| Reference Type |
web
|
| Title |
Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture vol.1 no.1 |
| Chapter/Web article title |
"Chauvel and the centring of the Aboriginal male in Australian film" |
| Editor(s) | Tom O'Regan |
| Publication Date |
00-00-1987 |
| Citation Date |
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| Site URL |
http://kali.murdoch.edu.au/~cntinuum/1.1/Johnson.html |
| Comments |
Colin Johnson (Mudrooroo Nyoongar) gives an interesting sometimes critically humourous account of stereotypes of Aboriginal male figures. How they have been placed and the kinds of things that says about their representation in Australian film.
He focuses particularly on the character of "Marbuk" in the "Jedda" (1955) "It is to Chauvel's credit , or inspite of Chauvel that the only dignified Aboriginal lead that has been allowed to exist in films made by white directors in Australia." His comments provide what he terms an Aboriginal reading of the film and situates the "Marbuk" character as one that represented a strength and resilience on the screen that was well received by Aboriginal audiences. He criticizes representations in the "The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith" as "a mad boong cutting up white women" and The Fringedwellers for representing Aboriginal males as humouress but "no-hopers". His comments are subjective and at times emotive but they do shed some new light on thinking about Aboriginal representation of males in Australian film. His reading of the character of "Joe" , the half caste eager to marry Jedda , may be a bit reductive. He is a combination of both worlds , he might remain sanitised in order to conform to a colonial dominance but he writes him off as being uninteresting. What the character espouses in terms of a diverse notion of Aboriginal representation may demand more than just a superficial reading.
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| Synopsis |
Bruce Beresford
Kristina Nehm
Charles Chauvel
Fred Schepisi
Robert Tudawali
Andrew Pike
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