TROUBLE IN PARADISE: HOW SHORT FILM, THE PRINCE OF EREWON, USES SATIRE TO EXPLORE STEREOTYPICAL MASCULINE DESIRES AND COMMUNE CULTURE.

Written by Darryl Jones

The evolving landscape of digital media and creativity has brought satire and parody to the forefront more than ever, leading in 2024 to the New Zealand government passing the Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill allowing explicit use of copyrighted works for parody and satire (New Zealand Parliament, 2024). 

The Prince of Erewon (TPOE) is a satirical comedy-drama that follows Elvis, a frustrated groundskeeper at a spiritual retreat, as he navigates personal rejection, involuntary celibacy, and desperate longing for validation. Shot at Sacred Earth retreat in Karekare, New Zealand, the film establishes an intentional connection with Samuel Butler's Victorian satire, Erewhon: or, Over the Range (the deliberate misspelling in the title of the film serving as both homage and critique). This exegesis examines how the film uses absurdist comedy to explore the boundaries between masculine fantasy, social performance, and spiritual commodification.

TPOE positions itself within New Zealand's distinctive "Comedy of the Mundane" tradition, characterized by what Conrich and Murray (2008) describe as finding "humor in the portrayal of everyday life and the ordinary experiences of its characters" (p. 16). This approach, exemplified by comedians like Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi in Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016), employs dry, self-effacing humor to examine social awkwardness and marginality—qualities Elvis embodies throughout the film.

The film unleashes absurdism into the ordinary in similar ways to British sketch comedy series Big Train (1998), which frequently elevated ordinary situations to absurd extremes. For example, in episode 3 of Big Train, characters complain about not being allowed to masturbate in the office—a tonal parallel to Elvis's sexual encounter with the vacuum cleaner. Both use absurdist situations that expose unspoken social tensions, though TPOE applies this approach specifically to masculine identity and meditative retreat contexts.

Armagan Ballantyne's Nude Tuesday (2022) provides a crucial contemporary reference point, as it similarly satirizes wellness retreat culture through absurdist comedy. While Nude Tuesday used invented language to create comedic dissonance, TPOE uses fantasy elements and visual absurdity to similar effect. Both films expose the gap between wellness culture's promises of transformation and its actual reinforcement of traditional social dynamics.

THERE ARE SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT. CONSIDER WATCHING THE FILM BEFORE READING ON…

Elvis represents a particular type of male anxiety—divorced from both traditional masculinity and contemporary wellness culture, he struggles to find his place in either world. His desire to "be like Bruce Lee" functions as satirical commentary on white-male racial dysphoria, which the film explicitly addresses when the Elf bluntly responds, "you're white!" This moment highlights Elvis's failure to recognize the misappropriation of cultural identity implicit in his fantasy, while the Elf's decision to transform him into Chuck Norris rather than Bruce Lee underlines the common ethnic component to masculine power fantasies.

The 'Elvis-to-Chuck transformation' satirizes masculine power fantasies much like Bubbles' 'Green Bastard' persona in Trailer Park Boys (Clattenburg, 2001). In season 4, episode 4, Bubbles, in his homemade wrestling outfit, declares "when we win, we're going to be supervisors of the year," - with the absurdity stemming from the sudden change from gentle, bespectacled self to a hypermasculine alter ego. TPOE employs a similar comedic device but with an auto destructive tone—Elvis never awakens to lasting self-awareness, unlike Bubbles who maintains a clear separation between fantasy and reality.

The vacuum cleaner scene serves as the film's most bizarre examination of masculine frustration. When human connection fails him, Elvis turns to technology for intimacy—a choice that ultimately leads to his intense humiliation. The scene plays for comedic effect while making a serious point about the lengths to which Elvis will go for any form of gratification, reminiscent of the tragicomic portrayal of alcoholic Jim Lahey in Trailer Park Boys (Clattenburg, 2001).

