Romper Stomper, Stan’s newest original series, is already causing controversy months before its release date.
The series picks up on the themes and story of Geoffrey Wright’s groundbreaking and controversial 1992 film of the same name.
The 1992 movie follows a gang of violent neo-Nazis from Melbourne, who attack three Vietnamese Australian teenagers in a tunnel at the Footscray train station. Youths from the Vietnamese community retaliate and an all-in gang war breaks out.
Twenty five years on, the six-part drama follows a new generation of the activist right, their anti-fascist counterparts and three young Lebanese Muslims caught between the conflict.
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In the series, the alt-right group refer to themselves as the “Patriot Blue”.
Essentially, Romper Stomper’s timing and commentary on the state of race relations in Australia is spot on. But unfortunately, the series has already been linked to a disturbing racially-based incident.
Last week, a group referring to themselves as the “Patriot Blue” verbally abused Senator Sam Dastyari at a Melbourne pub.
The group of men called Senator Dastyari a “terrorist” and told him to return to his birth country of Iran during the incident.
One of the men shouted “You terrorist, you little monkey,” at the Senator during the ordeal.
The incident was filmed and later posted to the Facebook page of the far-right Patriot Blue group.
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In a statement Stan and Roadshow Productions have clarified that there is no link between the fictional group in the upcoming series and the group who verbally-abused Senator Dastyari.
Stan and Roadshow said they “strongly condemn the actions of this group and racial discrimination in all its forms”. Stan will be taking legal action in relation to the infringement of the Patriot Blue trademark, and use of the Stan name on Facebook.
In the joint statement, Stan and Roadshow Productions said:
“Romper Stomper is a story that reflects contemporary issues from multiple view points and focuses on the alienated and fractured members of modern society. The incident with Senator Dastyari highlights that this is the right time to have an important national conversation about these issues, in a respectful and constructive way.”
The Romper Stomper six-part series will drop on Stan on New Year’s Day.
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