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 Finally a TV show that doesn’t depict foreigners as villains, notes David Knox.
With the obvious exclusion of SBS, diversity on screen is always an on-going issue. Grey’s Anatomy, The Amazing Race, The Librarians are some rare exceptions. While we’ve all just had our four-yearly Olympic cultural lesson, I have to say I didn’t learn much about what it means to live in China. Meanwhile one of the highest-rated shows in Australia depicts foreigners as liars, criminals and drug-traffickers. Significantly, Border Security thrived at a time when the Tampa incident and Schapelle Corby’s case hit our headlines. According to them, nasty foreigners are always around every corner.
So it’s refreshing to see a mainstream commercial television show which will offer up another culture in an heroic form. Sure, Bondi Rescue may succeed for its adoration of the classic Aussie surf lifesaver, but there are fringe benefits to this off-shoot edition. One of the reasons this show has been packaged is the seasonal limitations of only being able to shoot during the Sydney summer. In Bali, it’s a “year-long season.”
Bondi boys with hard-yakka names like Whippet, Tom, Reidy, Chappo, Deano, Yatesy, Matt Dee, Harries, Azza G, Kobi and Terry will spend two months at Kuta Beach. The pitch is that the Aussies will impart their knowledge and skills to the locals. The reality will be something of an education for themselves. The Aussies face a beach five times the size of Bondi and the ferocious surf of the Indian Ocean.
The Balinese have none of the modern equipment, in either rescue or medical form, that the Aussies are used to. Yet it doesn’t diminish from the commitment to saving lives or opening their hearts to (stupid) tourists who shirk basic swimming responsibility. As you will see in the opening episodes, the Balinese boys are just as trim, fit and eager as the Aussies, to keep the beaches of Kuta safe.
Part of the storytelling is also a fish-out-of-water commentary from one of the Aussies. You know, the type who can’t believe there are monkeys in the street, or is too nervous to eat from a food stall. It’s a little condescending to begin with, but hopefully there is a storyline arc that sees him do a cultural U-turn by series end.
This factual series looks set to be a cultural island in a sea of middle-class television.
Bondi Rescue: Bali premieres 7:30pm Wednesday September 10 on TEN.
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Arts & Entertainment 
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