To what extent has my understanding of ‘being Australian’ been influenced by the texts (and films) you’ve studied? (Deadly Unna?, Summer Heights High). My understanding of ‘being Australian’ has changed through the study of the book ‘Deadly Unna? (Phillip Gwynne 1988) and the comedic documentary Summer Heights High (Chris Lilley 2007). Summer Heights High is an Australian ‘mockumentary’ that mocks (hence the genre, mockumentary) the Australian public school system. The television series humorously ridicules how Australian schools are irreverent and racist, which remodels my understanding of ‘being Australian’. Deadly Unna? shows again how Australians are racist and irreverent but in a non-comedic way. By also making the main protagonist …show more content…
the main protagonist is ‘Blacky’ who is of white decent and lives at the port. Blacky encounters a lot of racism to the Aboriginal people while growing up in his town, mostly through jokes from the bar (e.g. Big Mac, “Hey did ya hear the one about the boong and the preist?” p.161). At the beginning of the novel Blacky is playing in his footy (AFL) team whose success was only because of the Aboriginals who played for them that lived at the point. Blacky states that, “we’re the only town on the peninsula with Nungas in our team”. This goes to show that the area in which Blacky and his family resides in is rather racist, Blacky (and everyone who lives at the point/ port) calls the Aboriginal’s ‘Nungas’, and the whites …show more content…
Jonah: Yeah, I just made a comment about him being fat. He is, sir. Look at him. Doug Peterson: Jonah, I gave him to you because he's not coping socially. Lucas: He called me a **. Jonah: Yeah, as a joke, idiot!’ The humour is quite crude and is directly attacking another person in this instance and does so a lot more throughout the show. Which influenced my understanding of ‘being Australian’ by proving my idea of Australians being humorous, and also showing me that they also take things seriously. Through the reading of Deadly Unna? and watching Summer Heights High, my view on ‘being Australian’ has been slightly changed. At first I thought that ‘being Australian’ meant eating a meat pie with your family down at the beach on a scorching summer’s day, or chugging down a beer at the local pub in your thongs, singlet and boardies while calling the guy who stole your pool table ‘mate’ and the guy who shouted you your beer ‘bastard’. But now I see that ‘being Australian’ means you can be racist, although racism is dying slowly it still floats around, and that humour is also a very large part of ‘being
Despite living in a time of formal equality, Indigenous Australian youth still face many challenges growing up in contemporary Australian society. The marginalisation effects of poverty influenced lifestyles, in conjunction with the stereotypical opinions the dominant white Australian society obtain, influence one’s self worth and esteem, and consequently, their ability to thrive in this modern society. The 2001 motion picture, ‘Yolngu Boy’ directed by Stephen Johnson, clearly demonstrates how Australia’s Indigenous youth are influenced – both negatively and positively – by two opposing forces: the historic Aboriginal traditions, and the modern western culture. However, the film additionally replicates the interdependence between the two conflicting
In the wake of the fervent discourse around the role of the change of date for the ‘Hottest 100’, Celeste Liddle, a noted activist and freelance writer published an article “It shouldn’t have taken a survey to move the Hottest 100 from Invasion Day” in The Guardian (28/11/2017). In this opinion piece Liddle argues that the radio station Triple J should have taken a unilateral stand in regards to shifting its “Hottest 100” from Australia Day and believes believes Australians should feel ‘guilty’ for celebrating this occasion and to support awareness of Invasion Day for the Aboriginals. In similarity Nayuka Gorrie, a Yorta Yorta Freelance writer, opinion piece for The Guardian, “Triple M’s plan to run ‘Ozzest 100’ is an embarrassing plea for
Australia as a nation has always had a complex and often underdeveloped sense of national identity, due to its complicated history, and multitude of cultural influences. As such, finding a common thread in its national cinema has always been a challenge for Australia as a nation. While there are a multitude of different kinds of Australian film, often seemingly unconnected, there are common themes which are used throughout many ‘typically Australian’ films. Two films in which this can be seen are ‘Lantana’ (Lawrence, 2001) and ‘Beautiful Kate’ (Ward, 2009). Both films deal with the theme of isolation - which is prevalent in a lot of Australian films.
Introduction Good morning distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I welcome you to the 24th annual Queensland Literary Symposium I’d like to highlight another prominent book that has captured readers with its engaging and thrilling storyline alone with significant aspects of human society and culture The story I specifically refer to is none other but the novel Jasper Jones Written by the Australian author Craig Silvery, Jasper Jones was set in the scorching summer of Western Australia in 1965.
