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Racial Discrimination in the Movies
Racism in Film essay
Essay overview on indigenous australians from Western Australia
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Rolf de Herr’s 2002 film The Tracker represented some human beings in the past who have been extremely naïve, barbarous, and bigoted when it came to dealing with Indigenous Australians. This film portrayed white racism in the characters of the Fanatic, the Veteran, and at first the Recruit until he becomes stronger and eventually changes his demeanor towards the Aboriginal people. Even though the Tracker experiences immense hardship throughout the movie he was always two steps ahead of his bosses since he was very familiar with the land and was also able to outsmart his superior officers. The Tracker is a gloomy film which presents the dark past of Australia that must never be forgotten.
The Tracker portrayed the racist relationship between white settlers and Indigenous Australians by using the character of the Fanatic who is a pathological and sadistic human being that will kill any Aboriginal Australian without remorse. When the Fanatic and the rest of the officers came across a small group of 6 Aboriginal Australians known as the bush blacks who were not involved with the crime committed by the Fugitive however
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this did not stop the Fanatic from interrogating them until he eventually ended up massacring the group. “The harrowing screams and gunfire continue as the scene cuts and holds on a painting that offers a stylised tableau of the genocide taking place The rapid sequence of paintings, combined with their further deployment later in the film, shocks the audience into recognising that the paintings are describing more than just a singular occurrence” (Picking 2012). Rolf De Heer used paintings instead of showing bloody scenes which makes the scene more powerful because the audience has to visualize the massacre. Present day movies are very graphic and we become desensitized to violence so instead of showing the bloodshed the audience is able to use their imagination. Along with the Fanatic the Recruit also participates in the killing of the Indigenous Aboriginal this scene made him realize that it was not morally right to kill innocent people just because they had the ability to and from this point forward the Recruit changed from being weak in will power to gradually becoming stronger. As the Recruit burns his ukulele you get the sense that his character is going through a change where he realizes that he has lost his sense of his purity and joy. At the beginning of the movie the Recruit would start to play songs to pass the time but after he realized they were killing peaceful Aboriginal people he did not want to take part in this journey anymore. Unlike the Fanatic and the Recruit, the Veteran does not take part in the killing of the Aboriginal people however he watches on the sidelines like he has become desensitized to seeing the unjust killing of Indigenous Australians. During the massacre the Tracker must watch helplessly as they kill a group of his own people knowing that if he tries to interfere he too will get punished by the Fanatic. The Tracker plays along with the personality of the Fanatic and tells the Recruit that, “the only innocent black is a dead black” (The Tracker, 2002). While the Tracker does not believe this quote is a true statement the Fanatic believes that the Indigenous Australians are like vermin with no rights. In fact the Fanatic believes he is doing the world a favor and should receive a medal for massacring the Indigenous Australians since they are portrayed as being subordinate compared to the white citizens. The film The Tracker portrays the concept of extreme genocide that have been imposed on Indigenous Australians.
The Fanatic murders two groups of innocent Indigenous Australians and during this time the governmental policies did not protect the Indigenous Australians from being attacked by the white settlers which led to the detrimental loss of life. Aborigines were hunted like wild animals, poisoned, and shot which nearly led to the extinction of Indigenous Australians. While Aborigines were being hunted the government and police officers silently stood by without putting a stop to the mass killings of Aboriginal people. Genocide can be used to also interpret past episodes of group destruction through land seizures, importation of diseases, the taking of both women and children, and the attempt to wipe out those who have the appearance of a
half-caste. At first the Tracker is a loyal employee but purposely keeps the Fugitive a half a day ahead of the officers in order to come up with his own plan to kill the Fanatic and also take matters into his own hands and spear the Fugitive in the leg for raping a young Indigenous Aboriginal girl. The Tracker was victimized at the throughout the movie since the Fanatic forced him to wear a chain around the neck like an animal bound to a human. However, the Tracker triumphs over racism and eventually become free from his chain. With new freedom the Tracker uses his own chain that was used to restrain him as a weapon to tie the Fanatic to the tree. High camera angles are used to portray the Fanatic as being subordinate compared to the Tracker while before the Fanatic always sat high on a horse while the tracker was viewed as being inferior compared to the rest of the officers. The Tracker sentences the Fanatic to death because of the massacres of innocent Indigenous Australians pus his mistreatment to all people and now he has to give up the right to live amongst other human beings. The Fanatic is hung by the chain that was once used to keep the Tracker in check and as the sun rises the audience see the lifeless body of the Fanatic swaying back and forth. This image brings about the idea of justice for the Indigenous Australians because they were once oppressed by the Fanatic and now they are free from the racism that took place. After the Fanatic dies, racism seems to disappear and the Tracker is allowed to take the Aboriginal Law into his own hands and spear the Fugitive for the rape of a young Aboriginal girl. The film The Tracker gave the audience a glimpse into the dark past and shameful history of Australia with the brutal massacres that took place along with the racist attitudes of some of the white settlers. The Fanatic represents the typical racist white guy that views Indigenous Australians as inhuman. While the Recruit realizes that Aboriginal people deserve compassion and kindness which helps him survive throughout the entire movie. The Tracker eventually puts a stop to the innocent Aboriginal killings by using his intelligence to always outsmart the officers in charge. While genocide took place in Australia they were able to overcome the efforts of the white settlers which tried to exterminate the subordinate race and eventually the Indigenous Australians became members of society and were allowed the right to vote. Even though racism did take place the Indigenous Australians were able to triumph over the harshness of and brutality of white settlers like the Fanatic.
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