Baz Luhrmann tourism ad for Australia at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture

Baz Luhrmann tourism ad for Australia

by Carmen Van Kerckhove

This is a tourism ad for Australia, directed by Baz Luhrmann, of Strictly Ballroom and Moulin Rouge fame. Readers, what do you think?

h/t to Sociological Images

Comments

macon d wrote:

So they have Magical Negroes in Australia too! They seem, um, dirtier than the American ones.

Seriously: racist tripe peddling racist tropes.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 7:33 am ¶
White Trash Academic wrote:

Wow, you would think after the history of genocide, forced assimilation policies, and colonialism that Australians might be bothered by using Aboriginal culture to promote tourism. “We slaughtered the natives to the continent, but look, we’re friends now and we want you to come visit.”

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 7:35 am ¶
Jess wrote:

I love that — magic aborigines, anyone?

Do Australian movies have them? Like, the indigenous equivalent of Morgan Freeman?

Have to say, very weird.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 7:54 am ¶
Caitlin wrote:

just another abuse of the aborigines and their land…of course uluru is just for yuppies to go find themselves on! isn’t that why it was originally, like, built or whatever? gee, what would we do without indigenous people to help you “find yourself.”

yup. i think it’s gross.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 7:56 am ¶
cdf wrote:

Sort of reminds me of “Sandals” or Jamaican ads here in the states…same difference!

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 8:14 am ¶
Ali wrote:

@White Trash Academic - Ain’t it the truth! How the fuck are you going to have an offensively paternalistic relationship with the native population of “your” country and then appropriate both their likeness and one of their rights of passage to convince more clueless white people to come pay a visit?

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 8:17 am ¶
viviena wrote:

This Australian is bothered.

I don’t like the ad either, for the same reasons listed here–there are a few non-racial criticisms I can make of this ad campaign too. The ‘magical negro’ theme is understandably quite offensive, especially since in various forms of entertainment they tend to show up as the ‘magical negro’ or not all. (Of course, in the ‘factual’ tabloids they show up as dole-bludgers or glue sniffers.)

#3: Ernie Dingo in the Crocodile Dundee movies comes to mind, as well as in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I can’t think of any other movies involving ‘magic aborigines’ except probably Luhrmann’s upcoming ‘Australia’, not so surprisingly.

As something different, one of our local channels is showing an excellent doco series, ‘First Australians’, which ‘chronicles the birth of contemporary Australia as never told before, from the perspective of its first people’. The website has entire episodes up, though I don’t know if anybody outside Australia can watch them.

http://www.sbs.com.au/firstaustralians/

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 8:32 am ¶
geowench wrote:

Wow, magical *Australain Aboriginal* negros! How not cool is that?!

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 8:33 am ¶
CVT wrote:

I just think it makes good sense that - since it went so well the first time around - aborigines would want to go out and actively recruit MORE white people to come to their land. Right?

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 8:51 am ¶
Logan wrote:

The big question I have coming out of this is what is the average level of racial awareness over in Australia. I’ve read about and seen videos of racial tension over in Australia recently (the 05 race riots in Sydney, recently tension with the Japanese due to the whaling controversy), so I’m left wondering if this just pass through reviews without anyone blinking an eye to the aboriginal with the sand. I mean, admittedly this would probably get through the American roadblocks probably, but I’m left wondering more about the Australian mindset after watching this.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 9:11 am ¶
frau sally benz wrote:

This is so bizarre! And not at all commercial-looking, or at all convincing (not to me anyway).

Are we supposed to see this as an ad for Australia the country, or the movie? B/c all I kept thinking was “is this what his movie is going to be like?” (Speaking of which, the trailer for that movie disturbs the f’k out of me!)

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 9:58 am ¶
outfox wrote:

Was this aimed at audiences outside Australia?

Racist images of Aboriginal people aren’t unusual here, but I’m surprised at Lurhman going for this.

In Oz art images of urban white women going outback have quite a history of representing both;

- women as more receptive to nature [and thus to “going native”] than men, and

-white women as symbols of the purity or spirit of empire, to be either threatened or mystically guided by Aboriginal males.

What’s less common yet gross here, is that the contemporary version makes the city fleeing white woman a sexual consumer of Aboriginal men too.

