More handpicked essays just for you.
How the stolen generation affected australia
How the stolen generation affected australia
How the stolen generation affected australia
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Film Summary
The Rabbit Proof Fence (2002) explores the forced removal of Aboriginal children, during the stolen generation by following the true stories of three indigenous girls.The film is based on Dorris Pilkington’s 1996 book Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence. Sisters: Molly (14), Gracie (10) and their cousin Daisy (8) were removed from Jigalong by local police, under the command of “Chief Protector of Aborigines for Western Australia” Mr A.O. Neville, in order to aid their assimilation to white Australia. Seen as a “problem” by the Australian Government, the “half-caste” girls were removed in an aim to eliminate and absorb Aboriginal culture from Australia.
The Rabbit Proof Fence illustrates the treatment of removed children at “native
…show more content…
settlements” such as “Moore River Native Settlement” where Molly, Daisy and Gracie were housed. Alongside other indigenous children, the girls lived in putrid conditions, learning house staffs’ skills by day and sleeping in tightly packed dorms by night. The settlement was managed by Christian nuns and maintained a strong focus on the importance of the church in white society. Attempting to escape their poor treatment and return to their mother in Jigalong, the film follows the three girls as they walk the 1200km journey along the Rabbit Proof Fence to their home. The girls are closely followed by police claiming to be concerned for their wellbeing. During the expedition, Gracie is captured by police and returns to Moore River, never to see the other girls again. Molly and Daisy finally reach their family in Jigalong and escape the police. The film’s postscript details Molly’s adult life, her recapture by the police and re-walking the rabbit proof fence with her two children. Molly’s daughter was taken at age 3 and was never seen again. Gracie never returned to Jigalong. Molly Craig, is a troubled but deeply caring individual. As the eldest of the girls Molly takes responsibility and acts as a guiding, motherly figure, constantly maintaining morale and encouraging Gracie and Daisy to persist on the long journey. Molly presents as brave even when she may be internally doubting her ability to return home to Jigalong. Leading her relatives, Molly cares for their needs of warmth, food and support often before tending to her own. Gracie Feilds is naive and impulsive, following her instincts to trust a stranger’s advice in finding her mother at a nearby train station. Gracie is unaware that the implications of her ignorant trust will return her to the Moore River Native Settlement and risk her sister and cousin’s safety. Daisy Cadible, the youngest of the girls is submissive yet understanding. Daisy places strong trust in her cousins, especially admiring Molly. Given the opportunity to choose between leaving the Rabbit Proof Fence or following an unlikely chance of finding her aunt at a train station, Daisy follows the leadership of Molly, without succumbing the temptation of an easy alternative. Moodoo, an indigenous tracker working for the Native Settlements, is a strong and intelligent man.
Trapped between Indigenous and “White” Australian culture, Moodoo is socially very isolated. He works to track escaped children from the Native Settlement, in return for contact with his own daughter at the same settlement facility. After intense attempts to track the girls, Moodoo comments “She’s pretty clever that girl, she wants to go home”. Moodoo is unable to find the girls. It is possible that Moodoo deliberately failed to find Molly, Gracie and Daisy, relating their situation to that of his own daughter in the Moore River Native …show more content…
Settlement. Mr A.O. Neville holds the controversial role of “Chief Protector of Aborigines” for Western Australia. Neville’s actions to track and “save” the girls show his ruthless and practical character. Mr Neville externally shows honourable intentions to protect and help Aboriginal children receive a better “white” treatment than what they could receive in their own homes. However, Neville could now be seen as a racist and controlling man, using his power to manipulate those weaker than himself. Recommendation I would recommend The Rabbit Proof Fence to other students studying the Australian Stolen Generation. Using several primary and secondary sources such as the primary accounts of Molly Craig as guide, The Rabbit Proof Fence provides an accurate representation of the experiences of Indigenous people during the period of forced removal of children. The film illustrates several stages of the assimilation program, including forced removal, institutionalisation in Native Settlement facilities, selective breeding to remove Aboriginal characteristics and employment of Aboriginal people as household staff. The experiences of an Indigenous maid are briefly explored with reference to routine rape by her employer. This provides an important insight into the treatment and impotence of Indigenous people at the time. The film can be used as a source to analyse and cross-analyse the events of the Stolen generation and their impact on individuals. Criticism Keith Windschuttle, a historian and author, has vigorously criticised the validity of The Rabbit Proof Fence, commenting “The film gets the names of the major characters and locations right, but not much else.”. Windschuttle challenges many details surrounding the motivation for and the means by which the three girls were removed from their families. He suggests, the girls were removed for protection from older men using them for sex, rather than on purely racial grounds. Windschuttle claims the dramatically violent scene depicting the girls removal was highly inaccurate and the girls instead left on horseback without struggle. Windschuttle argues that several other details of the film are also inaccurate. Keith Windschuttle’s holds a BA in history with first class honours as well as an MA honours in politics, suggesting his criticism is based on sound educational groundings, however, his criticism lacks evidential references. While Windschuttle’s sources may be reliable, without making strong reference to these sources in his critique, provides doubt regarding his validity. Windschuttle’s comments could be considered biased opinions rather than historical deductions. Similar to most films, The Rabbit Proof Fence exaggerates several aspects of the characters’ story, for dramatic effect.