Summer Heights High is an Australian TV mockumentary mini-series; created in 2007, focusing on the 3 main characters: Jonah, Mr G and Ja’mie, all three are played by the creator of the show, Chris Lilley. Each characters are depicted through the use of satirical elements, such: stereotypes, hyperbole, irony, juxtaposition and sarcasm. Chris Lilley, uses satirical devices to poke fun at the modern stereotypes of the education system to create comedy and show how these stereotypes are unnecessary as most of the time, they are incorrect. Jonah Takalua, a destructive and disobedient Tongan year 8 student, challenges the stereotypes of islanders behaviours and their attitudes with hyperbole and sarcasm. Jonah’s character was written with Hyperbole
Ultimately, the poem “my country” has become an emblem of the Australian identity and the sense of patriotism Australians share. “Australia” by A.D Hope 1and “My Country” by Dorothea Mackellar are two contrasting poems
Through the Australian media, the idea of racism is challenged. Australia has developed many organisations that help the Aboriginal community; these campaigns are aimed to empower Australians to counter racial prejudice and discrimination. ”The campaign invites organisations across the country to pledge their support in combating racism, to date about 300 organisations have answered the call” quoted by, human rights, Australian sport and racial vilification. These thriving organisations represent Australia’s intolerance towards racism
While Australians are seen as being more relaxed, casual, and Americans are very patriotic the commonalities they share are pronounce. The Australian identity and culture is something that is unique and exclusive to its people, word like
What does it really mean to be Australian? Is Australia really just: bushland, hot sunny beaches, native animals and having to have a laid back attitude? These are just common stereotypes about the ‘land down under’. With Australia settled by the British colony many of its inhabitants were the leftover convicts from Europe. After world war 2 boat people and asylum seekers arrived in Australia hoping for a new life.
Aussies - Who Are We Really, I Mean Really, Who Are We? The Australian stereotype is displayed as the same throughout the world, but is this an actual representation of who we are as individuals, James Bilbrough investigates. Whether you're reading this magazine in a silent doctor's waiting room, off the top of a pile of aged books you found under a strange desk in your living room or quite possibly procrastinating from re-entering your busy world of work, you probably think you're living a normal life, right? However, at this very point in time, people from all over the world see us very differently.
This article discusses the speech given by an Indigenous journalist, Stan Grant who participated in a debate where he spoke for the motion “Racism is destroying the Australian Dream’’. Hence, the main points of this article are mostly evidence given by Grant in his debate to support his idea that the Australian Dream is indeed rooted in racism. One of the main points is that the indigenous Australians are often excluded and disregarded as non-Australians simply due to their race and skin colour. Grant pointed out the incident where AFL player Adam Goodes was publicly jeered and told that he did not belong to his country as he was not an Australian despite the fact that Australia indeed is the land of his ancestors.
The descriptive language, “cheap, exotic food” even tries to ridicule the cultural food which migrants were expected to prepare for the Australians. “Cheap, exotic food” is a connotation for unsatisfactory food. “Feed the mainstream”, hints that regardless of a migrant’s new identity, they were still considered as different from the majority. The quote, “We’ve given you opportunity for family reunion, equality, and status, though your colour could be wrong” uses racial imagery to create a picture in the audience’s mind of the “incorrect” coloured Australians. This statement maintains the concept of migrants never being able to be fully considered Australian.
The novel ‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey is centred around a young man named Charlie Bucktin living in the little Australian town of Corrigan in the late 1960 's. Charlie is presented with the issues of racial prejudice, shamefulness, and moral dishonesty. He is tested to address the idealism of right from wrong and acknowledges that the law doesn 't generally maintain equity. The thoughts are depicted through Silvey 's utilization of story traditions which are to either challenge or reinforce our values, states of mind and convictions on the issues brought before us. The 1960 's was an extremely dull period for numerous individuals whose race was recognizably unique - different to that of the “white” population.
Russell Ward’s examination of a typical Australian ‘The Australian Legend’ identifies the stereotypical male as having characteristics of masculinity, doubted authority highly as well as being: restless, heavy alcohol drinker, foul mouthed and an uncontrollable gambler. Paul Hogan in the hit movie Crocodile Dundee was quite an accurate representation of Ward’s examination which catalysed the transportation of the stereotype internationally. Tourism Australia’s 1980 's campaign featured Paul Hogan in an attempt to attract the United States of America population to the nation, although the advertisement was seen as being quite controversial as it didn’t accurately represent the typical Australian to the world. However, the organisations 2016 campaign featuring Chris Hemsworth portrays some elements of the lifestyle of the average Australian being one of their most accurate representations yet. Network Ten’s television program 'Wonderland ' depicts the typical Australian as working class people emphasising the similarities in the lifestyles of other cultures around the world.
Thus, by the uses of different type of information about racism in Australia society, it clear that some people are being racist through social media. In conclusion, it is clear that racism has affected many people, like a contagious disease, following people where ever they go. Racism has been and still is a prolific evil in Australian society. It’s disgusting that people believe there is a different between them and treat each other differently only due to their culture and colour of skin.