Which, realistically more women are in a position to approach tourism as racialized sexual consumerism now but…what were they thinking?

I’m wondering if this is their idea of a hommage to the film Walkabout http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkabout_(film)

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 10:09 am ¶
outfox wrote:

Wait, my mistake, is it her city dude who turned her down that she’s somehow transported to go outback swimming?

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 10:23 am ¶
Alexandra wrote:

Ugh what a gross commercial. Hey everyone its okay to continue to exploit the Aborigines and their land, because magical “Aborgine” negro child said its alright. D<

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 10:30 am ¶
justin wrote:

David Gulpilil could be Australia’s Morgan Freeman. He plays a tracker/guide in various movies.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 10:33 am ¶
viviena wrote:

#10 Logan:

That’s something I’ve wondered about myself. As a person who isn’t white but is happy to be an Australian citizen, it does throw me a lot of times on the internet when people call Australia one of the more racist Western nations in the world, but then I think of Pauline Hanson, and agree there’s some truth in that statement.

Anyway, I’ve ended up writing a novella twice in the comment box here, so I’ll try to be succinct this time:

I believe very strongly that racial attitudes to the indigenous Australians differ substantially from racial attitudes to other ethnic groups.

*Anecdotally*, Anglo-Celtic Australians tended to be suspicious of other ethnic groups hijacking Australian ‘identity’ and ‘culture’ — the history of Australia bears this assertion out. There is little institutionalised racism here, far as I can tell, but xenophobic racial attitudes still appear common amongst some older and rural Australians in particular. The usual cries of ‘They can’t speak English/accept Aussie values/steal our jobs!’ can be heard, usually started off by ‘I’m not racist, but…’ There’s awareness of tensions between certain ethnic groups, which has escalated into violence, e.g. Cronulla Beach race riots. Ethnic issues are generally acknowledged by the government and by individuals, and work is done to resolve them. Every major ethnic group appears to have run the gauntlet. (Example: Vietnamese? Used to be druggies who ate with chopsticks! Now university-educated hardworkers who have great food!)

Indigenous Australian issues on the other hand? They seem to disappear largely into a black hole, and when we do think of them, it’s when they’re playing didgeridoos, dressed in loincloths, and dancing in coroboree. Indigenous issues and race relations get hardly any airtime here except on the govt-sponsored channels, or when some situation rears its ugly head and people can’t plausibly ignore it, e.g. NT intervention, Redfern riots. There is little interest in addressing indigenous issues by the government, and it could be argued that there is some institutionalised racism working against impoverished indigenous Australians. There are certain news media that raise the issues regularly, but they won’t be read by those who should care. As for racial attitudes, it’s not like the fear that some Australians have against migrants, fear that comes from the unknown. Instead, the attitudes of some towards indigenous Australians appear to verge on hate. Hate for being blamed for things their ancestors did, not themselves. Hate for those bludgers, for those drunkards, for those child abusers, etc. It’s bizarre how some of the nicest people who one meets, who you wouldn’t think were racist, hold such strong views on the problems of indigenous Australians.

I do want to emphasise that experiences of and attitudes to race in Australia will vary greatly depending on ethnicity, geography, and age. I’m also aware that I’m generalising widely to some extent: outright racism is not rampant as it sounds here, and we have our terms and derision for ‘rednecks’ here too. It’s just that the indigenous Australians seem to be the forgotten people.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 10:39 am ¶
Arturo wrote:

I don’t know about you all, but I’m booking my next flight on Mystical Negro Airlines right now!

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 10:47 am ¶
outfox wrote:

OK, sorry for posting before figuring it out… it is her bloke from the US city she swims with. When he says “glad you’re back” he must mean back making time to be a good girlfriend to him, rather than being a stressed out buisiness woman.

So the concept of Walkabout’s reduced to an sexual anxiety escapism fantasy.. and the boy is a child magical negro offering up his country as a vast empty nookie space for imported lovers.

