Australia’s Chewbacca Breakup Prank

"I've got a bad feeling about this..."

Australia’s Chewbacca Breakup Prank

Australian men like to think of themselves as loveable larrikins. But the latest dating news to come out of the land down under suggests maybe we’re not quite as funny as we think – we’re downright hilarious.

One of the most incomprehensible elements of Australian culture is the concept of ‘banter’. The Brits and the Irish kind of understand it, but to anyone else, our love of gentle bullying is strange and borderline impenetrable. We’re a weird group of people who call people we don’t like our ‘mates’ and people we do ‘dickheads’.

At its best, banter is irreverent and friendly. At its worse, banter is just a lazy pass for being a prick. This Australian man has made headlines for a prank that straddles those two definitions perfectly – we can’t decide whether he’s a legend or indeed, a dickhead.

9 News shared how one man’s reaction to a messy breakup was to post his ex’s phone number in public, listing it as the number to call if you wanted to enter a “Chewbacca roar competition”. The results… Well, they speak for themselves.

 

It’s hard to take this poor woman seriously as she’s playing back those voicemails… It’s pretty funny. As far as breakup pranks go, it’s more than a little inventive – how can you not have a giggle?

But even if it’s funny as hell, it’s pretty poor form and could even be considered a form of harassment.

Domestic violence is a major national health and welfare issue. Over 2.2 million Australians have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from a partner and 3.6 million Australians have experienced emotional abuse from a partner – that’s one in six women and one in sixteen men, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

A childish prank like this is fairly innocuous (not to mention hilarious), but it also teeters on the edge of a broader culture of darker post-breakup behaviour which needs to be condemned. It’s easy to have a laugh at something like this, but we should spare a thought for the person at the butt of the joke, because we’re sure we wouldn’t be so happy if someone posted our number like this in public.

Our take? Real gentlemen know how to end a relationship amicably. Stay classy, gents.

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