Rabbit Proof Fence is a movie directed by Phillip Noyce based on the novel by Doris Pilkington Garimara. In the excerpt, ‘The Stealing of Children,’ it shows the offspring of the indigenous people being taken away from their parents as the white settlers thought they weren’t being treated properly. Events like these occurred from 1910-1970 in Australia’s history. Many aboriginal children didn’t want to be taken away and the fictional story, based on real events, of Rabbit Proof Fence has been created from the point of view of those people living at this time. The director has created many representations of Aboriginal people through the use of language features, visual elements and the audio components.
The language features of ‘The Stealing of Children’ give many representations of the indigenous people. One of these devices is repetition. Once the aboriginals were trapped by Constable Riggs, Maude repeatedly shouted the word, ‘No!’. While he took the children, she continued to state that they were hers and she didn’t like him taking them. Her repetitiveness gave the impression that she didn’t want to lose her kids and that she loved them. This also gave the impression that Maude had no authority against Riggs. Another language element featured in the film is evocative vocabulary. It was used among the shouts of the indigenous people and the police man. When the Grandmother came to the car with a large stick, which she may have used to try and break the car windows,
Since the European settlement of Australia, the Indigenous people have been represented in a myriad of ways. The Rabbits (1998), an allegorical picture book by John Marsden (writer) and Shaun Tan (illustrator) and Rabbit Proof Fence (2002), a film directed by Phillip Noyce, are just two examples of this. Techniques such as music, changing camera angles and symbolism are utilised in Rabbit Proof Fence to represent the Aboriginal people as strong-willed and spiritual and in The Rabbits, exaggeration, different colour themes and perspective are used to portray the Aborigines as technologically inferior and overwhelmed against the Europeans. In both texts, the Indigenous people are represented as
Furthermore, Downey’s apt use of pathos, or emotional appeals, draws readers in and triggers an emotional response in them, keeping them engaged for the duration of the essay. To expand, he uses blunt phrases like, “permanent loss” (445) and “distant, angry aliens, lacking emotional bonds” (446) to create a severe impact on readers. Also, stirring examples of “descent into alcohol, drugs, and prostitution” (445) and “children committing suicide” (446) illustrate for readers the acute level of damage and suffering that Aboriginal victims experienced. Downey’s use of evocative and graphic imagery in his recounts of “residential schools” (446) and the physical, “emotional and sexual abuse” (447) that specific victims endured elucidates the turmoil and anguish felt by victims of the ‘Sixties Scoop’ in general. As such, this technique fully immerses readers in his essay. Downey creates both a sense of compassion and guilt in his readers through his mention of children who were “enslaved,
‘The Sapphires’ by Wayne Blair was the trigger that led my research into the effects of the Stolen Generation on Aboriginals in Australia. This film is about an Aboriginal singing group who want to make a name for themselves, but find it difficult because of the racism against them. This film also tells the stories of their cousin Kay, who was a half-caste and was stolen from her Aboriginal family at a young age to be taught the ways of white people, and forget her culture. This film made me realise that I am lucky to live in a country where racism of such an extent in which children are stolen from their indigenous families, isn’t part of our history, and has not affected me personally. From my research, I have found six main sources that have helped me to understand how large this problem was and continues to be. My sources: ‘The Sapphires’ by Wayne Blair; a film about a group of Aboriginal singers who are affected by racism which is based on a real life singing group; ‘The Sorry Speech’, by Kevin Rudd who was the Prime Minister of Australia in 2008 who explains the damage and apologises for the way that the actions of past governments tore apart the lives of their indigenous people. Then there is ‘Blind Eye,’ the documentary in which people who were stolen are interviewed and tell their stories. The film, ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ this tells the story of two girls who were stolen and gives us insight into how brutally that they were treated after being ripped apart from
In contemporary times the Indigenous are stereotypically represented as being violent and aggressive. Sen is creating a stereotypical image of young Indigenous boys as criminals and dominative. An extreme close up of Vaughn behind jail bars show the separation between Vaughn and society. The stereotype of Indigenous Australians as criminals is shown in a negative light and acts as a false stereotype. The jail bars act as a physical and metaphorical barrier and the use of non diegetic music sets a mood of extreme sadness. Domestic violence is also suggested in the car ride. The women with the child is seen as submissive and this violence acts as usual practise. However, Vaughn does not appear to this stereotype of all males being dominative. Sen’s use of camera angles highlights the stereotypical nature of indigenous people and
Controlling language is a more powerful utility of communication because it fears and manipulates the listener into what you want them to do or follow. Like many sovereigns through the ages who have ruled with fear and control retain supreme power. One example is the pig Napoleon from George Orwell’s book, Animal Farm. Napoleon uses controlling language to force animals into kicking out their farmer Mr. Jones, even if not everyone wants to rebel. The book Animal Farm is an extended metaphor for the Russian revolution. Animal Farm is about a farm where the animals that the farm contains take over, and kick out their farmer Mr. Jones. By working and keeping a stamina of power, the animals are able to contain well working, rising farm.Throughout the book there are many contradictions with who will withstand supreme power. Napoleon from the book uses manipulation through controlling language to hold all power. As Niccolo Machiavelli explains in his book The Prince, every ruler should not even try to be nice because the leaders who do rule with fear and control will crush the ones who try to be good and fair. These are all examples of how people who dominate with controlling language. Although there is uplifting language, it does not work as well as controlling communication because it usually has less potency.
