Rabbit Proof Fence (2002): Three young native women are kidnapped by the Australian government and sent to boarding school but they escape and travel across Australia to return home.
Introduction
In 1770, the British settled into Australia and took note or gave no status to the native Aborigines. The natives were dispossessed of their land and became the Indigenous people of Australia. There were no rights given to them or treaties enacted considering their status as natives. The Aborigines were hunter gatherers with no permanent dwelling grouped together with kin. The British had no respect for these natives and thought of them as feeble minded and irrelevant. Thus, the British partook in the venture of civilizing the indigenous. After coming to believe that the Aborigines were uneducable, the colonists further hypothesized that the Aborigines were a complete distinct specifies with different skull shapes, minds and capabilities.
Eventually, laws were passed throughout Australia alleging to protect the Baronies from themselves. Aborigines families were separated from society and controlled on reserves and missions. The government was authorized to separate children from their families at any time for no apparent reason. When the white settlers and Aborigines began having children, the half-castes were born.
In the 1930’s, government officials began to argue that Aborigines could be “bred out” and by the combining of half castes with low class white Australians. Thousands of children were removed from their homes and raised as whites. These children became known as “The Stolen Generations”.
Summary
The film “Rabbit Proof Fence” is a telling of the experience of three half caste girls taken from their family to an Aborigines settlement 1500 miles away from their home. These girls are part of the Stolen Generation. The film is based on the book which was written by one of the girls’ daughters, Doris Pilington Garimara.
The film begins with a written introduction about the Aborigine tribe’s resistance to white settlers in Australia, it explains that the Chief Protector of Aborigines acts as their legal guardian and has the power to place the half caste children anywhere in the state.
The narrator is the oldest child, Molly, and begins the story in her native tongue discussing her life on the land and the white settlers camp that moved near her tribal home.
The film begins with four scenes that become set the circumstances and context of the film. An eagle is flying overhead and the girl’s mother is explaining to her that the eagle is a spirit bird that offers its protection. Another scene shows the family tracking an animal. There is a scene where white soldiers are watching the children play. And, then we are shown a scene in which a white man is signing documents stating that custody will be taken of the three girls. These references are relied upon in the movie. Along with the notes at the beginning of the film, we are placed in the setting of the film.
We know that the family lives and relies on the land as a native tribe. We know that the white man is watching over them, and that the girls are going to be taken without the consent of their mothers. The film does not waste any time in giving the audience the true setting and the impact of the white man on natives.
The children are taken 1,500 miles away from their family to the Moore River Native Settlement where they will teach the girls to be white. Intermittently throughout the film, the audience is placed into scenes in which the Chief Protector of the Aborigines explains the need for the taking of the half caste children, as a means to justify the cause. There is no secrets or mystery being presented in the film.
The Chief Prosecutor explains that the half caste children must be saved from the black society. He explains that allowing white genes to infiltrate the Aborigine tribes would provide them with intelligence and such intelligence could result in them understanding their situation and a future revolt. Additionally, he explains that breeding the half castes with white people would ultimately remove the breed of Aborigines eventually altogether.
Consistent messages are presented throughout the film showing how the natives were treated. The family is given small rations of food by the white man, the girls are kept in cages while they are being transported to the settlement.
Analysis
What claims about gender and neoliberalism are being made?
Identify secondary ideas
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Critique
Did the film deliver and answer questions relate to its theme?
Any faulty assumptions or oversights in the film
Why was it made and di it meets these objectives?
Personal response
Conclusion
References
Carey, j., & McLisky, C. (2012). Creating White Australia: new perspective on race,whitenss and history. Acadademia, 8. Retrieved from http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/5849/1/Introduction_Creating-White-Australia.pdf
Hollingsworth, D. (2010). Racism and Indigenous People in Australia. Global Dialogue, 12(2). Retrieved from http://www.worlddialogue.org/content.php?id=484
Morrissey, P. (2007). Approaching Witness. Australian Humanities Review. Retrieved from http://www.australianhumanitiesreview.org/archive/Issue-August-September%202007/Intro.html
