Views of the Aborigines by Filmmaker Rachel Perkins - Essay Example

?Introduction Rachel Perkins is an Aboriginal filmmaker who is tasked with portraying the Aboriginal experience through film. However, her films are not necessarily the “typical” Aboriginal film, in that her films do not always portray whites as the oppressors and the Aborigines as the oppressed. This certainly is an underlying theme in some of her films, including One Night the Moon (Aboriginal tracker is ignored by a white farmer, which leads to the death of the white farmer’s missing daughter) and Blood Brothers – Freedom Ride (Aboriginal individuals ride from town to town, telling the experience of the Aborigines, and urging action). However, her films are just as likely to either portray whites sympathetically, as in different segments of her documentary series, First Australians, or eschew white-Aboriginal conflict at all, in favor of universal themes. Radiance and Bran Nue Dae are excellent examples of this. Moreover, the overarching themes that she uses, when she does address the whites-Aboriginal conflicts, are that the Aboriginal peoples are resilient and able to overcome their social issues. This essay will detail how Rachel Perkins challenges the narrative of white oppression by demonstrating how her themes are focused around universality and overcoming adversity, as well as show how another theme, which relates to the overall themes of minimizing white oppression, that of the use of music, is a common thread through much of her films. Resilience and Activism First Australians was Perkins’ television documentary, and this film focuses upon the history of the Aborigine peoples, with every episode of the seven part series focusing upon a different region of Australia. Perkins did not re-enact the drama and violence that occurred, but, rather, made the film in true documentary fashion by using pictures, interviews, diaries and voiceover narration. In this film, one of the themes, which is prominent in the films of Perkins, was that of resilience. Perkins did not necessarily want to make a documentary about the horrors of the history of the Aborigine peoples, but, rather, wanted to show how the Aborigine people overcame their precarious situation. Perkins did this, as a filmmaker, but focusing upon individual stories which were personal and character-based. These stories were narrated through visual and written sources which were left behind by the settlers as they reflected upon the past. The scenes, which were narrated by Perkins, was interspersed by historian analysis, and these historians were experts on the Aborigine and the early settlers (Collins, 2010). As an example of the resilience that Perkins showed through her documentary, one of the stories that she focused on was that of Bennelong, an Aborigine person who was kidnapped by governor Arthur Phillip. Phillip later befriended Bennelong (Konoshi, 2009). This is an example of resilience, as the story of Bennelong is one of overcoming adversity. Bennelong was taken from his wife and kidnapped, yet he not only did not despair in this situation, but made friends with his captor and became a sort of ambassador and mediator between the British and the Aborigine peoples. While he was able to straddle both worlds – that of the white man and the Aborigine – he chose his own culture and died a respected elder in his tribe (Smith, 2009). That Perkins chose to focus on this story shows that she wanted to show triumph with the tragedy, and she sympathetically portrayed both Bennelong and his captor, later friend, Arthur Phillip (Konoshi, 2009). Another of the themes which is present this work is the interaction between the whites and the Aborigine population. While it certainly would have been easy for Perkins, as an Aborigine filmmaker, to show the Aborigine population as an oppressed people, and the whites as the oppressor, First Australians took a more nuanced approach. She chose to focus on the way that the whites and the Aborigine helped one another throughout the years. In addition to the story of Bennelong and Phillip, who had a symbiotic relationship that benefited both the whites and the Aborigine, she also told the story of Truganini, who was Tasmanian and, like Bennelong, worked with a white man, George Robinson, in an effort to help aborigines with the settlement process. William Cooper, Doug Nichols and Jack Patten were also featured in First Australians. This comports with the overall theme of resilience, in that these are individuals who fought for equal rights for aboriginals (Konishi, 2009). Therefore, the documentary First Australians may be seen as focusing on the theme of aboriginal self-determination and activism. The native peoples shown in this series are not natives who take oppression quietly. Rather, they use tools to overcome oppression, whether these tools are working with sympathetic white individuals who are in a capacity to help them and their people, or by using activism to agitate, inspire and overcome. This theme was common in Perkins work, as seen as early as 1992, in which she created the documentary regarding Australia’s Blood Brothers - Freedom Ride, titled Blood Brothers. This series