That still strikes me as creepy, although not as overt as I thought.

p.s. the local attitudes query, a recent study found that 1 in 10 Australians think “some races are superior to others”.
BBC on the study

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 10:47 am ¶
outfox wrote:

links not working BBC study link

http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7641158. stm

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 10:48 am ¶
HazelStone wrote:

Even with the sound off it was vomit-inducing.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 11:18 am ¶
drispe wrote:

Now I definitely don’t need to see the movie. This ad gives me the same feeling as the trailer. Either way, the darkies are still singing backup in a lily white song. Videos embedded in blogs are always worth a visit in their actual YouTube habitat, such as the gem of a comment found for this one:

“Australia is perceived globally as a urban destination.. stats prove that concept! Who really goes out to experience the Aboriginal outback culture?”

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 11:41 am ¶
Cara wrote:

I watched w/o sound…..seemed odd to me. Especially the whole child walking in the rain and wispering in the ear of a crying (seemingly lonely) white woman….Yes, odd.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 12:35 pm ¶
Paz wrote:

The boy looks like the same boy seen in the previews for the movie Australia. Is he the token aborigine?

Frankly I’m impressed that they bothered to remember aborigines at all. (And no, that is not justification for this racist depiction.)

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 12:35 pm ¶
Asada wrote:

I have no problem with it , honestly. At least they didn’t make it that she found a “hot native” to fall in love with. That would have been controversy.

The tone and imagery is dreadful, I would never think it was for tourism. Maybe Zoloft or something. When your live sucks, go to Australia !

oh yes and aborigines are not black.

peace.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 12:58 pm ¶
Fransky wrote:

Dude what a pile of horse shit! The muddy footprints, the dirt being blown, the oh-so-cute brown boy. I mean I get it. Ya know, if your having “problems” in your little (white) world a little magical person whose been systematically oppressed, who really knows pain, can transport you away & restore your soul right?

That kid wasn’t a real person but a mascot or symbol. An idea or fantasy but not a real or whole human being and that is what makes this ad (or reinforcement of the magical Native) so disturbing.
~F

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 1:08 pm ¶
Eva wrote:

I didn’t even get this ad; is the woman supposed to be American? Why was she walking down the street barefooted? Too artsy for me.

BTW, I’d love to go to Australia, I have a bf of sorts over there, but this ad doesn’t address the fact that the plane ride is too damn long from the east coast of the US.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 1:46 pm ¶
justin wrote:

The actress is Australian. Her name is Sibylla Budd and she is using a fake accent.
I recognise her from a show I like called ‘The Secret Life of Us’.
I think Baz Luhrmann sucks. most of his work is just a lurid western history lesson .

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 4:11 pm ¶
ambre wrote:

@ viviena

Thank you for mentioning the “First Australians” series! I read about it the other day, and I got excited about it - but unfortunately the episodes posted on the website are blocked in the US.

Also, thanks for sharing your thoughts on racial awareness in Australia. I’ve often wondered the same things that Logan expressed, and haven’t ever been able to find much info.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 4:49 pm ¶
meatwhichdreams wrote:

Why does the cinematography have to be so gorgeous for something so nauseatingly oblivious?

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 6:32 pm ¶
hexy wrote:

This Indigenous Aussie is friggin’ pissed.

Come to Australia and go Walkabout? Wow, Luhrman, not your cultural religious event to appropriate. Walkabout is a really significant event to a wide variety of Indigenous tribes. This makes as much sense as “Come to the USA, engage in [insert pilfered element of Native American spirtuality]”

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 7:55 pm ¶
kerrita k wrote:

loved australia - but my overwhelming response to the gross misogyny and racism is that this damn place needs a freakin’ civil rights march! sadly. the aspiration is that they want to be the america of the pacific…
-kerrita k.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 8:43 pm ¶
Logan wrote:

To Viviena: At work, don’t have much time to type out a thoughtful reply, but thank you for the post and an Aussie of color’s perspective.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 9:36 pm ¶
L wrote:

I love it - all you need to solve first world problems is a misappropriated third world image to convince you to to spend first world money on a vacation where you can pretend you’re a “native.” Fucking genius.

I have to say, that on top of the totally gross class/race nonsense that there is an element of punishing successful women too: the line about “She came as Katherine Something-or-other, C.E.O. or something” and then “She left as Kate.” Like the perfect vacation would include slumming with the natives, abusing and gawking at other people’s religions rites, AND denying your self image as a hardworking businesswoman. Everybody wins! (by that I mean poor Kate’s lonely boyfriend, clearly. “everybody wins” always just means the rich white guy wins.)

