Ray Lawrence’s socially provocative Australian film, Jindabyne(2006), presents a thought-provoking and contemporary outlook on racial prejudice, the dramatised moral dilemma of responsibility, and a confronting depiction of reconciliation. The film dramatises the struggle over Australia 's history, representing the past as deeply alienating, as it explores the complexity of the relationships between racially diverse characters in post-colonial Australia. Lawrence establishes the reconciliation of characters through sound, further examining the relationship between cultures and genders in conflict. Through symbols, Lawrence explores deceit, and the roles, perceptions and experiences of men and women within various relationships, demonstrating the unforgiving consequences of division and distrust. The film presents …show more content…
Jindabyne utilises conventions and ideas from the drama genre to communicate these central themes exploring the film 's significance in the context of Australia as a post-colonial society. Through symbols, Lawrence examines the damaging effects of deceit on relationships, while also demonstrating the unforgiving consequences that division and distrust has on the white and indigenous community. The film opens with a close-up shot of barbed wire, a symbol connoting the division of land. The close-up shot combined with a haunting melody reinforces the town’s hostility and the deceit between the characters, evoking feelings of unease within the audience. Furthermore, Lawrence highlights the dominance of Gregory and the man-made ‘powerlines’, symbolic of a higher ‘power’, through low-angled shots, provoking viewers to question White Australia’s dominance over indigenous land. Moreover, Gregory’s deceptiveness as the towns ‘electrician’ casts him as the ‘fisherman’ of men; a psychopath symbolically connected to the fishermen through their ritualised slaughter of
The integration of an anecdote - from an Indigenous frontbencher, is a tactic to undermine Linda Burneys claims by unveiling that she was has a strong Scottish ancestry. Following on to establish that “more that half of Aboriginal married non- Aboriginals”. This forces the reader to break the historical stigma that this debate is between Aboriginals and white people, but there is in fact, more at
Bennett connects “art and politics” possibly depicting “Australian history and identity” being overlapped to convey the idea of the suppression of a rich Aboriginal culture further symbolized by red etchings of paint in the background
Good morning and welcome fellow active citizens. Today we will be examining the wide spectrum of cultural identities, values, and beliefs that Australian poetry and film are underpinned with. By the end of this presentation, you will walk away with knowledge of the Australian Identity through the works of two Australia poets Oodgeroo Noonuccal and Bruce Dawe and one of our beloved Aussie box office smash ‘The Castle’.
Despite living in a time of formal equality, Indigenous Australian youth still face many challenges growing up in contemporary Australian society. The marginalisation effects of poverty influenced lifestyles, in conjunction with the stereotypical opinions the dominant white Australian society obtain, influence one’s self worth and esteem, and consequently, their ability to thrive in this modern society. The 2001 motion picture, ‘Yolngu Boy’ directed by Stephen Johnson, clearly demonstrates how Australia’s Indigenous youth are influenced – both negatively and positively – by two opposing forces: the historic Aboriginal traditions, and the modern western culture. However, the film additionally replicates the interdependence between the two conflicting
Racism and gender equality are still relevant issues in Australia today, however, are not as dominant now as they were in 1965. (Dexter B. Wakefield, 2009) The film, ‘Jindabyne’ by Ray Lawrence and the novel, ‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey are two effective texts that incorporate individuals and relationships in society. Both Ray Lawrence and author Craig Silvey challenge the audiences in relation to how society treats these individuals, emphasising the themes, racism and gender equality. These perspectives are shown through context, characters and themes.
The Australian Dream and After Darkness overall reveal the truth behind Australia and how it runs under a racism-based prejudiced system that dehumanises outsiders who challenge the status
There are a variety of ways and factors that influence how people are represented in different non-fiction and fiction texts. Indigenous Australians are usually represented in harmful disrespectful ways, but they are also represented in positive ways. There are many factors that contribute to these representations. In the year 8 fiction and non-fiction text studied in the last three terms, we have seen different representations of indigenous Australian people. The main factors contributing to these are, stereotypes, historical events, real life experiences and Two main ways Indigenous Australians can be represented in fiction and non-fiction texts are as people who are kind and friendly or people who are troublesome.
