Australian dramas, such as David Williamson’s “The Removalists”, inclination to depend on stereotypes is not a weakness, but instead an opportunity to explore personal and societal issues. The inclusion of stereotypes within the play does not hinder the exploration of these issues, but instead deepens the audiences understanding and awareness. Through familiar roles, such as the ‘Oker’ identity, Williamson heightens the play, and allows a production to focus on the themes being explored. By using stereotyped characters in contrast with realistic characters and style, Williamson effectively comment on the faults of society without the distraction of character complexity.
The Oker character is used by Williamson as a tool to allow the
…show more content…
In this scene we tended to speak loudly, often finding ourselves shouting and making rude innuendos and racist comments. As we workshopped the scene further, we discussed how this was a representation of the Australian society that we had seen in the media. It could be concluded from my workshop, that in a production of The Removalists this familiarity of character was an opportunity, as it allows the faults within the stereotype to dominate.
As well as emphasise on the faults within the stereotype, the use of recognisable characters in a production of The Removalists allows for an effective comment on the faults within Australian society. Through the use of stereotyped characters, the play provides a deeper insight into the serious personal and societal issues within the Australian community, without the distraction of character complexity. These themes, which are explored through stereotypes, are violence, abuse of authority, and sexism and sexuality.
The underlying messages that Australia is an inherently violent society, and that the Australian male uses violence to resolve their problems is shown in The Removalists through the Oker identity of Simmonds and Kenny. Stereotypes creating deeper understanding of the themes when staging this production are presented immediately by Kenny’s recognisable personality, which allows the audience to easily accept that Kenny would abuse his wife
Stenders continues to create an idealised representation of the Australian identity through his representation of conflict with authority. Conflict of authority is traditionally identified as an aspect of Australian identity when an authority figures is seen to be using power unfairly and in corrupt ways. Stenders is clearly drawing on the historical context of Australia as a penal settlement where mistreated convicts developed a hatred for authority figures that unnecessarily treated them with cruelty. Stenders uses the characters of the Cribbages, the caretakers of the caravan park to embody the notion of the corrupt misuse of power. This is evident in Stenders’ portrayal of them as intimidating and unreasonable in their response to Nancy keeping Red Dog in the park. Stenders positions us to participate in the disregard for authority through his negative representation suggested by their mug and arrogant facial expressions and abrasive tone in, “I don't care if he is the Queen’s bloody corgi.” We are further compelled to align our perspective of them with Nancy’s through the high angle point of view shot focalised through Nancy’s eyes which makes them appear small and powerless.
People affected by Cronulla Riots in any manner were ‘out of the frying pan, and were into the fire’, when the documentary displayed Prime Minister John Howard declaring the riots as “un-Australian”. He made us believe that his view was optimistic and disagrees that there is underlying racism in Australia.
Australian people and culture are often stereotyped in the media in different forms, one of them being film. The two films being examined, ‘Red dog’ (2011) and the ‘Sapphires’ (2012), are an example of the Australian identity but from different points of view. ‘Red dog’ shows the kind and positive side which exemplifies mateship and loyalty. The film ‘Sapphires’ ,which takes place in the 1950’s through to the 1960’s, shows a negative and racist view towards the indigenous people. Both the films show different aspects of the Australian identity, not all insights of the films accurately represent contemporary Australian identity as the Australian identity has changed by the evolution of people and their lifestyle.
Finally, Australian Narratives teach us about respect. Through the use of Constable's intense language, "Jules wrenched the cue from Sadie's arm. 'Go on, piss of with your abo boyfriend." it creates a sense of hatred to Lachie and sympathy to Sadie and Walter. However, during chapter 16, Craig Mortlock is being friendly just because David lead the team to victory. "He flung his arm around David. 'Glad I caught you, mate.'" By looking at Constable's way to resolve problems, we can see how relationships work, how respect was shown and how we can apply them to real
Australia is filled with many different aspects in which makes it the country it is today. I believe it is important to study texts that explore aspects of Australia by studying texts such as ‘The Club’, by David Williamson, a play written in 1977 about an Australian football club and movies such as “The Castle”, directed by Rob Stitch in 1997, about the daily life of an Australian family when their happiness is threatened when developers attempt to buy their house to expand the neighboring airport. Both these texts show us what Australian life was like in the past. By us looking at themes such as language, tradition and the mateship shown we are able to explore different aspects of Australia that make it what it is today.
The pub scene in the Australian Outback helped me understand the consequences of prejudice through the combination of dialogue and cinematography. These film features shows the unfair treatment that Aborigines endured because of their race. The mid shots showed how the white Australian audience at the pub Talent Quest ignore the two Aborigine sisters as they began to sin. A panning shot showed the audience’s disapproving and disgusted looks as they avoided eye contact with the sisters. Clearly contrasting with the warm and enthusiastic cheers given to the white Australian performers before them, as also shown in a panning shot. Noticing the coldness of the crowd, Gail says, “Thanks for the half-heart applause.” The dialogue and camera shots clearly outlined the difference in treatment between Aborigines and White Australians in Australia. This clearly shows the inequality between the two races, as Aborigines were clearly mistreated based on their appearance. At the end of the Talent Quest, after the White Australian performer
Charlie articulates how he “never understood why you would ever feel the need to shoot the fish in the barrel… (if) they’re in a barrel, you’ve already caught them… they can’t escape... why bring guns into it?” Silvey’s use of characterisation and first person point of view portrays Charlie’s realisation of the community’s racial prejudice towards ‘the other’. The “fish” is symbolic of Charlie and how he is different to the people of Corrigan; who are like vultures – constantly seeking the chance to attack those that are considered the ‘minority’. Charlie’s close friend, Jeffrey Lu, is a gifted and committed cricket player who persistently tries to get himself in the local team, however, due to his Vietnamese background, “he’s ruthlessly bullied and belted about by the boys at school.” The emotive imagery and alliteration of “bullied” and “belted” further depict Charlie’s internal conflict in addition to his realisation of the community’s racial prejudice towards the peripheral of society. The use of emotive imagery positions readers to realise the extent to which powerful words can have; causing readers to recognise how crude and harrowing humankind can be towards the marginalised. Thus, Silvey effectively conveys to the reader how the indigenous race were isolated from ‘white Australian’ society; how intelligent individuals were ostracised; and, how groups of people with racially different backgrounds were isolated from mainstream Australian society.
