Why The ABC's Indigenous Superhero Drama "Cleverman" Is 2016's Most Exciting New Show

Honestly, I don’t remember the last time I willingly sat down to watch an Australian TV show.

But now, we can all get excited about something that promises to be infinitely more entertaining than the events of Summer Bay. (I’ll never understand why British people even watch Neighbours.)

The ABC brings us Cleverman: a show that makes the classic superhero tale relevant to Australia’s current cultural and political environment. Set in a dystopian future, it tells the story of an Australia where people are classified as “human” or “sub-human” based on their physical features.

As is expected of the superhero genre, a reluctant hero soon emerges to unite the “world divided by hate.”

That said, it by no means follows the conventional plot of a superhero film. Cleverman is unique in that it attempts to blend Indigenous storytelling with sci-fi.

FYI, the following trailer contains some coarse language and violence.

Last week, in a statement that went alongside the first trailer's debut, creator Ryan Griffen said that he had a “huge love of superheroes and comics” but that he wanted to introduce “something Aboriginal, Indigenous, to that world."

“It was important for me that my son had a cultural superhero that he could look up to as a young Aboriginal person. Something he could connect to that was also entertaining.”

The trailer begins with a politician announcing that while the “international community has accused [Australia] of violating human rights… these creatures are not human”. Here, their physical difference alone justifies the “government’s commitment to keep these sub-humans within 'the zone'.”

Sound familiar? Perhaps it evokes memories of the time then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott was “sick of being lectured to by the United Nations” when they reported that Australia’s treatment of refugees violated the anti-torture convention? Uncanny coincidence? Deliberate statement? I’m willing to bet the latter.

Cleverman is clearly entrenched in, and informed by, the racism that defines the experience of many in this country. Even castmember Uncle Jack Charles, one of Australia’s most acclaimed actors, has bore the brunt of systematic racial discrimination.

He recently told of how a taxi driver allocated to pick him up sped off after seeing what he looked like. Uncle Jack has plenty of other stories wherein drivers simply refused to drive him or demanded pre-payments because of his race, even in the hours after he was named Victorian Senior Australian of the Year.

Cleverman plants itself firmly in the discourse surrounding race in this country. We’ve all heard the #OscarsSoWhite buzz, and the maddeningly irrational complaints about the nominations of Waleed Aly and Lee Lin Chin for the Gold Logie. In this climate, an 80 per cent Aboriginal cast is very welcome, marking a long awaited step towards more diversity in our entertainment.

Personally, I’m insanely excited for Cleverman. But even I must admit that while watching the trailer, the representation of “hairies” alongside the assertion that “we do not share the same DNA” made me uncomfortable.

The genetic distinction between “humans” and “sub-humans” is no doubt a commentary on the once widely held belief of European settlers that Indigenous people were genetically different; genetically inferior.

It took Australia until 1967 to finally recognise Aboriginal people in the Australian Constitution.

However, this show’s disapproval seems to be expressed by embodying this idea of difference.

I’m sure the show will position us to sympathise with the “sub-humans” and their very human struggles, as well as the discrimination they face. It’s also a relief to finally have not only an Australian superhero, but a superhero of colour. Still, it is hard to be empowered when your skin colour is still used to represent an ultimate genetic difference.

We will have to wait until the show’s launch on June 2 on the ABC to comment with authority on how Cleverman handles these prickly issues.

I know I’ll be watching, and you should too.

Susan Alfayadh is one of Student Edge’s student contributors. Learn more about the contributors program.

Photo: ABC.