It is important to consider The Rabbit Proof Fence as a creative work rather than a historical documentary, allowing use of creative licence and dramatisation. This creative license should be considered when testing the film for accuracy. Windschuttle comments that A.O. Nevielle’s, Chief Protector of Aborigines, ideas and motivations were drastically misrepresented. While Windschuttle proposes the details of The Rabbit Proof Fence are poorly researched and inaccurate in the cases of Molly, Gracie and Daisy, nonetheless the film provides a broader insight into generalised experiences of Aboriginal people during The Stolen Generation. The Rabbit Proof Fence should be treated like all other historical sources, potential bias and historical inaccuracies should be considered, however the film should not be completely historically discredited. The film foreshadows the retaliation of Indigenous Australians, following their periodic mistreatment and socially imposed racial inferiority, during the 1965 Australian Freedom Rides. The Rabbit Proof Fence should be treated like all other historical sources, potential bias and historical inaccuracies should makes strong comments on the racist social views regarding Aboriginal people during post-federation Australia, as well as a generally sound plot based on real individuals. At the time, racism was widespread and
accepted by the general Australian public.
Without the use of stereotypical behaviours or even language is known universally, the naming of certain places in, but not really known to, Australia in ‘Drifters’ and ‘Reverie of a Swimmer’ convoluted with the overall message of the poems. The story of ‘Drifters’ looks at a family that moves around so much, that they feel as though they don’t belong. By utilising metaphors of planting in a ‘“vegetable-patch”, Dawe is referring to the family making roots, or settling down somewhere, which the audience assumes doesn’t occur, as the “green tomatoes are picked by off the vine”. The idea of feeling secure and settling down can be applied to any country and isn’t a stereotypical Australian behaviour - unless it is, in fact, referring to the continental
Pung explains that “This was a deliberate and light-hearted attempt to shift away from the two decades of ‘migrant’ or ‘ethnic’ literature narratives that have been published in Australia” (Arcangelo,1). Yet the beginning of the story is scattered with examples of the Pung family mirroring this expectation, though how she describes the way her family marvels at new resources Australia has to offer “Wah, so many things about this new country that are so taken-for-granted!” (9). The amazement that there is no one needs to “walk like they have to hide” (9) and “no bomb is ever going to fall on top of them”(9) nor will they find any one “pissing in the street” (9)that was “so gleaming spick-and-span clean” with “beautiful food” and “pretty packages” (11) makes it difficult to disassociate the familiar stereotypes from Pung’s
Jane Harrison uses relationships between the characters to create a sense of belonging to each other. The dear family are the heart of Rainbow’s End and their sense of belonging and struggling together is what provides the narrative momentum of the play. Nan dear is the matriarch and elder, who creates the home where the two other women find their sense of belonging. Dolly has a stronger sense of belonging to her grandmother, this shows how the aboriginal people are very close to each other and they all belong as one community. When we get further into the story we develop a connection to Nan Dear,of her aboriginality, and the wider aboriginal community. We see that Dolly has just gone and picked up the lino roll, as Nan dear was walking in the other direction spotted Dolly. Nan dear then discusses if Dolly has gone pass the cork trees, which Dolly has admitted to. Whilst Nan dear tells Dolly to never go pass the Cork Tress again, she says “Mark my works, I’ll wallop you”. Direct language is used to get straight to the point. Whilst Nan Dear overhears Dolly talking to herself, we see Nan Dear having connections to the Aboriginal community. W...
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.
This traumatising experience ultimately shape her future view on the white community and develop a strong sense of Aboriginal identity. The conjunction of ‘but’ in ‘They might be drinkers, but they’re still our people’ represent her connection to the Aboriginal culture and reveals her pride in her Aboriginal identity. However, Nan Dear is provoked by Dolly boyfriend, Errol Fisher which leads her to reflect on her past experience of rape by who may be related to Errol, ’The lad- he took advantage of me.. his name was Clem Fisher’. During the petition, Nan Dear discovers the truth ‘my (Errol) dad changed our surnames..
Over the years Australia has had many different problems with racism and racism affecting peoples’ lives. Many racial groups have been affected, most significantly the Aboriginals. The end of world war two in 1945 marked a huge change in types of racism. Australia went from the ‘superior’ white Australians dominating over immigrants and aboriginals. To a relatively multicultural and accepting society that is present today.
