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form y separately published work icon We Can Be Heroes single work   film/TV   humour   satire  
Alternative title: The Nominees; We Can Be Heroes : Finding the Australian of the Year
Note: Shelton is credited as co-writer on IMDB.
Issue Details: First known date: 2005... 2005 We Can Be Heroes
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

We Can Be Heroes is a fictional documentary series that follows five nominees competing for the Australian of the Year Award. The characters (all played by actor/comedian Chris Lilley) are Phil, a rescue hero who saved nine children in a jumping castle accident; Ricky, a Chinese physics genius and aspiring actor; Ja'mie, a charity-minded schoolgirl who sponsors 85 Sudanese children; Daniel and Nathan, twin farm boys embarking on a world-first eardrum transplant; and Pat, a disabled suburban housewife turned elite athlete.

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Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 2005
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Works about this Work

Netflix Has Quietly Removed Four of Chris Lilley's Shows, but It Didn't Go Unnoticed Dannielle Maguire , 2020 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , June 2020;
'Your Heart Goes Out to the Australian Tourist Board' Critical Uncertainty and the Management of Censure in Chris Lilley's TV Comedies Julia Gayley Erhart , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: Continuum : Journal of Media & Cultural Studies , vol. 27 no. 3 2013; (p. 434-445) Chris Lilley's domestic reputation as a writer and creator of nationally award-winning material has largely not suffered, in contrast to other shows featuring provocative themes. What is distinctive about Lilley's work that allows him to forestall accusations of ‘racism’ that other shows would face? In order to address these questions, this article investigates key components of Lilley's comedies in three major contexts. First, I consider the work in the framework of post-2000 Australia. How might the depicted themes of aspiration and disenfranchisement dispose at least ‘middle’ Australian viewers to find favour with Lilley? Second, I look at the material in the context of ‘cringe’ comedy. A key theme that emerges throughout critical appraisals is the uncertainty about the ethical value of the humour. How do Lilley's shows create a sense of critical ambiguity that plays out in Lilley's favour? Finally, I examine the framing of Lilley's non-white characters, contrasting critical responses to them with the reception of another well-known performance of blackface on Hey Hey It's Saturday. How might the more contained criticism of performance and scripting flaws (that Lilley's work received) displace more serious charges?' (Author's abstract)
Lilley and ABC Give Fans a Blast from the Past Geoff Shearer , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 13 September 2012; (p. 50)
Confidential : 2011 Awards Tristan Swanwick , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 28 December 2011; (p. 25)
Can We Be Heroes? : Chris Lilley and the Politics of Comedy Peter Conrad , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Monthly , May no. 67 2011; (p. 24-27) The Best Australian Essays 2011 2011; (p. 132-140)
A Bad Habit : Chris Lilley and How We Rate Comedy Anthony Morris , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings , October no. 3 2010; (p. 151-158)
— Review of We Can Be Heroes Chris Lilley , Ryan Shelton , 2005 single work film/TV ; Summer Heights High Chris Lilley , 2007 single work film/TV
Gilding the Lilley Peter Wilmoth , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 4 May 2008; (p. 15)
State by State : S. A. Samantha Ryan , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: Lowdown , April vol. 30 no. 2 2008; (p. 42-43) Provides an overview of news, events, opportunities and industry information for young people in the performing arts in South Australia during 2008.
Performance, Race, Mock-Documentary and the Australian National Imaginary in The Nominees Lisa Bode , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Post Script , Summer vol. 28 no. 3 2009; (p. 68-81) 'The different layers of performance styles, representational spaces and comic targets in... mock-documentaries are worth unpacking for how they operate together and the social values they may or may not critique. This essay will offer some thoughts in this direction before examining in detail the complex way in which these layers work in a recent Australian mock-documentary television series, We Can Be Heroes: Finding the Australian of the Year (2005), re-titled in the USA and UK as The Nominees, which, among other things, features socially regressive and highly charged representational styles such as yellow and blackface performance.'
A Disappearing Act of Genius Ben Pobjie , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 21 May 2011; (p. 51)
Can We Be Heroes? : Chris Lilley and the Politics of Comedy Peter Conrad , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Monthly , May no. 67 2011; (p. 24-27) The Best Australian Essays 2011 2011; (p. 132-140)
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Awards

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Last amended 31 Mar 2014 14:52:36
Matt Saville
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