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 9:43 pm ¶
Westerly wrote:

*whine* “…you’re no longer the woman I fell in love with.” (Unless you stop getting distracted by the triviality of your career and come on holiday when I say so!”)

*mystical whisper* “Sometimes, you have to get lost to find yourself. Sometimes - we have to go walkabout!”

Ugh.

Because Australia and its natural wonders (dirt, water, rocks, desert and a smiling indigeneous child) will save your ailing, white middle class marriage. Because ‘Australia’ (and its natives) solely exists to support you and fulfill you needs.

Racist, sexist, hetero-sexist, classist, crass, exploitative, colonial and not even slightly imaginative. But then again, this is the nature of tourist advertising.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 11:12 pm ¶
Nia wrote:

this ad makes my brain explode.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 11:42 pm ¶
s wrote:

@viviena #16,

re: It’s just that the indigenous Australians seem to be the forgotten people.

I was incredibly surprised yesterday to find commentary on page 2 of my local paper addressing this issue. Aboriginal Australians are basically forgotton, and it was unexpected to read a thoughtful commentary on the issue.

Also: I second the rec for the SBS ‘First Australians.’ I have found it interesting so far.

Posted 14 Oct 2008 at 11:43 pm ¶
miwome wrote:

I wholeheartedly agree with the Magical Aborigine critique. (I mean, really, did the kid have to be naked? And showing up in her sleep as in a dream? And–I’ll stop.) On top of that, I have to wonder–do men have Secret But True Hidden Identities beneath their Burdensome Careers (which damage their Absolutely Necessary Relationships!) too? The notion of “Kate” as separate from whatever her job title was–and the implicit binary choice between work and family or relationships–seems very gendered to me. But of course that’s a gendered binary that’s applied in the public conscious to white women almost exclusively.

Ironically, I accidentally had my iTunes going and Roisin Murphy’s “Modern Timing” was playing over the YouTube audio. “Modern” + Australia + Othered Aborigines and bare feet had me wondering if this was supposed to be some weird reference to Bowie’s “Modern Love” video, which would be kind of the opposite of what the commercial is actually saying.

Posted 15 Oct 2008 at 2:27 am ¶
timarasa wrote:

@ambre:

i too was very excited when viviena posted the link to the “first australians” series. i’ve gone over the site and there’s tons of material and a video timeline than can be watched via streaming…and they have a podcast link where you can download all the episodes in their entirety (no streaming). there are no geographical- based restrictions for those options.

Posted 15 Oct 2008 at 3:18 am ¶
Nate wrote:

Re# 10

Vivienne, I think you’re giving a little too much credit towards us ‘anglo-celtic’ australian’s here.

The prejudice against aborgines is pretty ingrained and its a very strong undercurrent. Particulary in the country. Growing in rural Oz, not so long ago, while there was the usual taunts/prejudices/stereotypes against the ‘new australian’ whites (the 2nd generation australians from southern europe ) there was an implicit banding together against the aborginal kids. Not that long ago.

Its was, and to be isn’t still is, a strong, albeilt no longer legislative, aparthied system in place. I think its something most australians don’t really challenge/becoome aware of until they travel as its so environmental and systemic, I guess.

For instance, in a professional
firm, while very diverese in the sense patriticipation of NESB australians, I hadn’t met an aboriginal client, co worker or partner, until, possibly rather ironically, (and I mean that in the proper meaning of the word, not to be confused with sarcasm) I moved to London.

That’s pretty fucking disefranchised. I’m not making the assumption that everyone wants to, or should, become bourgeois, but as econimic particiption and access to education does really drive life chances, as has a mutlpier (social standing/acceptance, opportunites for one’s kids, access to health care etc) the situation isn’t going to be magically resolved by saying sorry and ‘law ‘n order’ interventions…

Posted 15 Oct 2008 at 3:53 am ¶
Nate wrote:

Please excuse the typos above. Hopefully the gist still comes through… To make it short - without economic and educational ‘justice’, nothing will change.

