With entertainment banking on the bounties of technology, series and shows have begun to traverse across national frontiers to woo souls across the globe. Viewers have been quick enough to pour out their reviews and poise the performance of the shows. Thus, it is not a few and far moments to find the acts lingering amidst the torrent of criticism. One of them making a mark in that domain is the show- Summer Heights High.

The character- Jonah Takalua is the heart of the show. The celebrated actor- Chris Lilley donned the privilege of playing that character that revolves around a Tongan schoolboy. The show made its mark in 2007 on ABC. Jonah was quick to garner a warming response from the viewers. But the clouds of disgust soon began to build up over the character. The flag bearers of the motion are not happy with the portrayal of the character. They have found it biased and igniting stereotypes against the community.

One of them is Filipe Mahe. The man shot into limelight with his act in the documentary series- Our Boys in 2004. The series revolved and tried to bring into light toil of students and teachers with the ‘’cash-strapped government school’ at Canterbury Boys High in Sydney. He represented ‘charismatic and cheeky Tongan schoolboy having a tough time because of his reading, writing and family difficulties’.

According to Mahe, Jonah has drawn inspiration from his character in ‘Our Boys’. He mentioned that Chris had paid a visit to his school after ‘Our Boys’ to play a role. After watching the ‘Summer Heights High’, Mahe realized that it was his part. He is not happy with the portrayal of the character.

Taking on that, he shared, “I knew from that episode Jonah was me. I’ve always thought it was racism to Tongans but never spoke out. I would have been labelled a ‘sook’ or ‘can’t handle the banter’ so I didn’t say anything”.

Shedding light on reason of disgust, he shared, “Young Tongan boys have been stereotyped as dumb, clowns, a nuisance.” He further added, “I feel like I’m responsible for this stereotype and that hurts the most. It hurts that people think I spoke in that manner to the public or to my family. I’m upset that people think I’m dumb or uneducated. I’m upset at how people think of me”.

Well, Mahe is not alone in flagging concerns clinging to the character. The head English teacher from the Canterbury School, who was also a part of Our Boys in 2004, has also joined the chorus. The teacher- Daryl Currie does not like the use of brown shade for Chris to resemble Tongan boys. He sees it as an insult to the community. According to him, the character is not the true representation of the group. It also cements biases against them.

The ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement has powered up the motion against the character. Thus, Netflix has removed four Chris shows- Angry Boys, Summer Heights High, We Can Be Heroes and Jonah from Tonga in response to the raging worldwide criticism against racism.

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