focused upon the gains that the aboriginal peoples gained through their activism, including the right to vote, the right to citizenship and becoming visible as social actors (Ginsburg & Myers). White Sanitization As noted above, the documentary series First Australians portrayed, in some ways, whites and Aboriginals working together. This would suggest that Perkins wants to portray a nuanced version of relations between the whites and Aboriginals, in which the whites are not necessarily the oppressors, but, sometimes, can be benevolent and helpful. This is also a dominant theme in Perkins’ movie Radiance. Although, as explained below, the film is apolitical and not focused upon the Aboriginal experience, but, rather, on the universality of family drama, some critics have interpreted the film in another way. For instance, Miller (2008) cites a critic which had issues with the way that the negativity between whites and Aboriginals was completely erased from the film. For instance, in this movie, the island from which the deceased mother, whose death is the catalyst for the film, was taken over by a Japanese tourist resort. This Japanese tourist resort was ostensibly the reason why the mother’s people were removed from this island. The rapist in the film was read as being Aboriginal. Moreover, in the film, the mother loses two of her daughters, Cressy and Mae, to white state officials, and the mother does not protest this act (Miller, 2008). This theme is therefore related to the cases of Bennelong and Truganini, as these Aborigines found a way to overcome by working with the whites, therefore the whites in these situations were protectors, not necessarily oppressors. The First Australians series was therefore focused upon the idea that whites are not always the cause of Aboriginal problems. Just like this conclusion, which can be drawn from some of the First Australians stories, Radiance also subtly makes the argument that that whiteness is not “the single most oppressive force in Aboriginal lives” (Miller, 2008, p. 63). Of course, this is not necessarily seen as a good thing, as the next section will argue. Universality While the triumphs and the resilience of the aboriginal peoples is a theme in First Australians and Blood Brothers - Freedom Ride, Perkins also focuses upon universality in her films. The idea that what happens to aboriginals an happen to anyone, and that their dramas are virtually the same dramas that occur all across the world, as well as the comedy, is the focus on two of Perkins films, Radiance and Bran Nue Dae. In this way, Perkins depoliticized the aborigines, by taking the broader themes affecting aborigines out of these stories, or, at least, minimizing them. The Aborigine perspective in these films thus becomes a universal perspective, as they do not focus upon political struggles, such as racism and equality, but family struggles in the case of Radiance and universal characters in Bran Nue Dae. This possibly goes with what Perkins states is her focus when making films centered around Aboriginals, in that she wants to make sure that the Aboriginals are treated in a sensitive manner (Harrison, 2009). Making their struggles and triumphs universal advances this agenda, as it takes Aborigines out of the purview of the stereotype and humanizes them with nuances. Radiance especially evokes this theme. McKee (1999) argues that Perkins wanted to show in this film that Aborigines are focused on more than just the broader social problems – they have intimate struggles, too. McKee (1999) states that this film goes against the grain, and, therefore, challenges the way that Australians view films about Aborigines, because the prevailing view of Australian critics and audiences is that, if the movie is not focused upon the Aborigine at the heart of a social problem, then the film is not really about Aborigines. This is because, in the minds of critics and the audience, Aboriginality “exists only as a social problem” (McKee, 1999, p. 8). This film unsettles the Australian genre of movies about the Aborigine simply because the film is not about the Aborigine experience, per se, but is an intimate family drama. This film is focused on three sisters who are reuniting after the death of their mother, Mary. The sisters’ names are Nona, Mae and Cressy. The three meet at Mary’s beachside home, where secrets are revealed, including the fact that Nona was actually the child of Cressy, not Mary, as one of Mary’s boyfriends raped Cressy and this produced Nona. This leads to a scene where Nona scatters Mary’s ashes in the sea, as she wades out into the ocean, the water waist-deep. Ellison (2011) argues that the the sea and the beach are motifs in this film, as the beach is the “space of revealment” and is a “witness to this horrible truth” (Ellison, 2011, pp. 7-8). Bitterness is another universal emotion which is displayed in this film, as is catharsis, as the sisters set fire to the house, to take revenge on Harry Wells (Mary’s ex-lover who owns the house and is set to evict Mae and Nona) and against Cressy’s rapist (Miller, 2008). . Another universal theme inherent in the film, argues Nolan (2004) is Oedipal, as this is shown by Nona’s fantasizing