And I just don’t think there’s that desire to do (pr pay for) that in Oz. Maybe we need to follow new zealand more. I’m aware its not perfect but the respect given to and acknowdlegment of indigenous culture, the treaty and the economic redress given isn’t a bad start.

Posted 15 Oct 2008 at 3:59 am ¶
Korolev wrote:

It’s pretty typical of the way Indigenous Australians are treated - rolled out whenever the government needs something to villify/point at or for the tourist industry to exploit. Aboriginal artwork, music, folklore, customs, dances - all exploited to make money.

Oh we pretend to respect them. Our government recently gave a very lukewarm apology (notice they said no compensation!) and we make small noises about how they are the “first people”. But apart from that we ignore them. We DOWNRIGHT ignore them. Almost everyone in Australia, including myself, is guilty of this.

It’s not just the racists (Australia has its fair share, but so does every nation in the world), but the ordinary people. Indigenous Australians are completely ignored. You never see them. I’ve seen more Sudanese refugees than Aboriginal people, and I’ve lived here for 19 years!

They are cut off.They are ignored. Never given a voice. I have not seen one indigenous student at my university (University of Queensland, one of the largest in Australia, been there for 4 years). I have only heard of one other indigenous government official. No one makes an effort to include them. No one makes an effort to help them. Both the Right and Left are guilty of this - The Right wingers are racist and just plain hates the indigenous community and the Left wingers are extremely patronizing to them, wishing to keep them like cultural museum relics to make themselves feel good about how sensitive they are (oh no, says the Left, we can’t teach them english, because that’s destroying their culture, and we can’t make their children seen doctors, because that’s destroying their culture, etc, etc.)

Recently, a newspaper in Australia reported that government officials who are supposed to help indigenous persons find jobs, were secretly stopping them from doing so - when some Aboriginal persons expressed interest in moving towards the cities for work, the government did its best to prevent them.

Australia is still quite racist - I’m half chinese (but don’t exactly look like it), and I can’t tell you the number of times “friends”, who thought I was white, have told me how they don’t like Asians.

With the Indigenous community - Australia is very eager to promote them overbroad, as long as they don’t promote them at home. Very eager to say how nice they are, as long as they don’t have to live next to them, very eager to say how much they value them, as long as they don’t have to spend much on them.

An indigenous person in Australia, on average, has a lifespan 20 years shorter than other Australians. If that’s not a national tragedy, I don’t know what is.

Posted 15 Oct 2008 at 9:55 am ¶
Dani wrote:

Apart from the expoitation of aborinies and the magical negro thing, what i dont like about this is that it doesn’t have enough Australia. it’s very limited in what it actually shows of Australia as a place, and what experiences a tourist could have there. If swimming in a lake is not your thing, there’s not really much here to make it appeal to you. they could have shown more differents sides to Australia. For example the more urban regions. and it doesnt appeal to a wide demographic either. You would think that a tourism ad for Australia would want to get a wide range of people intersted in visiting.

I think Baz Luhrmann’s works are visually stunning, this one included. But it just didnt get the point across. and the whole “magical aboriginal child beckoning her to come visit” thing is obviously insulting.

i’ve never been to Australia before but I’m quite interested in learning more about their social/racial politics. Once a white Australian woman told me that it’s an extremely tolerant place and overt racism is not a regular thing. Then other people have told me the complete opposite. But I guess that’s the case with anywhere..

Also, there don’t seem to be many representations of minority groups in their popular culture, from what I’ve seen…

Posted 15 Oct 2008 at 12:01 pm ¶
ambre wrote:

@ timarasa

Thanks for the info! I’ll check it out

Posted 15 Oct 2008 at 3:39 pm ¶
Anonymous wrote:

Yuck. “Noble Savage” redux. Never gets old, does it? The high production value (did no one with a brain or any cultural clue review this before all the money got spent?) made it even more acutely embarrassing/painful to watch.

And the part about the successful business woman finding redemption by shedding her clothing and the bulk of her identity (except the girlfriend part) is really, really barfy.

I think they should add a croc attack at the end. You know, for balance. Nature’s redemptive *and* cruel, isn’t it?

Posted 15 Oct 2008 at 10:46 pm ¶
Rebecca Walker wrote:

Awful. Degrading. Insulting. Shameful.

