The White Hat Guide to Wog Boy

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After the Second World War, a new immigration policy in Australia encouraged large numbers of Southern Europeans to migrate to Australia. Melbourne received large numbers of these, particularly Greeks and Italians. These 'New Australians' often faced resentment from the established Australians of Anglo-Celtic backgrounds. They were often referred to as 'wogs' - a derogatory and insulting term.

In the early 1990s a group of first generation 'wogs' staged a hugely successful stage show where they poked fun at themselves and the Anglo community, and through comedy managed to drain much of the hurtful meaning out of the word 'wog'. This was a powerful achievement, and through the use of comedy they were able to achieve much more, much faster than any 'politically correct' government initiative. The word 'wog' when used by the right people in the right spirit in the right circumstance has almost become a word of endearment - a little like the word 'bastard' in Australia can be a compliment - "pappa, don't wear that - it's so woggy!". (If you are new to Melbourne, just don't try using words like this until you have a feeling for the local culture.)

The show was called Wogs Out Of Work and was followed by later shows and TV spin-offs such as Acropolis Now. The chief creative talent behind these shows has been Nick Giannopoulos, and his film Wog Boy follows the well established theme. This is not high art, but a comedy of manners that manages to take swipes at anything and anyone pompous (the wog translation would be "up themselves"). And in the end, the wogs spend as much time laughing at their own shortcomings as they do laughing at everybody else.

Since the early days of European settlement the ability to laugh at yourself has always provided a fast track to acceptance by the 'mainstream' Australian community while also providing the opportunity for some gentle but telling jibes against 'mainstream' Australian attitudes.

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