Cinematography relies on the stereotypes of dyadic pairs to further marginalise Indigenous culture. Taleisha Hunkin investigates reality along with political rhetoric, privileged through modern cinema.
The filmic representation of the Indigenous throughout Australia is highly biased due to the lack of films produced, with majority of Aboriginal feature films starring white actors who lack a genuine understanding of the culture, to perpetuate known stereotypes, to further marginalise the Aboriginal race.
A large proportion of filmic representations of Indigenous culture depict Aboriginal characters as low on the societal hierarchy. This distorts the image of reality, cultivating a mainstream attitude enclosed with stereotypes that non-Aboriginal …show more content…
This is portrayed through an acknowledgment of country where the director respects the Indigenous’ relation to the land, rituals and customs. However, whilst doing this, the film also displays numerous binary oppositions, with an example being white against black. This oversimplification of complex issues disengages viewers as it does not include numerous perspectives and a grey area becomes evident, meaning that in many circumstances, the Indigenous are misunderstood. An example of this is the Caucasian police officer as a representation of good alongside bad, being the Yolngu Boys. He set his story a few short weeks after Botj’s release from jail before committing suicide on the day he is to be taken back to jail. Through doing this, it emphasises the issue of black deaths in custody due to mistreatment by the officials.
Yolngu Boy also displays a political rhetoric through putting forward the question of the audience of what can be done to reduce isolation, poverty, neglect and violence and close the gap between traditional Indigenous Australians and mainstream …show more content…
The policies between the release of Jedda and Yolngu Boy have changed dramatically, going from the Assimilation policy present amongst Indigenous communities to the self-determination policy. Numerous perspectives of the assimilation policy are depicted from various characters. Doug McMann puts forward a pragmatic interpretation of Jedda, stating that “She is a wild magpie who cannot be turned into a canary.” However, Sarah McMann disagrees with his stance, suggesting that it was her responsibility to change the Indigenous by making them more like us. The assimilation policy is a social integration of Aboriginal people who were thought to be an inferior race and consequently, the Indigenous were believed to be better off completely assimilated or destroyed. This depicted Australia to be monolithic and homogenous with the intention of total destruction of a whole race, now considered as attempted genocide. Jedda concludes with both Marbuk and Jedda falling off a cliff, presenting a figurative warning which opposes the government’s position of assimilating the Indigenous into mainstream society for their
The filmic representation of the Indigenous throughout Australia is highly biased due to the lack of films produced, with majority of Aboriginal feature films starring white actors who lack a genuine understanding of the culture, to perpetuate known stereotypes, to further marginalise the Aboriginal race.
A large proportion of filmic representations of Indigenous culture depict Aboriginal characters as low on the societal hierarchy. This distorts the image of reality, cultivating a mainstream attitude enclosed with stereotypes that non-Aboriginal …show more content…
This is portrayed through an acknowledgment of country where the director respects the Indigenous’ relation to the land, rituals and customs. However, whilst doing this, the film also displays numerous binary oppositions, with an example being white against black. This oversimplification of complex issues disengages viewers as it does not include numerous perspectives and a grey area becomes evident, meaning that in many circumstances, the Indigenous are misunderstood. An example of this is the Caucasian police officer as a representation of good alongside bad, being the Yolngu Boys. He set his story a few short weeks after Botj’s release from jail before committing suicide on the day he is to be taken back to jail. Through doing this, it emphasises the issue of black deaths in custody due to mistreatment by the officials.
Yolngu Boy also displays a political rhetoric through putting forward the question of the audience of what can be done to reduce isolation, poverty, neglect and violence and close the gap between traditional Indigenous Australians and mainstream …show more content…
The policies between the release of Jedda and Yolngu Boy have changed dramatically, going from the Assimilation policy present amongst Indigenous communities to the self-determination policy. Numerous perspectives of the assimilation policy are depicted from various characters. Doug McMann puts forward a pragmatic interpretation of Jedda, stating that “She is a wild magpie who cannot be turned into a canary.” However, Sarah McMann disagrees with his stance, suggesting that it was her responsibility to change the Indigenous by making them more like us. The assimilation policy is a social integration of Aboriginal people who were thought to be an inferior race and consequently, the Indigenous were believed to be better off completely assimilated or destroyed. This depicted Australia to be monolithic and homogenous with the intention of total destruction of a whole race, now considered as attempted genocide. Jedda concludes with both Marbuk and Jedda falling off a cliff, presenting a figurative warning which opposes the government’s position of assimilating the Indigenous into mainstream society for their