An Australian comedian has sparked controversy for her portrayal of an Indigenous woman, which involved offensive stereotypes like sniffing petrol and performing a staged smoking ceremony. Despite the backlash, she has refused to issue an apology.
Lisa Jane Spencer, a satirist and podcaster from Melbourne, has built a following on social media with her comedic sketches and insights into Australian culture.
Known for her satirical take on political and cultural issues, Spencer often addresses the complexities of identity politics in her work.
On Tuesday, she released a new video featuring a character she calls ‘Aunty Lisa,’ in which she depicted several Indigenous stereotypes. The video quickly attracted significant criticism from viewers.
Responding to the outcry, Spencer stated on Wednesday that she stands by her work and has no plans to apologize.
“While you have the right to be offended, you’re also reinforcing my point: there’s a tendency towards victimhood. Nothing is preventing you from finding humor in the joke,” she expressed in an online statement.
‘And so I apologise to absolutely nobody. Not to the Aboriginals, Indians and anyone else who I have and will continue to make jokes about.
‘This is comedy. If you can’t make jokes about certain people and things, then that is a form of privilege and hierarchy, and comedy is about tearing those down.’
Melbourne comedian Lisa Jane Spencer addressed backlash to her recent video mocking an Indigenous woman
She added that, as a comedian, she should be pushing the boundaries and that wasn’t going to change.
Ms Spencer started the controversial video by stating: ‘I started identifying as a black fella a few months ago.’
She was then shown identifying as Aboriginal on a mock government form, ticking ‘Yes I am’ box next to the question ‘Am I Aboriginal?’.
The video then cut to ‘Aunty Lisa’ wearing white face paint and mimicking singing while clapping two twigs together.
‘I finally feel at peace with who I am. One of the mob,’ she said. ‘Aboriginal identity transcends skin colour. I am Aboriginal, end of story.’
The skit ended with Ms Spencer inhaling from a red jerry can.
‘This transition hasn’t been easy, but it’s been worth it,’ she captioned the video.
Ms Spencer in her statement defended the video, saying ‘I love Aboriginal people’ and said ‘politicians and activists use Aboriginal suffering too’.
Lisa Spencer pretends to sniff a container of petrol during her video
‘They parade it out for votes, for funding and for virtue signalling,’ she said.
‘They hate it when someone points out that maybe not every single Aboriginal person wants to be the eternal victim.’
Instead, Ms Spencer claimed her video was ‘first about how easy it is to perform identity for attention and/or benefits’.
‘If a man can dress like a woman, play out stereotypes of what women do, win thousands in a court case, then I can satirise white people claiming Aboriginal heritage benefits,’ she said.
‘The petrol at the end of my skit was the punchline, just as my Indian videos where I took a squat.’
She finished her statement by thanking ‘everyone who laughed’.
Australians called out the comedian for the ‘offensive video’ just hours after it was posted.
‘Foul. Good comedians punch up. The lazy ones punch down and call the backlash proof they’re ‘too edgy’,’ one person said.
Ms Spencer started off her video with a smoking ceremony
‘Shock value is what you reach for when you can’t land a punchline.’
‘Oh dear, the petrol sniffing at the end. Skating close to the boundaries there,’ another agreed.
‘This isn’t comedy or satire it’s a collection of lazy and racist stereotypes dressed up as a joke. Aboriginal people are real people not props,’ a fourth said.
‘And the fact that the ‘joke’ relies entirely on these caricatures says more about your total lack of creativity than it does about the people you are mocking.’
However, others disagreed.
‘I didn’t think it was possible to love you any more than I already do and you drop this,’ one person wrote.
‘I’m literally pissing myself laughing out loud,’ another said.
Ms Spencer has made skits impersonating Pauline Hanson, Abbie Chatfield, Donald Trump, and a white woman who identified as Indian.
She called her character ‘Aunty Lisa’ and pretended to dance and sing while clapping sticks together
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In that video, she claimed to have ‘assimilated’ with Indian culture.
‘I’ve learned the accent and the head bob,’ she said.
‘And I’m patriotic, that ticks most boxes. The only thing that’s different between me and the majority of Indians is how long I’ve been here… and my skin colour.
‘But I don’t see skin colour, and that’s the thing, skin colour is just different kinds of shades and it’s time to stop with the brown fragility.
‘It’s not about skin colour or about shared ancestry. It’s about being a proud Indian. So India, do better, and stop being so racist.’
Ms Spencer transitioned into comedy after ten years as a singer-songwriter and music producer. She has since posted more than 130 parodies.
The Daily Mail contacted Ms Spencer for comment.