about having sex with her rapist father (Nolan, 2004). In receiving the film, most of the critics focused upon the erasing of Aboriginality from Radiance. Miller (2008) surveys some of the critics who have commented upon the film. One critic states that the struggles that the sisters go through are such that the sisters could fit in anywhere, from a Tennessee Williams plantation to a terrace in Eastenders. Another critic stated that the sisters might as well be white, for the background and the struggles are so unfocused upon Aboriginal issues (Miller, 2008). Perkins herself stated that she didn’t necessarily want to make an “Aboriginal film,” because she felt that audiences did not really connect to the Aboriginal story, as Australian audiences tend to find stories about Aborigines “wordy” and “boring” (Turcotte, 2003, p. 40). That the film is not focused upon Aboriginal issues, and erases the negativity of whiteness is a point of contention for at least one critic, according to Miller (2008). This critic, Ceridwen Spark, complains that the oppressiveness of whites has been sanitized in the film, and that the film focuses upon the negative impact of other minorities, as opposed to the negative impact of the dominant white race. For instance, as noted above, the Japanese people are seen as a reason why the mothers’ people are driven from the island, and that the rapist was Aboriginal. Spark also notes that there is a possibility that the rapist was black, because Nona imagined that her rapist was a “black prince.” Thus, this portrayal of Nona’s rapist “contributes to the narrative of black male violence against Aboriginal women in order to distract viewers from the fact that white males are the most destructive forces in Aboriginal lives” (Miller, 2008, p. 65). Although the film is not overtly about the Aboriginal people, in that the story is a universal drama with universal themes of reconciliation, concealment of secrets, loss, and bitterness, there are also subtleties which convey to the discerning audience that the film is about Aborigines. For instance, there is a scene where the girls take a turtle which washes in on the tide and is found by Cressy and Nora. Craven (2008) argues that this turtle plays a central part in connecting this film to the Aborigine experience, however subtly, for two reasons. The first reason is that, by federal law, only Aborigine peoples are allowed to take turtles. Therefore, in this way, the turtle connects the film to the Aborigine, as, if the characters were not Aboriginal, they would be breaking a federal law in taking the turtle. Another reason why the turtle is connective to the Aborigine experience is that Nona wants to use the turtle in an Aboriginal ritual that will help her connect to her deceased mother. Therefore, the turtle, along with the setting of Nora Island, “are strong allusions to traditional culture” (Craven, 2008, p. 5). The average viewer might not get the turtle reference, however, and the average viewer might not get that Nora Island is also connected to native culture. Therefore, the allusions to native culture are subtle in this film. Another film which eschews broad commentary on the Aboriginal experience, in that the political issues surrounding the Aborigine are not a centerpiece of the film, is Bran Nue Dae. According to Wilson, this film does not focus upon the Aboriginal experience, but, rather, has characters and themes which are distinctly Western and European. The music is Western, as it is country-rock. The characters are stock European characters – “a pair of young lovers, a hypocritical villain, and a lovable rogue who steals the show” (Wilson, 2010). Therefore, just like with Radiance, Bran Nue Dae uses Aboriginal characters who are not recognizably Aboriginal, in the sense that they are not dealing with social issues or oppression. Rather, they are breaking the stereotype of what is means to be Aboriginal in Australian cinema, and they are portrayed in a distinctly Western fashion. This is to say that the characters, like the characters in Radiance, are universal and could be recognizable by anybody of any culture. This film, like the film Radiance, shows that Perkins wants to show the audience that Aborigines are not stereotypes, they are not simply living their lives in a political context, but, rather, that they have the same issues and troubles as anybody else, and that their characters are the same sorts of characters which might be seen in any Western cinema. This is also a way to challenge the Australian portrayal of the Aboriginal peoples, and bring Australian cinema into a space where Aborigines are portrayed in a color-blind way. Music The use of music, and musical themes, is another thematic element in Perkins work. Jones (2011) argues that Bran Nue Dae and Perkins’ film One Night the Moon, are centered around music. The pacing of these films, including the dramatic action and the editing of the films, are structured around songs (Jones, 2011). Gillett (2008) states that One Night the Moon, a story about an Aboriginal tracker and a missing girl, features characters whose thoughts and interior monologues are told through song. Therefore, music is especially