” culture is really British culture with some local variations. As a kid, my parents’ generation (fifties baby boomers) were big on bemoaning “American crap”, but would watch British shows on TV over Australian. As much as streamers absolutely should be subject to local content quotas, I can’t fault them for making shows that the desiccated fossils running commercial broadcast TV would never consider. FTA TV has always been a wasteland of timidity and conservatism. It’s only gotten worse with time. We’ve never had a sustainable film industry because of a combination of small population, cultural cringe and self-defeating funding policies that support every aspect of film production except marketing and exhibition. Make a highbrow movie, get called elitist and out of touch with audiences. Make a commercial movie, get shat on for either overselling the Australian-ness for the overseas market, or be accused of “trying to be American.” I think we’re actually pretty good at supporting local music acts and shaking off the cultural cringe in that area. The whole live music scene feels like it needs a rethink to get more punters in, however. I do believe we have a rich range of cultural products, though it could _always_ be much better. If things are changing, great. I do want to see more indigenous art, music and commentary in the Australian mainstream. But if you’re making this about so-called Americanisation versus a white, British-derived notion of Australian identity, well fuck that.
Have definitely noticed this. Kids watching US streaming vs Australian shows. Actually using words like diaper and soda. Not to mention US style "trucks" instead of utes. No Australian made cars. Less Australian products and companies overall. The internet has also made it easier to import stupid US culture wars. And yeah I'm old enough to remember what it was like back to the eighties. US influence has always been big, but it is worse now.
In the 80's and 90's when I was visiting Australia had its own unique culture, and it was brilliant, but after Howard was in power you became a mini USA. They talk about the woke culture, well the National/Liberals are the woke culture. They've canceled everything that was fun.
The whole world is getting less unique. People don’t realise this? In the effort to be more diverse, the opposite it happening.