Character names in TPOE function as subtle satirical devices. The character "Joy" embodies what Elvis desperately seeks but cannot attain—happiness and fulfillment (through a relationship). The relatively dashing Premananda carries an intentionally pretentious spiritual name that satirizes the commercialization of Eastern philosophy in Western retreats. This naming choice took on unintended significance when an Indian crew member later informed us that it referenced a controversial guru convicted of serious crimes in the 90's—an accidental layer of meaning that reinforced the film's critique of spiritual exploitation. Similarly, the character initially scripted as "Julia" (German) was adapted to "Yuliya" when Russian actress, Yuliya Mazhuha was cast, allowing her authentic pronunciation to enhance the performance while nodding to the international melting pot the retreats often create.

TPOE's setting at Sacred Earth retreat allows for a pointed satire on contemporary wellness culture's contradictions. The film depicts the retreat as a space that promises spiritual enlightenment and community, yet practices exclusion and reinforces social hierarchies. This contradiction appears visually through compositions that isolate Elvis within communal contexts, emphasizing his marginalization within an ostensibly inclusive environment.

The character of the Guru exemplifies the commodification of spirituality and toxic male behavior on a patriarchal level. His practiced serene expressions occasionally reveal calculation, while his strategic positioning within compositions maximizes his visual impact. For example, in the temple scene, the Guru says:

"Judgment should be discarded; it is a manifestation of our own guilt and insecurity, and it prevents us from expressing our true selves and from accepting the full self of another... to enter us".

Then later adds:

"I am available afternoons from 2pm for anyone who wishes to experience true acceptance…." 

THE PRINCE OF EREWON (2025, 00:04:56)

This dialogue reveals the Guru's dubious intentions to the audience (though only some characters pick up on it), using spiritual language as a veneer for his stereotypical masculine desires. This illustrates one of the key exoteric satirical elements of TPOE; examining the commercialization and exploitation of spiritual seekers within supposedly enlightened spaces.

The film's treatment of commune culture connects directly to New Zealand's specific history with alternative communities, creating a satirical tension between espoused values and actual behavior that echoes the social dynamics in documentary films like Heaven and Hell: The Centrepoint Story (Warner Brothers, 2021), and in a broader context, the fascinating: Wild Wild Country (Way Brothers, 2018).

During production of TPOE, media coverage and internal rumors about Kawai Purapura, the sister-community of Sacred Earth, reported its sudden sale and the residents' protests over inadequate notice. This real-world context found subtle satirical expression in Elvis’ stuffy attempt at oration: "We should all leave this place, follow me to my Grandmother's land up North." Contributing to the gentle blurring of boundaries between fiction and reality that enhance the film's critical examination of commune life.

TPOE's technical execution deliberately serves its satirical aims through sound design (diegetic and nondiegetic), camera work and editing choices that emphasize comedy and emotional alienation. Shot on an ARRI Amira with Zeiss CP.3 lenses, the film employs Dutch angles throughout, emphasizing Elvis's psychological instability and disorientation. The jib shot in the temple meditation scene provides a disorienting perspective reminiscent of  Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), while the waterfall scene features a stunning downward tilt—juxtaposing the dark,  Juvenalian dynamic between Elvis and the Elf, and themes of suicidal ideation similar to those explored in The Sopranos (Van Patten & Winter, 2007) and Fight Club (Fincher, 1999).

The film's visual language flows between observational and cinematic styles, using camera wobble at times to elicit a natural state of perception while maintaining deliberate composition. The color grade subtly shifts at times from vibrant to muted tones based on Elvis's psychological state, particularly in the darker waterfall scene where his suicidal ideation peaks just before the Elf's absurdist intervention.

Sound design reinforces these formal choices, with bird calls and natural sounds providing a constant baseline that suggests the proto consciousness of the land. The audio mixing deliberately layers multiple channels of dialogue, creating a complex soundscape that mirrors the film's exploration of overlapping realities. This approach draws from Butler's notion that consciousness might exist in all matter, from seemingly inert landscapes to the machines Elvis struggles with throughout the film (Butler, 1872/1973).