important in this film, argues Gillett, because the film’s interior monologues and dialogues, as told through song, as what advances the narrative of “white racism and its consequences” (Gillett, 2008, p. 86). Radiance is another film which focuses upon song, as well as operatic themes. Madame Butterfly occupies a central part of the story, and also provides historical reference for the film. Just as Madame Butterfly focuses on the themes of colonialism and betrayal, so does Radiance, although Radiance’s colonial themes are subtly portrayed. The use of music also serves the purpose in this film of signifying the different characters. Gillett (2008) argues that each girl is associated with a particular song, and that these songs are relevant to each girls’ motivations, history and aspirations. Song is also pertinent in the film, in that ghost of the mother sings a traditional Aboriginal song, in the language of her people. While the girls ignore this singing, it still is important to the film in that it provides, in another subtle way, like the turtle scene, that the film is about Aborigines. Therefore, it provides another context for the film, tying it back to the subtle themes and connectivity to the Aborigines. Conclusion Filmmaker Rachel Perkins challenges the Australian views of the Aborigines in a variety of ways, while also subtly ensuring that the audience knows that the films are about Aborigines. This, in turn, challenges the Australian cinema, in that her films are often apolitical and not centered around social challenges. This is not to say that that her work completely eschews social challenges and politics. However, even in the films which are centered around the struggles and social challenges of the Aboriginal peoples, the themes are either very subtle or, in some ways, a reversal of the typical narrative of the whites as oppressor and the Aborigine as the oppressed. For instance, in First Australians, some of the stories which Perkins focused upon were stories where the Aborigines helped, and were helped by, whites. In First Australians, and Blood Brothers - Freedom Ride, the focus was on overcoming oppression, therefore the themes of oppression are minimized, in that these films are triumphant. In other words, oppression was still a part of these films, but the focus was on solutions. In other stories, including Radiance and Bran Nue Dae, Perkins shows the audience that Aborigines are more than their social struggles, and that their experiences are, essentially, everybody’s experience. The characters in both films could be the same characters in any Western film, and the references to Aborginality are subtle. One Night the Moon is the possible exception to this overall theme, in that this film shows how white racism causes problems, in that the white farmer in the film refused to listen to the Aboriginal tracker, which eventually leads to the death of the farmer’s daughter. At the same time, Perkins also uses music to convey special themes, which brings the films, and their timeless themes, into a more modern space, and this is another thematic element of Perkins’ films. Bibliography Collins, Felicity. “After the Apology: Reframing Violence and Suffering in First Australians, Australia and Samson and Delilah.” Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies, 24.1 (2010): 65-77. Craven, Allison. “Tropical Gothic: Radiance Revisted.” Etropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics, 7 (2008): 1-5. Ellison, Elizabeth. “Flagging Spaces: Exploring Representations of Ownership on the Australian Beach.” Ejournalist, 11.1 (2011): 14-28. Gillett, Sue. “Through Song to Belonging: Music Finds its Place in Rachel Perkins’ Radiance and One Night The Moon.” Metro Magazine, 159 (Dec. 2008): 86-92. Ginsburg, Faye. “Embedded Aesthetics: Creating a Discursive Space for Indigenous Media.” Cultural Anthropology, 9.3 (1994): 365-382. Ginsburg, Faye & Fred Myers. “A History of Aboriginal Futures.” Critique of Anthropology, 26.1 (2006): 27-45. Harrison, Jane. “Indig-Curious: What Are the Challenges for Non-Aboriginal Theatre Practitioners in Accessing and Interpreting Aboriginal Themes?” Retrieved from: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/32152/ Jones, Anthony. “Ancient Archetypes: The ‘Greek Chorus’ in The Tracker’s Songs.” Screen Sound, 2 (2011): 118-131. Konishi, Shino. “Review of Darren Dale and Rachel Perkins’ First Australians.” History Australia, 6.2 (2009): 49.1-49.2. McKee, Alan. “Accentuate the ‘Negative’: Reality and Race in Australian Film Reviewing.” Australian Studies in Journalism, 8 (1999): 139-157. Miller, Benjamin. “Australians in a Vacuum: The Socio-Political ‘Stuff’ in Rachel Perkins’ Radiance.” Studies in Australasian Cinema, 2.1 (2008): 61-71. Nolan, Marguerite. “Exorcizing History: Radiance and the Abject Aboriginal Mother.” New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film, 2.3 (2004): 175-188. Turcotte, Gerry. “Let the Turtle Live! A Discussion on Adapting Radiance For the Screen.” Metro Magazine, 135 (2003): 34-40. Wilson, Jake. “Bran Nue Dae.” The Age. Retrieved from: http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/film/articles/2010/01/13/1263058298773.html Read More