The Māori Sopranos
The controversial TVNZ drama Vegas has just finished its six-episode run. Since its debut, the story of a fictitious Māori gang embroiled in a botched drug deal experienced a big online backlash from viewers and Māori media critics. They asserted that the Māori-in-gangs narrative continued to reinforce the damaging stereotype of Māori men as hyper masculine, criminal and violent.
Filmed in Rotorua, received more than $5 million from NZ on Air and some questioned why public funding should be used to continue to portray Māori in a negative light. One outspoken critic even blamed the programme for the recent racist rant by former Eagle Brewing owner David Gaughan. The Canterbury businessman was forced to step down after the public outcry over his online post saying that “Māori are the scurge [sic] of New Zealand” and that the majority of Māori men beat their wives and should be put in jail.