This led him to create Reel Injun to persuade viewers that Aboriginals are humans too. The film has done a great job of addressing the impacts of western films among Aboriginals. These pictures should be used to influence the audience’s view and debunk the misconception of the identity of indigenous people. The message of this film is to question personal beliefs and opinions about the Aboriginal’s portrayals in the media and films. In today’s society, aboriginals are still over-represented and have disproportionate representation in the criminal justice (Personal communication, A. Eyjolfson, Oct. 19, 2016). The majority still believe that Natives are alcoholic and that they are more likely to have run-ins with the law. These depictions of Aboriginals promote racism and discrimination that creates a social structure of “us versus them”. This social structure promotes inequality in our society. According to Wilkinson and Pickett (2010), when we reduce inequality we increase our well-being and our quality of life. To reduce inequality it is important to address the issues and how individuals contribute to these issues. Reel Injun questions personal opinion and beliefs in order to address the issue and break false stereotypes of
In the film Rabbit Proof Fence by Phillip Noyce there is a relevance to the present and past days of society. The relevance is shown through the strong judgment of racism between the white Australians and the Aboriginal people, and the actions that had been taken and only in the past 40 years changed. The race of people is still judged today in current society, Rabbit Proof Fence makes the viewer aware of the racial discrimination then and now.
Racism is defined as, “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races” (Merriam-Webster). Director Philip Noyce conveys Webster’s definition of racism in his 2002 film, Rabbit-Proof Fence, by examining Aboriginal racism of the 1930s through the eyes of three young girls: Molly, Gracie and Daisy who are forcefully taken from their mothers by the Australian government; and a man, Neville, who believes that giving half-castes a chance to join his “civilized society” is the virtuous thing to do, even if it means stripping them of their family, traditions and culture. The film follows the girls as they escape from the Moore River Native Settlement, an indentured servant training camp for half-castes, and walk 1,200 miles back to their home in Jigalong. Noyce weaves story progression and character development throughout the film to demonstrate the theme of racism and covey the discriminations that occurred to Australia’s stolen generation and Aboriginal people during the 1930s.
The Australian Freedom Riders consisted of thirty students that attended the University of Sydney. These students had heard about the American Freedom Riders and it sparked inspiration amongst them to make a difference within the Australian community. The whole idea of their trip was to help get rid of the socially discriminatory barriers which was standing up between indigenous and non-indigenous people, they had planned on bringing attention to the bad state of aboriginal heath, education and housing and finally they also wanted to encourage the aboriginals to stand up for themselves against discrimination. Charles Perkins a man born in Alice Springs and a third year arts student at the University of Sydney said ‘The whole freedom riders idea was not for white people on my mind, it’s for aboriginal people to realise second class isn't good enough, you don't always have to be first class but don't always be second class’ . The trip was planned...
The assimilation policy was a policy that existed between the 1940’s and the 1970’s, and replaced that of protectionism. Its purpose was to have all persons of aboriginal blood and mixed blood living like ‘white’ Australians, this established practice of removing Aboriginal children (generally half-bloods) from their homes was to bring them up without their culture, and they were encouraged to forget their aboriginal heritage. Children were placed in institutions where they could be 'trained' to take their place in white society. During the time of assimilation Aboriginal people were to be educated for full citizenship, and have access to public education, housing and services. However, most commonly aboriginal people did not receive equal rights and opportunities, for example, their wages were usually less than that paid to the white workers and they often did not receive recognition for the roles they played in the defence of Australia and their contribution to the cattle industry. It wasn’t until the early 1960’s that expendi...
Within Australia, beginning from approximately the time of European settlement to late 1969, the Aboriginal population of Australia experienced the detrimental effects of the stolen generation. A majority of the abducted children were ’half-castes’, in which they had one white parent and the other of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. Following the government policies, the European police and government continued the assimilation of Aboriginal children into ‘white’ society. Oblivious to the destruction and devastation they were causing, the British had believed that they were doing this for “their [Aborigines] own good”, that they were “protecting” them as their families and culture were deemed unfit to raise them. These beliefs caused ...
Throughout both ‘Rainbow’s End’ and ‘The Rabbits’, the audience discovers the plights that the Aboriginal Australians faced, due to discrimination and assimilation, in intensely confronting, yet intensely meaningful ways. We see how the discrimination and forced assimilation of cultures was common in the lead up to modern times because of composers like Harrison, Marsden and Tan reminding us of these events, allowing us to discover and rediscover our past wrongs through their works, in order to pave the way for a brighter, harmonious future. Without these documentations and retellings of events such as these, history would repeat itself, conflicts would be more apparent and we as a species would not be able to thrive and prosper due to our prejudices and superiority complexes.
Peter Rabbit and his sisters were forbidden by their mother to enter Mr. McGregor’s garden because it was in this garden that their father had met his end and had become an ingredient of McGregor’s pie. The element of fear had been instilled in th...
As with most works of literature, the title Fences is more than just a title. It could be initially noted that there is only one physical fence being built by the characters onstage, but what are more important are the ideas that are being kept inside and outside of the fences that are being built by Troy and some of the other characters in Fences. The fence building becomes quite figurative, as Troy tries to fence in his own desires and infidelities. Through this act of trying to contain his desires and hypocrisies one might say, Troy finds himself fenced in, caught between his pragmatic and illusory ideals. On the one side of the fence, Troy creates illusions and embellishments on the truth, talking about how he wrestled with death, his encounters with the devil, later confronting the d...