How does the discourse of whiteness impact upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ educational outcomes? Due to the white hegemony in modern society even as it continues to change, one thing that remains constant is the representation of ‘normal’ is being white. It is this hidden discourse of whiteness in society which remains invisible, yet, represents unearned power through sustained dominance and unware beneficiary of privilege. The universalisation and normalisation of whiteness as the representation of humanity is enshrined and conveyed in our curricula, television, films, museums, songs, novels, visual arts and other material culture (Moreton-Robinson, 2004). This blindness to whiteness subjects our Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Indigenous Australian youth still face numerous difficulties growing up in a modern Australian society, even though they are living in a time of ‘equality’ for all religions, races and genders. This paper examines the main cultural influences for indigenous youth, and challenges they face growing up. In particular, it will explore the ways in which Indigenous youth today continue to be affected, connected and interdependent to both a dominant white culture and indigenous culture. It also includes the reasons why the indigenous youth of Australia continue to be marginalized, oppressed and stereotyped while growing up in a society that claims to be an egalitarian democratic country. Examples of Indigenous youth from the film ‘Yolngu Boy’ are used to explore this topic.
This change in the 1960’s led to a change in Australian identity and the idea of a white Australia. One literary text that reflects the issues and challenges faced in the 1960’s is Michael Gow’s play, Away. Dealing with the challenges of this time, Away focuses on the lives of three different families and the idea of reconciliation and self-discovery. Through themes, language and characterisation Away challenges ideas
While repeating the ‘Australian Dream’ to exhibit its irony and fallacy. Included was the demonisation of pop cultural figures, among them Charles Dickens, which alienates the audiences views, and asks them to question previously assumed realities. Talking from a voice of authority Grant distinguishes his aboriginal heritage and outlines his inherited past, one full of violence and injustice. Heavy use of hand gestures and passionate vocal tones, reinforced by strong eye contact and a lack of reliance on notes.
This article discusses the speech given by an Indigenous journalist, Stan Grant who participated in a debate where he spoke for the motion “Racism is destroying the Australian Dream’’. Hence, the main points of this article are mostly evidence given by Grant in his debate to support his idea that the Australian Dream is indeed rooted in racism. One of the main points is that the indigenous Australians are often excluded and disregarded as non-Australians simply due to their race and skin colour. Grant pointed out the incident where AFL player Adam Goodes was publicly jeered and told that he did not belong to his country as he was not an Australian despite the fact that Australia indeed is the land of his ancestors.
The descriptive language, “cheap, exotic food” even tries to ridicule the cultural food which migrants were expected to prepare for the Australians. “Cheap, exotic food” is a connotation for unsatisfactory food. “Feed the mainstream”, hints that regardless of a migrant’s new identity, they were still considered as different from the majority. The quote, “We’ve given you opportunity for family reunion, equality, and status, though your colour could be wrong” uses racial imagery to create a picture in the audience’s mind of the “incorrect” coloured Australians. This statement maintains the concept of migrants never being able to be fully considered Australian.
The novel ‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey is centred around a young man named Charlie Bucktin living in the little Australian town of Corrigan in the late 1960 's. Charlie is presented with the issues of racial prejudice, shamefulness, and moral dishonesty. He is tested to address the idealism of right from wrong and acknowledges that the law doesn 't generally maintain equity. The thoughts are depicted through Silvey 's utilization of story traditions which are to either challenge or reinforce our values, states of mind and convictions on the issues brought before us. The 1960 's was an extremely dull period for numerous individuals whose race was recognizably unique - different to that of the “white” population.
David Williamson uses dialogue and stage directions to display important ideas in “The Removalist”: Williamson’s drama is set in 1970, Melbourne over an afternoon and conveys several key ideas through pitting characters against one another. This essay will focus on three central ideas displayed in the drama: The abuse of power, Authority and violence/consequences of aggression. “The Removalist” depicts the 1970’s society and how people were like at that time. Many stereotypes were embedded in the drama such as the typical Australian fella named Kenny, who perfectly displays a 1970’s man. Also in addition the way characters are dressed shows us the importance of class in the drama, as some characters are dressed informally and the other characters are dressed formally.