Today I’ll be talking about the play “Blackrock” that I’ve been studying in class this term, the purpose of this speech is to make us think how Australian drama challenges us to think about Australian culture and identity, and the impacts it can have on us as person and as a community.
Contemporary Australian theatre mainly focuses on the reflection of the ‘real’ Australia and communicating to the audience real and modern issues/ideas that respond to the social climate and community. Australian theatre practitioners use various performance styles, techniques and dramatic conventions to help portray their ideas to their audiences and make them feel a particular way to the ideas presented in a play. Without the use of these styles, techniques and conventions it wouldn’t be possible for the practitioners to emphasise their ideas.
Australia’s identity has always been a complicated one. Starting with Aboriginal genocide, 1800’s cowboys and villains, two world wars and a bunch of poems describing them, it makes it difficult to conclude on what being an ‘Aussie’ really is. Thankfully, the two thought-provoking poems Nobody Calls Me a Wog Anymore by Komninos Zervos, and My Country by Dorothea Mackellar both use their discerning selection of themes to reflect modern attitudes in some extent. Along with their themes, Nobody Calls Me a Wog Anymore and My Country both use their story to capture the attributes modern Australians possess to some degree.
In his opinion piece, published in the Gladstone Observer on the 25th of January in 2014, Scott Sawyer takes an informal tone as he discusses his thoughts on the racism often shown on Australia Day, which have become more prominent across the modern society. The piece develops from a relaxed and positive tone into a disappointed and more stern tone. The articles title “Ditch the racism and enjoy Australia Day as it should be” clearly proclaims the contention as Sawyer uses persuasive techniques to position the readers to agree with him. He does this by using imagery tied in with metaphors, rhetorical questions, colloquial language as well as emotive appeal throughout the piece.
The play presents complex notions about family bonds, based upon their shared cultural experiences and the way in which they reinforce their cultural Australian identity and help members of the family endure the physical hardship and social isolation. Jack Davis’ social realist drama, ‘No Sugar’ explores how the varying levels of family unity, rebellion and cultural identity depicted in different characters influences their survival. In this play, the term ‘survival’ operates on two continuums. It is conveyed as the physical sense of life and death through the play’s protagonist, Jimmy Munday, as well as the pursuit of happiness. This pursuit is predominantly reflected in the parallel yet contrasted lives of Mary and Billy Kimberley as well as Gran’s deteriorating health after losing family members. Although Davis articulates the endurance of the Indigenous Australians, he incorporates figures of white authority who seek to demolish the Indigenous race and culture. Set in the time frame of 1929 to 1934, ‘No Sugar’ presents a critique of the conventional colonial British views of that era; and their effect on the preservation of Indigenous spirit and culture.
Good evening and welcome to, ‘Media Watch’. My name is Theofire and I have be lucky enough to be given the opportunity to replace the analytical genius “Paul Barry” as tonight’s host. I may not live up to his name tonight however, I will use his exemplary analytical skills to analyse and reveal the hidden power that the media has over society, and how this power is feeding lies and racial stereotypes to society. I will also be analytical exposing three major stereotypes that the media has cemented as facts and, revealing how these stereotypes are derived from the racial legislations, and government policies which stripped Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander of their culture and identities. The stereotypes that will be attacked tonight are that Indigenous Australians are alcoholics, are uncivilised bushman and are violent criminals, the Australian media is to blame when it comes to these negative stereotypes perpetuated about Indigenous Australians, and for significantly influencing how they are viewed in the nation’s community. I first would like to pay my respects to the indigenous custodians of the land and briefly apologize on behalf of a nation for stripping you of your origin, history and Culture. Now think with me for a moment, how can I country claim
Between 1965 and 1988 Gilbert Paul Jordan was linked to the murders of ten women of aboriginal dissent. Marie Clements’ play The Unnatural and Accidental Women puts a fictional account to the realistic murders of the aboriginal women in Vancouver. During the original murders the large misunderstanding and misinterpretation around aboriginal culture caused the murders of the women to be ignored, the women themselves to be viewed as invisible, or the murders to be deemed not important or ‘accidental’. In her play Clements recreates the original murders of the ‘boozing barber’, Gilbert Paul Jordan, however in the play she creates an identity for the murdered women that was not shown by the media, police or culture in Vancouver at the time of the original murders.
Stereotypes relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people circulate through the media, including newspapers and reports, books both fiction and nonfiction, Australian children’s television, and any films or tv shows set in Australia. These stereotypes come from poor or shallow representations of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people in fiction – for example, a drunken Aboriginal stock character in television comedies – as well as biased reporting and nonfiction – for example, picking and choosing sound bites with which to represent Aboriginal leaders which do not encompass their full statements.