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Shwayne Booth Jr., known as S.mouse (later as S.mouse!), is a fictional character from the Australian
mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...
television series ''
Angry Boys ''Angry Boys'' is an Australian television mockumentary sitcom miniseries written by and starring Chris Lilley, continuing the mockumentary style of his previous series. In ''Angry Boys'', Lilley plays multiple characters: S.mouse, an Americ ...
''. He was frequently spotted at 8 Park Lane. The character is an
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...
who lives in
Calabasas, California Calabasas (, ; Spanish language in California, Spanish for "winter squash, squashes") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States.Chris Lilley, who wears a curly wig and
blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...
. He has appeared in ''Angry Boys'' since the second episode, when he is introduced as the rapper who just released the biggest selling
hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
single of all time, "Slap My Elbow". Later in the show, S.mouse is put under house arrest at his parents' home for two months, after defecating on a police car in the
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for his single "Poo on You". He also gets dropped from his record label after another one of his videos, "Grandmother Fucker", receives many complaints. S.mouse has received a mixed response from critics. Paul Kalina of ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'' has written that "S.mouse is arguably the new show's weakest incarnation", while Rowen Dean of
ABC Online The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the Australian Government, federal government and is administered by a government ...
describes him as "
Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...
meets
Ali G Alistair Leslie Graham, better known as Ali G, is a satirical fictional character created and performed by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. A faux-streetwise poseur from Staines, England, Ali G speaks in rude boy-style Multicultural Londo ...
meets
Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...
".


Storylines

S.mouse is introduced as the rapper who just released the biggest selling
hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
single of all time, "Slap My Elbow". S.mouse tries to reinvent himself. He defies his record label contract and releases his self-penned
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
released "Poo on You", in which the music video sees S.mouse defecating on a police car. He later makes an online apology to his fans and is put under house arrest at his parents' home for two months. S.mouse receives a demo from his manager Larry and he expresses great dislike of the track. He then decides to release a new single called "Grandmother Fucker". The music video for the song features an appearance by S.mouse's grandmother, which angers his father Shwayne Senior ( Richard Lawson). S.mouse later receives a phone call from his manager that he has been dropped from his record label due to the video receiving so many complaints. S.mouse decides to create his own music for his new album, ''The Real Me''. The album will be released independently and is executively produced by his best friend Danthony (Clyde Boraine). S.mouse had originally planned to feature Barbadian singer
Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...
on his new song, "Big Black Balls", however it features his girlfriend Lasquisha (Kristin Dione Metoyer) instead. S.mouse completes his
community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...
by performing his new songs to an unimpressed audience of children at an
elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
. Lasquisha tells him that they don't know him and he'll already be forgotten once his house arrest is over. S.mouse goes to the mall, even though he is not allowed to leave the house, to prove that he is still famous. However, no one cares that he is there and when Lasquisha asks people if they know him, they say no. When they arrive home, a parole officer tightens the security on S.mouse's
ankle monitor The ankle, the talocrural region or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joint. The ...
. If he walks out the gate, he will be electrocuted. S.mouse spends the afternoon writing a new song called "Whack My Knee" and Lasquisha comes up with a dance craze for the song. During a photo shoot for his new album, ''The Real Me'', a paparazzi helicopter secretly takes photos of S.mouse shirtless and puts them online, claiming that he has become fat. S.mouse later finds out that Lasquisha has dumped him, as she does not want to be associated with someone believed to be fat. S.mouse launches his new album at a club in Los Angeles to a crowd who are less than pleased. He writes a new song called " Squashed Nigga", based on Daniel's story about an Aborigine child named Wally who was crushed by a truck. S.mouse decides to sing the song instead of rapping the lyrics. He subsequently re-invents himself under the performing name of: Shwayne Jr.


Development

S.mouse is portrayed by comedian Chris Lilley. In an interview with ''
Ralph Ralph (pronounced or ) is a male name of English origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Old High German ''Radulf'', cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms are: * Ra ...
'' magazine, Lilley revealed it was difficult and tricky to play S.mouse due to the
hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
music, working with American actors and pretending to be a black person in an American family. Discussing his character in an interview with ''The Vine'', Lilley said,
"The world of S.mouse is not my world – I don't know people like that. I know about the world of hip-hop because I'm interested in that kind of music but I wanted to show that world in a different way, not just present all the usual clichés. I wanted it to be a genuine story about a genuine guy. But being in that make-up, speaking that way and interacting with the black actors who played my family... it was very far-removed from anything I'm used to."


Reception

The character received mixed reviews from critics. After S.mouse's first appearance on ''Angry Boys'', Larissa Dubecki of ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' expressed the opinion that he contained some of Jonah Takalua's DNA, but also "found him plain annoying although his impending house arrest might pique interest." Paul Kalina of ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'' wrote that "S.mouse is arguably the new show's weakest incarnation, being someone we've already seen in sketch shows and whose cultural baggage doesn't register as sharply as Lilley's local characters do." Rowen Dean of
ABC Online The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the Australian Government, federal government and is administered by a government ...
described the character as "
Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...
meets
Ali G Alistair Leslie Graham, better known as Ali G, is a satirical fictional character created and performed by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. A faux-streetwise poseur from Staines, England, Ali G speaks in rude boy-style Multicultural Londo ...
meets Snoop Dog". Eleanor Morgan of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' compared S.mouse to the
Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
n woman in
David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams (), is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little ...
' series '' Come Fly with Me'', stating he "isn't offensive in the way David Walliams... makes his character's ethnicity the punchline, whereas Lilley has created a ridiculous character who just happens to be black." Ruth Margolis of TV.com wrote, "... it's not clear whether his accent is intentionally awful or whether he just hasn't mastered it in time for filming. Whatever the case, S.mouse doesn't quite work. He's not layered like Lilley's other creations". In 2011, the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' asked several hip-hop stars if the character was offensive.
Open Mike Eagle Michael W. Eagle II (born November 14, 1980), better known by his stage name Open Mike Eagle, is an American hip hop artist and comedian. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, he is now based in Los Angeles, California, where he is a member of the h ...
responded, "Hell yeah it's offensive. Blackface is not the kind of thing that just becomes acceptable one day. I don't give a damn how 'meta' this cat thinks he is, it doesn't give him a pass to exploit the history of race relations for a cheap laugh."


Commercial performances

Three of S.mouse's songs, "Animal Zoo", "Slap My Elbow" and " Squashed Nigga", have been released as singles, available for digital download on the Australian iTunes Store. "Slap My Elbow" entered the
ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
and the ARIA Urban Singles Chart; it peaked at numbers thirty-seven and thirteen, respectively. In the United Kingdom, "Slap My Elbow" debuted at number 139 on the UK Singles Chart on August 13, 2011, and "Squashed Nigga" debuted at number 151 on August 20, 2011.


References

{{Chris Lilley Blackface minstrel characters African-American characters in television Fictional characters from California Fictional rappers Male characters in television Race-related controversies in television Stereotypes of African Americans Television characters introduced in 2011