Contemporary international films provide the place for the investigation of issues concerning cultural adaptation (Moran, 2009: pp.115). Through the exploration of contemporary Australian film, in very few cases does it actually reveal an accurate portrayal of Australians national culture. This is due to the fact that Australian film is exclusive, and limiting of several minority groups in Australia, thus depicting a false national culture. In 1994, Thomas Elsaesser wrote that the concept of a national cinema only makes sense ‘as a relation, not as an essence, being dependent on other kinds of film-making to which it supplies the other side of the coin’ (Elsaesser 1994: 25–26). In the 1970s came this cinematic movement dubbed as the “Australian …show more content…
The ocker image was adapted in the late 1970s and can be defined by Robert Crawford (2007) as a “self-satisfied vulgarian, a beer-sodden slo uncouth in behaviour and thought, an ignorant bigot opposed to anybody unlike himself...spending his time and money in the pubs and giving no thought to the morrow, a grunting pig” (pp.2) This representation built the foundation to a popular culture that celebrates masculinity by drinking excessive beer. The typical Australian concept can be captured through film Wake in Fright, as the tagline for the film reads “Sweat, dust and beer...there's nothing else out here mate!”. Set in outback town with intense temperatures, desolate landscape and excessive alcohol consumption this movie constructs the “drinking, laid-back nation” ideology adopted by Australian culture shaping how contemporary men think they should …show more content…
Moreover, its performers and participants will, for the most part, be familiar...” The majority in which Moran (2009) is referring to is the Middle class-Caucasian-heterosexual individual and this is the dominant character used to represent Australian people. Previous films such as Strictly Ballroom (1992) and Muriels Wedding (1994) both represent Australia with a caucasian dominant cast. These national characters assume a white body for the nation and as citizens these films structure their relationship to the state (Elder, 2007). In more recent years films like Cedar boys (2009), director Serhat Caradee has chosen to use five young Lebanese men as the main characters. Stepping away from the normality of Australian films reflecting a more realistic national culture which is that we are no longer just one race. Despite the more recent effort from Australian filmmakers to represent Australia as a multicultural nation, there is still a gap for films to truly reflect Australia's
In class, we watched a film called Ethnic Notions. In this film, it brought to light how devastating and powerful images can be. Due to exaggerated images and caricatures created pre-civil war era of black men and women, stereotypes were created and have negatively affected the black race in society. Caricatures, such as the Sambo, Zip Coon, Mammy, and Brute, have unfortunately been engrained in the minds of generations. So much so their stereotypes still persist today.
Hannie Rayson’s play ‘Hotel Sorrento’ explores the changing nature of Australian cultural identity. Rayson successfully perpetuates and challenges common Australian stereotypes in order to establish how the Australian National Identity has changed over time. She presents these stereotypes through the characters expectations of gender roles, attitudes towards Australian culture and the theme of ownership.
Good evening and welcome to The History of Television. On tonight’s show we will focus on how and
Travelling from Sydney, the three main characters played by Hugo Weaving, Guy Peirce and Terrance Stamp travel to Alice Springs for a cabaret show hosted by Mitzi’s wife. The audience is positioned to sympathise with the main characters during their hardships, and good times. The movie confronts different types of masculinity in an extreme environment
Australia has the terrible condition of having an essentially pointless and prefabricated idea of “Aussiness” that really has no relation to our real culture or the way in which we really see ourselves. We, however subscribe to these stereotypes when trying to find some expression of our Australian identity. The feature film, The Castle, deals with issues about Australian identity in the 1990’s. The film uses techniques like camera shots, language and the use of narration to develop conflict between a decent, old fashioned suburban family, the Kerrigans and an unscrupulous corporation called Airlink. Feature films like The Castle are cultural products because they use attitudes, values and stereotypes about what it means to be Australian.
