Leading up to the release of Bogan Pride in 2008, there was a substantial effort of promoting the series. It was anticipated, it aired... then all went quiet. A few minutes into the first episode reveals why.
It misses the mark! It merely brushes upon the essence of bogan, which is for a while brilliantly showcased by the family home living room in which Sally-Anne Upton's character is chair bound. The kitsch collectables, the thrift shop furniture, and of course the wall of cheap ugly toys lovingly displayed truly nails the interior of a standard bogan home very well - all the main leads are obese, too, which is quite accurate; but what isn't realistic is Rebel Wilson's character being an A grade christian intellect. Bogans are typically severely unintelligent which is a huge contribution that makes them bogans - and they are often spiritually void, filling their sense of soulfulness with consumerism, Bundaberg rum, or football. So these aforementioned elements from the main characters don't really link up with the construct as to what an Australian bogan is which honeslty can be many things, but an well spoken grade A intelligent christian schoolgirl is not one of those things at all. I've lived in north Queensland. I absolutely know what a bogan is.
The show is also poorly written. Each episode features main characters somewhat stumbling around their script, never really achieving anything, and each character's subplot usually has no point whatsoever. The main plot of each episode doesn't have any substance to go by. This is just not entertaining! The musical aspect is also more cringe than funny, which are edited and coreographed incoherently; I wish I could say this added to the silliness but it just hurt my head. Speaking of the humour, there are indeed some laughs, and some clever jokes - - but overall, it flops, having little to no substance at all.
Sitting here in 2022 writing a review about Bogan Pride, it's without a doubt that the screenplay couldn't be pulled off today with it's derogatory portrayal of obesity, racial stereotypes, and the mentally disabled. Yes everyone now is too sensitive, but of course, the show certainly couldn't be made today with the condescending mockery of disabled people above all else, and that's honestly a good thing. Rebel and her family are a cast of overweight women making self depreciating jokes about their weight and eating issues and, well, who... honestly wants to see that...? It gets old, and quick. It does in 2022 and obviously did in 2008.
TLDR; Rebel Wilson is not funny.