The non- standard pronunciation, ‘gunna’ and ‘ya’ in place of ‘going to’ and ‘you’ accentuate the abuse. The swearing emphasises the passion and exhibits the emotional power that these attitudes hold over May’s vulnerability.
‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ was the story of a 3 young Aboriginal girls who were taken from their homes because they were ‘half castes’ and then their long walk home following the rabbit proof fence. The idea of the government taking children from their homes and placing them into the care of white people in the hope of them losing their cultural beliefs was stronger. This idea of them being changed was evident with quotes such as “This is your new home. We don't use that jabber here. You speak English” providing the idea of whites being dominant through their values.
In the film, Rhymes for Young Ghouls, Mi’gmaq filmmaker Jeff Barnaby uses film syntax (mise-en- scène, montages, diachronic shots, synchronic shots, and cutting) to assist him in telling a tale about the historical violence done to Indigenous men, women, and children by the Canadian government and the residential school system (Boo 220). The purpose of the film Rhymes for Young Ghouls is to bring awareness to a wider audience who may or may not be aware of the violence inflicted on Indigenous people, violence that was sanctioned by the Canadian legislation and state (Boo 211). In the film, Barnaby illustrates how non-Indigenous men were not concerned with gender when beating an Indigenous person; women were beaten the same as men were. In
The ideas of borders, boundaries and border crossings are increasingly employed in a metaphorical sense that does not always refer to the physical border. These borders are progressively used to represent social and cultural boundaries. A cultural border indicates that a more powerful side constructs it’s own cultural knowledge and has added political power and privileges. When understanding the concept of borders, it is important to understand that borders are being referred to in a literal sense and in a figurative sense. The term literal can be referred to as taking words in their most basic sense without adding exaggeration or metaphorical meaning. The term figurative can be described to as departing from the literal use of words and adding metaphorical meaning. Figurative notions of borders within race have been a primary concern for the novels Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington and Remembering Babylon by David Malouf. This essay will discuss and analyze the concept of figurative borders and what these borders represent. Lastly, this essay will explore in detail the concept of figurative borders within the two novels. Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence and Remembering Babylon have numerous
The 60s Scoop refers to the systematic removal of indigenous children from their homes to be put into foster homes or for adoption by child welfare authorities. This matter caused great emotional traumas, such as being the inability to express one’s feelings and the stress of being taken away from one’s family, for those who were taken as well as their families. Drew Hayden Taylor’s play, Only Drunks And Children Tell The Truth, depicts these traumas on Janice, an indigenous woman who was taken from her home as a child and raised in a white household. As the play progresses, one sees Janice on her journey as she recognizes and reconciles her disconnection from her biological family.
The recent Australian film, Rabbit Proof Fence, similarly condemns the social, political and cultural mores of colonial and post-colonial Australia in relation to its past treatment of indigenous Australians. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, it too, is set in the 1930’s and reflects similar attitudes and values whites have to black people. The film is a true story based on the book by Doris Pilkington Garimara, the daughter of one of the half-caste children in the film who, together with two other Aboriginal girls, was forcibly removed from her family in Jigalong, Western Australia. These children form part of what is now known as the “Stolen Generation”. They, like many others who lived in the first part of the 20th century, were the victims of the official government assimilationist policy which decreed that half-caste children should be taken from their families and their land in order to be made “white”. The policy was definitely aimed at “breeding out” Aboriginality, because only half and quarter caste children were taken.
Throughout George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm, the accumulation of power results from language and the use of rhetoric. Through language and the authority of words, the expulsion of Mr. Jones transpires and the undemocratic ascension of Napoleon’s dictatorship is made possible. The remarkable rhetorical and articulation ability of the pigs and their skillful manipulation of language for any situation that questioned their integrity dictated the fate of the farm. The novel demonstrates, through the animals on the farm, humans’ susceptibility to the manipulation of language, the illusion of integrity created by powerful words and the influence of persuasive oratory without fully comprehending its meaning.
Prior to white settlement, Australia's representations were that of a primitive place whose inhabitants were a nomadic barbarous doomed race. Consequently, such imagery was the birthplace of an unconscious bias foundational to the historical contrast that divides Australian society. The volume of this irrational prejudice through the perpetuation of dominant western ideologies depicted Aborigines as treacherous and unscrupulous. In contrast, the riveting Rabbit Proof Fence film released in 2002 and directed by Philip Noyce, eschews bigotry by illuminating a dense history of racist and distorted Aboriginal representations. Furthermore, it chronicles the ordeal of the Stolen Generation which included abducting "half-cast" Aboriginal
The film Rabbit Proof Fence written by Phillip Noyce, how the theme identity relates towards the racism between the aboriginal girls who survived this crucial policy, the Australian government brought upon their nation. Many have been affected due to the fact that they had called it a stolen generation policy. However, this relates to the theme of identity by referring to the government policy and their rights as an indigenous.
Like many noir films created out of the legendary works of crime fiction novelists such as James M. Cain and Cornell Woolrich, Who Framed Roger Rabbit too was based on the 1981 mystery novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?. The novel, written by Gary K. Wolf, shares only minimal similarities with its film adaptation as the plot is entirely rewritten and characters are redefined (Winter). The novel makes the recurring theme of discrimination of “toons” by humans more obvious, specifically illustrating a world where segregation between the two beings is a constant. “Toons” and humans use separate elevators, have separate police forces, and even reside in separate living establishments. Many toons, such as the humanoid Jessica Rabbit, attempt to hide