In the vacuum cleaner scene,  parallel lines between the fizzled incense stick and the tilted vacuum tube create an intentionally phallic composition, underscoring Elvis's sexual frustration and mechaphilia. This visual metaphor provides satirical commentary on masculine desire and feelings of inadequacy, while the scene's awkward intimacy parallels similar moments in Jacobson's Kenny (2006), which also uses absurdist humor to explore masculine vulnerability.

Elvis and the Elf are used to parody director Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). This is expressed in the “work” montage with Elvis emulating Gandalf by bellowing "you shall not pass." Later, the character of the Elf offers blanket mockery of Tolkien's elvish characters, particularly Elrond and Legolas. These references establish a distinctly New Zealand cinematic context while connecting to the film's broader critique of fantasy as escape from reality. This echoes an earlier attempt by myself at developing satire, an unproduced short screenplay The Stand-In inspired by working behind the scenes on the production set of Rings of Power (Amazon, 2021). In the script, the disillusioned protagonist, who works as a stand-in (for an actor playing an Elf), reaches his breaking point. Consumed by outrageous ambition, he seizes control of the film set, demanding that his voice be heard.  

Through the examples outlined above, The Prince of Erewon successfully employs absurdist comedy to satirize both stereotypical masculine desires and the contradictions of contemporary wellness culture. Through Elvis's journey from humiliation to magical transformation and back to brutal reality, the film examines how masculine identity is shaped by fantasy, social validation, and the gap between spiritual ideals and human practice.

Elvis's ultimately futile attempts to transform himself—whether through becoming Chuck Norris or seeking intimacy from a vacuum cleaner—speak to broader cultural anxieties about masculine identity in an era where traditional sources of validation are increasingly questioned. By treating these serious concerns through the lens of absurdist comedy, the film creates space for reflection without being preachy—demonstrating how humor can function as effective cultural critique.

While maintaining its focus on masculinity and commune culture, TPOE also engages subtly with questions about consciousness beyond human experience. The film's treatment of the landscape as a character with its own awareness connects to Māori concepts of Mauri and Taniwha, and contemporary philosophical interest in panpsychism—the theory that consciousness pervades all matter (Marsden, 2003). This engagement appears most directly in the waterfall scene, where natural elements seem to respond to Elvis's psychological state - but extends throughout the film through sound design that emphasises non-human presence.

Director Gavin Hipkins's experimental feature film Erewhon (2014) also boasts stunning visual landscapes and scenes of technology in various unwieldy states of autonomy, with majestic cutaways serving as an acknowledgement of nature's supreme consciousness. The breathtaking backdrops parallel the establishing shots in TPOE, with scenes in Hipkin’s film resembling Karekare's dense forest environment. Hipkins notes that "Butler's poetic meditations on the industrial period, and colonial expansion, remain a timely reflection on contemporary society and our technological dependencies" (Hipkins, 2014). These themes TPOE consistently sub-textualizes, through the exploration of Elvis's relationship with nature (addressing a pinecone, shouting at the sky/ocean, crying for ‘God’ at the waterfall) and his dysfunctional attitude towards machinery, vehicles and appliances (including the radio).

The 'Elf' magically grants Elvis the hyper-masculine traits of Chuck Norris, leading, ironically, to a moment of self-awareness; turns out he doesn't need to be desired by women to be happy. Just as he starts to appreciate this, it is ripped from him, and Elvis is back to his mundane existence—a life in which everyone around him knows he is so sexually frustrated he'll have sex with a vacuum cleaner…

REFERENCES

Butler, S. (1863, June 13). Darwin among the machines. The Press.

Butler, S. (1985). Erewhon: or, Over the range. Penguin Classics. (Original work published 1872)

Conrich, I., & Murray, S. (2008). Contemporary New Zealand cinema: From new wave to blockbuster. I.B. Tauris.

Danta, C. (2019). Panpsychism and speculative evolutionary aesthetics in Samuel Butler's 'The Book of the Machines'. Textual Practice, 34(2), 285-304. https://doi.org/10.1080/0950236X.2018.1508063

Gillott, D. (2015). Samuel Butler against the professionals: Rethinking Lamarckianism 1860-1900. Legenda.

