Monday, May 16, 2011

The Brute Polak on German Television

German TV in ‘Polish stereotype’ row


National stereotypes are up for debate once more after a German TV station ran a comedy sketch showing a beer-drinking Pole living in a dung-scattered sty with his pet goat Zubrowka.

The sketch, entitled Pole sucht Frau ('A Pole searches for a wife'), presents Marek, a cursing young Pole, who in the style of a reality TV program, attempts to entice a string of blonde German women to live with him in his muddy abode.

Marek, who sleeps on a bed of straw, shares his lunch of carrots with his beloved goat Zubrowka, but hopes to entice a German spouse.

The sketch, which takes its cue from the Dutch hit 'A Farmer Wants a Wife', was produced by a private German TV channel.

The part of the rustic Pole is played by comic Wojciech Oleszczak, originally from Slupsk, but resident in Germany for many years.

His character of an uncouth Pole has already garnered some success in Germany. In previous sketches, Marek notes than he has two brothers, one called pig and the other called donkey. However, the comedian insists that his intentions are constructive.

"I want to be an ambassador of Poland, using humour to unite the nations," he has said in the past.

Likewise, his manager holds that his character, Marek, is not a negative creation.

"Marek is not intended to offend Poles, because he is not a symbol of a Pole. He laughs at himself and the characters that he created."

However, whether Oleszczak's sketches tickle the humour of his fellow Poles is less certain. Indeed, the comedian has admitted to having had death threats in the past.

Thank you to Malgorzata for sending me this link.

1 comment:

  1. Same old jive, same old perps. Somebody oughta do a study on old Nazi Slavophobe posters, and more current Slavophobic media offerings. Same old, same old. Nemo

    ReplyDelete

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