Larry Ellison?
Or just round eyes in general thinking they are “natives”?
The Argo tie in?
I am just being thick I guess.
Larry Ellison?
Or just round eyes in general thinking they are “natives”?
The Argo tie in?
I am just being thick I guess.
I thought it was just a funny riff on people moving to a tourist area and then complaining about all the damn tourists. And I think the Ben Affleck stuff was just a random thing for Butters to focus his hate on.
When I saw the “Orange Shirt” shirt on one of the background characters that I recognized from a Dirty Jobs episodes I figured I was missing most of the inside Hawai’i jokes. Also note that the “locals” weren’t really “locals”, but folks wealthy enough to spent a month at a resort.
Hopefully a real local drops by and tells us all the inside jokes they threw in last night.
I assume, if you’re asking, that the reference to Larry Ellison is because of him buying the island of Lanai.
I didn’t see the ep, but if you have any specific questions, I can try to answer…
What’s the deal with that card they were all riled up about?
This was a fucked up episode. The stuff they were riffing on was very obscure.
I inferred that the resorts in Hawaii must have some sort of “Rewards” card you can buy. Rack up enough points on the card and get some crappy free stuff.
The resorts probably do it to keep the tourists coming back year after year.
In the episode, I guess these ‘come again’ tourists felt some sense of entitlement. To the point where they now view themselves as “natives.” And now they’re get’n all pissy because of the new tourists coming in.
I guess that’s what they were talking about but who knows.
Trey and Matt fucked this one up.
I assumed it was some sort of scheme to give local residents discounts. I’ve heard of that sort of thing in Las Vegas, for instance.
Ya know, I’ve lurked Straight Dope for several years now (haven’t joined for various reaons) and it’s funny that THIS is the post that would make me put asunder all reservations and actually sign up lol
So before I start, I’ll just say that not only do I live in Hawaii currently but on the actual Island the show was about (Kauai) I figure Trey and Matt must have taken a vacation here once or twice because they did a pretty spot on representation of the island and its locations with a few missteps probably for the sake of animation.
But there IS a real Coco Palms resort, and they weren’t far off from how it actually looks, bats and all. It’s been an eyesore on the side of the highway for decades now. There also is a real Bubba’s Burgers and I’m not a fan whatsoever, it’s overpriced and a side step from McDonalds in taste.
As far as the “Mahalo Card” that is fictional, but several local grocery stores have cards like that, for example Foodland has a “Maika’i Card” program where you earn points based on spending and get discounts on food (2 for 1 deals,ect) It’s supposed to be for LOCAL residents only, however timeshare owners proudly put down their p.o. box or. Westin Resort addresses to receive one.
Which brings to the bulk of the episodes jokes…I realize for people who have never been to Hawaii the joke was one note and flat/stupid. But for us living here it was spot on Satire. To be honest I’m suprised there wasin’t backlash against it from “Native Hawaiian” (aka Timeshare owners from the mainland) whom the episode was mocking. Because the parody was spot on…if you come to Kauai or Maui, indeed there are a large number of “Timeshare Hawaiians” who have claimed a co-op on the culture, some even calling themselves “Kumu’s” in Hula is a huge offense to actual Hawaiian people (of which my wife is)…and several of them try to “Out local the locals” which is analougous to blackface IMO. it’s almost the equivalent of calling yourself a 5th degree black belt after watcing a few Bruce Lee movies and taking 2 classes of Tae Kwon Do at the Y…but I Digress…
Anyway I’ll be around if anyone wants to ask questions…but overall a great episode…my only dissapointment is that they didn’t have an ACTUAL local person call them out on their “native” b.s. …going too far I guess??
The Orange Shirt thing actually refers to the red dirt that is common in parts of Hawaii. I grew up near a field full of it. When dry, it is powdery and blows in the wind; when wet, it is like clay. Website.
The entire episode was basically making fun of relations between the US mainland and locals or Native Hawaiians. It’s not nearly as contentious as that, though it did get kind of ridiculous around the 100yr anniversary of the overthrow of the monarchy in 1998.
The Mahalo rewards card is reference to the kama’aina (local or resident) discounts you sometimes see offered by various businesses. There is no card for this aside from a valid Hawaii driver’s license or ID. It is usually a way for businesses to say that although they primarily are whores for tourism dollars, they are totally willing to whore themselves out to state residents too.
It looked to me like they stayed in a Sheraton-like hotel and saw a buffet line of local foods.
They got Nawiliwili Harbor and a few other Hawaiian words right. No such thing as a hapa noa ceremony, though.
Yep, thought so! Mike Rowe did a Dirty Jobs segment there making the shirts.
Lol I figured the same, except for Maitai’s are the preferred drink of choice for tourist/timeshare locals over ChiChi’s. The drive thru Saimin stand was pretty funny too, guess they coundn’t go all out and use Hamura’s as a location. No Shave Ice though?
Not sure which Island you lived/grew up on but they did a pretty spot on imitation of North Shore folk here. Coudn’t get enough of it lol
I’ve never been to Hawaii but I “got” the gist of satire pretty quickly. It’s not hard to infer and it’s a common allusion (Forgetting Sarah Marshall comes to mind).
Agreed. I’m surprised this, of all the episodes, is what tripped people up. Hardly seemed obscure to me, and I also haven’t been to Hawaii.
Heck, just go play outside in a white t-shirt and when you’re done you’ll have a red dirt t-shirt for free.
I would kill for a drive-thru “simon” stand. And McDonald’s doesn’t count.
AlohaBear32 [et al]:
Thanks for the info.
And Welcome to the Dope.
Do people actually put decals on their cars that say “Native”?
I can’t speak for Hawaiians, but here in Arizona it’s common to see bumper stickers that proclaim that the driver is an “Arizona Native.” We’re another state with a high percentage of transplants and tourists.
I think one of the funnier throwaway bits is that the guy who blows the conch has a tribal arm tattoo - presumably super authentic.
Thanks for providing that context. My grandparents used to winter in Arizona so I gleaned that it was similar to the way recent transplants like to lord it over the tourists and “out-native” the natives. But mostly I just enjoyed another Butters episode. I hated that character at first but now he’s my favorite.