Australians in this film are represented as people who have bad jobs but jobs that they love. This is shown as Kenny is a worker in a small business but loves everything that he does, he went to the toilet convention in America to buy and sell the portable toilets that he loves. Australians are also stereotypically know as people who have never ending compassion to things they like such as Jackie, the woman who was the flight attendant on the plane he was on to the convention. Throughout the film you can see the Australians that are represented aren’t often wearing nice clothes (such as tuxedos, or formal wear) this is a stereotype as they are
With the evolution over the past century of Australia’s screen culture, the industry through both its success and failures has fostered “An Australian film industry, [which] enables Australia to talk to itself, recognize itself and engage the attention of the world in doing so” (Dermody & Jacka, 1987, p 17). Three impactful films within Australian screen culture have been Muriel’s Wedding (House, Moorhouse & Hogan, 1994), Bra Boys (Abberton & DeSouza, 2007) and Samson and Delilah (Shelper & Thornton, 2009), which through their story, funding, release strategies and audience have become influential films for defining “Australian-ness” within Australian screen culture.
Crocodile Dundee (1986) directed by Peter Faiman and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) directed by Stephan Elliott are two Australian films that have unique plots. The expositions of both films have various similarities and differences in the context of quirky ‘Aussie’ characters, stereotypical Australian language, themes and the vast outback setting. The exposition of each film reaffirms typical Australian stereotypes.
Film Response of Muriel’s Wedding Muriel’s Wedding is a contemporary comedy set in a small Australian town. This enables the film to explore many of the Australian ideologies through the discourse of its characters and film techniques. The value that I’ll be focusing on is the various aspects of mateship portrayed in the film. Mateship is considered to be an integral part of the Australian persona.
Mateship in Australian Films Mateship has long been a major aspect of the national image as projected by Australian films, yet the moralities of mateship and the image of men as mates did not go unchallenged. Australian cinema as a significant part of the whole industry of image-makers in the country. the way it portrays mateship, the single most important mythic element. in the cultural identity of Australia, is worth analysing. This paper reviews the historical background of mateship in Australia and its contemporary development.
The director’s use of various character development techniques such as vocabulary, colloquial language and clothing etc have allowed the director to establish stereotype Australian characters within the film. In the movie, the use of these techniques have influenced the way societies around the globe consider the country Australia and its people. According to a film editor John Miller “This film ˜Crocodile Dundee' has influenced the way foreigners think about Australia and Australian people. The images it portrays only focus on a small part of the truth about Australia and its people, culture and social systems. The impressions the film would give to overseas viewers weren't exceptionally true and mainly focussed on the things commonly known to foreigners. The film portrays the Australian men as dirty and uneducated who speak informally. The whole movie could be interpreted in many ways to show the truth. Those who know of the country would have seen it as a funny movie but those who didn't would have the wrong impressions and ideas about
The film Australia by Baz Luhrmann displayed numerous misrepresentation of Indigenous Australians. King George or better known as the “magic man” according to Nullah demonstrates an inaccurate and stereotypical view of Aboriginal Australians as being mysterious and spiritually powerful. Australia depicts Aboriginal Australians as being in touch with nature which is a positive stereotype. Nature plays an important role in the Aboriginal culture since they live off of the land by hunting, gathering, and farming the land. Aboriginal Australians were also portrayed as the “other” in this movie and their culture was viewed as being primitive compared to that of the white culture. Movies portraying Aboriginal Australians as being exotic, mysterious,
To most of us, the only encounter with Australian identity is through the eye of popular culture. And while most Australians would agree that our national identity is alive and well, pop culture’s fixation on the ‘typical Australian’ is tedious and inaccurate.
In 1915 the American film industry was forever changed as it took its first step toward modern filmmaking. It was the year D.W. Griffith’s A The Birth of a Nation was released, a racially insensitive film depicting life during the Civil War and Reconstruction in America. It is arguably first major success in American cinema as it was the highest grossing film of its time. It is no accident that the film destine to redefine the film industry in the United States would inevitable be a national historical epic, for the film was a response to the growing presents of foreign films dominating American cinema. Though ultimately The Birth of a Nation and D.W. Griffith were a product of circumstances created by corporate attempts to industrialize filmmaking.
... Through the use of story and characterization, Noyce accurately depicts the theme of racism as a prominent element of the film and also shows the audience the deep-seated attitudes towards the Aboriginal culture in Australia in the 1930s.The film convinces us that racism