Jones, H. F. (2011). Samuel Butler, author of Erewhon (1835-1902): A memoir. Cambridge University Press.

Kroll, J. (2004). The exegesis and the gentle reader/writer. In J. Fletcher & A. Mann (Eds.), Text and creative writing: The Journal of the Australian Association of Writing Programs, Special Issue No. 3 (pp. 1-15).

Marsden, M. (2003). The woven universe: Selected writings of Rev. Māori Marsden (T. A. C. Royal, Ed.). Estate of Rev. Māori Marsden.

New Zealand News. (2021, July 18). Inside an intentional community: The people who call Kawai Purapura home. Radio New Zealand. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/447645/inside-an-intentional-community-the-people-who-call-kawai-purapura-home

New Zealand Parliament. (2024). Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill. https://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/member/2024/0096/latest/whole.html

Petrie, D. (2007). Shot in New Zealand: The art and craft of the Kiwi cinematographer. Random House New Zealand.

Sacred Earth NZ. (n.d.). About Sacred Earth. Retrieved January 24, 2025, from www.sacredearthnz.com/about-1

Sheldrake, R. (2012). The science delusion. Coronet.

Whitehead, A. N. (1979). Process and reality. Free Press.

UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS

Jones, D. (2024-2025). The Prince of Erewon production diary [Unpublished master's thesis production materials]. University of Auckland.

Jones, D. (2024). The Prince of Erewon screenplay [Unpublished master's thesis]. University of Auckland.

ARCHIVAL SOURCES

Sacred Earth Community Archives, Karekare, New Zealand.

University of Auckland Screen Production Archives. (2024-2025).

FILMS AND TELEVISION

Ballantyne, A. (Director), & Hoke, J. (Writer). (2022). Nude Tuesday [Film]. Madman Entertainment.

Campion, J. (Director & Writer). (1993). The piano [Film]. CiBy 2000.

Clattenburg, M. (Creator & Director). (2001-2007). Trailer park boys [Television series]. Showcase.

Fincher, D. (Director), & Uhls, J. (Writer). (1999). Fight club [Film]. 20th Century Fox.

Gervais, R., & Merchant, S. (Creators & Writers). (2001-2003). The office [Television series]. BBC.

Griffin, J., & Lang, R. (Creators). (2005-2010). Outrageous fortune [Television series]. South Pacific Pictures.

Hipkins, G. (Director). (2014). Erewhon [Film]. Auckland University.

Jackson, P. (Director), & Walsh, F., Boyens, P., & Jackson, P. (Writers). (2001). The Lord of the rings: The fellowship of the ring [Film]. New Line Cinema.

Jackson, P. (Director), & Walsh, F., Boyens, P., & Jackson, P. (Writers). (2003). The Lord of the rings: Return of the king [Film]. New Line Cinema.

Jacobson, C. (Director), & Jacobson, C., & Sitch, S. (Writers). (2006). Kenny [Film]. Thunderbox Films.

Jones, D. (Director & Writer). (2025). The Prince of Erewon [Film]. 22:22 Pictures.

Kubrick, S. (Director), & Kubrick, S., & Clarke, A. C. (Writers). (1968). 2001: A space odyssey [Film]. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Linehan, G. (Director), & Mathews, A. (Writer). (1998). Big train: Episode #1.3 [Television series episode]. BBC.

Malcon, N., & Robin, T. (Directors). (2021). Heaven and hell: The Centrepoint story [Documentary film]. Warner Brothers.

Payne, J. D., & McKay, P. (Creators). (2022). The rings of power [Television series]. Amazon Studios.

Van Patten, T. (Director), & Winter, T. (Writer). (2007). The second coming [Television series episode]. In D. Chase (Creator), The Sopranos. HBO.

Waititi, T. (Director & Writer). (2016). Hunt for the wilderpeople [Film]. Madman Entertainment.

Way, C., & Way, M. (Directors). (2018). Wild wild country [Documentary series]. Netflix.