The concept of
"Australian Culture" as being uniformed and concise is exactly the
opposite of how I perceive Australia and myself. However this hasn't
stopped others and films from portraying us as having the traditional British
values of a 'White Australia' with small components of other European heritage
culminating in this, what I see as, horrendous image (Stanner:1953). The nation
of Australia is constructed on our indigenous population, British colonisation
and massive influxes of refugees and immigrants from everywhere from China to
Sudan and Greece to Vietnam.
I believe Australia is a
nation built on Globalisation and the best example of it. According to Sun
(2002) the movement of people can result in people reconnecting with their
birthplace through cultural communities culminating in massive mixture in
cultures. Australia has some of the worlds best wine made from people of
German, Italian and French heritage, Melbourne has the largest Greek population
in a city outside of Athens (No other city in Greece has as many Greek people)
and our food is a amazing bizarre boiling pot of every cuisine from Vietnamese,
Chinese, Egyptian, Indian and European that you are never lost for choice.
However Australian’s
sometimes don’t portray ourselves that way. The history of film making in
Australia is rather sad in the respect that we can make brilliant films but
generally focusing on a ‘white Australian’. Some films have pushed the envelope
however! While most films about the aboriginal population focus on the ‘Stolen
Generation’, films like ‘The Sapphires’ explore individualism while dealing
with race issues and exemplifying the mixed culture of Australia.
Other great
examples are:
‘Pricilla Queen of the Desert’
‘Harvey Krumpet’
‘Wog Boy’
Stanner, WEH.
(1953), ‘The Australian way of life’ in Aughterson, WV. (ed.), Taking stock: aspects of
mid-century life in Australia, FW Cheshire, Melbourne, Vic.
Sun, W 2002,
‘Leaving China: media, migration and transnational imagination’, Rowan & Littlefield,
Lanham, Md. Lanham, pg. 113-136.
You’ve done an excellent job in bypassing the played up stereotypes of Australian culture to delve deeper into some of the countries’ historical contexts, particularly how far we’ve come through ties of globalisation by means of exchanging ‘culture’ through film cinema, food and even tourism.
ReplyDeleteThe movie trailers provided support this logic as most of these films demonstrate an eccentric view of Australian life that others outside of our culture may not be aware even existed. It also showcases just how important the influence of others cultures is on our own country.
Overall, a well thought out and written piece.