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Reference Type book
Title Well I heard it on the Radio and saw it on the Television
Author(s)Marcia Langton
Town North Sydney
State NSW
Country Australia
Publication Date 00-00-1993
Citation Date
Page Number 7-41
Comments The section with the most significant information for my project is section one: Aboriginal Film and Video. She talks about how numerous directors want to make documentaries about Aboriginals. Many times with directors and documentaries they impose their views. If Langton were to critique Wilson’s film Bastardy she would find that Wilson accurately reveals who the true Jack Charles is.



“Almost to a person, filmmakers demand-and expect-Aboriginal participants to behave ‘traditionally’ in ways that only the lends of a camera seems to understand.” (20) Again, Langton describes how Aboriginals are not going to act the way you expect them to. Their people with their own culture and ways.

“Aboriginal cultures are extremely diverse and pluralistic. There is no one kind of Aboriginal person or community.” (11) Langton explains how Aboriginals in diverse and settled areas are very different.

“Why is it OK to be portrayed as one dimensional or as a brainless bimbo, and not as habitually drunk?” (15) Again, this quote supports the idea that Aboriginals are misrepresented in the media.



“It is not easy when one culture is trying to document another, and using a language which is foreign to that culture.” (14) If we facilitated Aboriginals more into roles like producers for documentaries they would have more meaning.



“It is clearly unrealistic for Aboriginal people to expect that others will stop portraying us in photographs, films, on television, in newspapers, literature and so on. Rather than demanding an impossibility, it would be more useful to identify those points where it is possible to control the means of production and to make our own self-representations.” (10) She discussed the importance of being realistic. It is way too difficult for Aboriginals to gain complete censorship of their representation. They have to settle for trying to actually take part in the filming/production process.





“In settled Australia, social-engineering thinking, which underpinned the ‘assimilation’ policy, sought to shape a new sanitized Aborigine according to certain Anglo-Australian cultural and political dictates.” (12) The communication between Wilson and Charles allows for an accurate depiction of what Charles is really like. Wilson doesn’t question anything that Charles is doing. Charles even steals from part of the production cast. This allows the film to stay authentic by maintaining a “culture and self-representation”. Wilson has a strong idea of who Charles is, and he knows he can not change that.



“More specifically, the assumption is that all Aborigines are alike and equally understand each other, without regard to cultural variation, history, gender, sexual preference and so on .” (25) Again it is important to understand that Aboriginals are going to be very different from each other.





“Rather the central problem is the need to develop a body of knowledge on representation of Aboriginal people and their concerns in art, film, television and other media and a critical perspective to do with aesthetics and politics, drawing from Aboriginal world views, from Western traditions and from history.” (28) In order to understand Aboriginals it is necessary to get a sense of what they are like. One can’t just begin to film without gathering a firm background on the people.

(E.J.H)
Synopsis Langton’s essay critiques Aboriginals representation in the media. Langton sides with an anti-colonial perspective. Section one describes Aboriginal Film and Video. It describes the many differences on whether the film is shot in a “settled” or “remote” area. Section two is about the Politics of Aboriginal Representation. This section discusses the relationship between the Aboriginals and Non-Aboriginals. Also, it discusses the importance of films, video, and television. The media is a strong base for how Australians garner their understandings of Aboriginals. Langton discusses how these methods of media can re-educate people about Aboriginals and how to not be racist. Section three is about Decentering the ‘Race’ Issue. Langton just wants the stories of Aboriginals peoples to be told by Aboriginals. Frequently, the media distorts things which causes peoples perceptions to be off. To learn about Aboriginals it is important to garner knowledge from the Aboriginal people not just colonists. Overall, Langton wants Aboriginals to be represented properly when it comes to film making. (E.J.H)
tags: communication  Marcia Langton media representation  
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