Posted 16 Oct 2008 at 1:22 am ¶
klandestine wrote:

Sometimes, between the being and becoming Black, I have to get lost sometimes, but you can be fore damn sure I won’t be wandering around Australia to find myself.

Posted 19 Oct 2008 at 7:01 pm ¶
Robert Bishop wrote:

These comments are great.

BL is a talent less tosser: Did anyone with half a brain or taste seriously enjoy Moulin Rouge.

Scratch beneath the skin of the average Aussie, even with a mild comment about injustices to Koori Australians and the bile will flow.

Aboriginal Australians need compensation and a treaty, but unfortunately, they do not have the political clout to demand this type of settlement.

Posted 24 Oct 2008 at 12:39 am ¶
jane paterson wrote:

Appropriating Aboriginal culture to sell a consumerist dream of escape from having too much work to pay attention to whining boyfriend…….look i can’t even string a sentence together after watching that insulting piece of garbage.
Who needs land rights when magical aboriginal children can control the weather and give the white guy his girlfriend back as a passive, ‘natural’ sex object

Posted 26 Oct 2008 at 9:44 pm ¶
Lachlan Griffin wrote:

This ad actually came out at a perfect time for me. I’m in the middle of writing an essay about perceptions of Australian Indigenous people, and this is a veritable gold mine of political incorrectness. The Aboriginal child represents the idea of indigenous people as mystical beings who live in harmony with nature, who through they idyllic, primitive lives possess a supernatural bond with the land that we, the ignorant westerner, aren’t able to comprehend. This view pushes the idea that Indigenous people are primitive, or less human compared to us, as they are ‘untainted’ by basic human emotion and thought, which leads the rest of us into depravity and immorality. It’s a real shame that there are only two ways Indigenous people are portrayed in western society: either they’re the noble savage or the backward social misfit. As far as I can see this is the exact same tripe that was proliferated by colonial powers in the 18th century to create a precedent to invade indigenous nations.

Posted 29 Oct 2008 at 1:56 am ¶
IndigenousPeoplesFan wrote:

The irony of this ad is that it twists primitivism of indigenous peoples. Originally, primitivism referenced technology and living conditions - now it is referencing some mystical spiritual connection to the environment. Either way, it is wrong and should not be used to refer to indigenous people - in Australia or anywhere.

Posted 30 Oct 2008 at 7:25 am ¶
TeakLipstickFiend wrote:

The link above wasn’t working, but I found it again on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQGMuxJ0vCc . It is pretty cheesy and it’s also wrong to appropriate the culture of indigenous Australian’s this way. However, I’m a white, 1st generation Australian (my parents were white European) and I’ve lived in Europe for 11 years now, so am kind of out of touch with race relations in Australia (apart from news about Pauline Hanson’s and John Howard’s attitudes, etc.). But I do get this impression that the Australian indigenous people are somewhat invisible. I can remember probably only 2 indigenous kids from when I was at school in the 80s. One girl was part of the group I hung around with, though not a close friend, and at the time I don’t remember making any distinction between her origins and those of my other friends - she was just another student, another school friend. The invisibility is perhaps partly because the population breakdown in Australia (according to the CIA World Fact book, if you want to believe them) is “white 92%, Asian 7%, aboriginal and other 1%”, but also obviously because of prejudices. In addition, it is has never been clear to me (perhaps because of a lack of good media coverage, perhaps because I am extremely lazy when it comes to informing myself about anything) where the indigenous people want to be - whether they want to be part of the predominant Australian society or want to stay within their own culture, “out bush”. I remember visiting the indigenous community at Cherbourg a few years back and finding it very depressing; untidy, buildings in poor repair, but I didn’t and don’t know if that is simply because the community has different values to me or because of a lack of resources. I guess what I am trying to say is that I want everyone to have a good life, but I don’t know what life others want - I don’t know what indigenous people want (apart from not being hated for the colour of our skin - and don’t we all want that?) and, since they are a group of individuals, it can’t be assumed that each of those individuals wants the same thing. So, don’t be too hard on “whiteys” who don’t want to be racist, who would like to do the right thing, but perhaps end up being patronising or doing something wrong because they don’t understand. All people of all races (though I use the term “race” advisedly because, really we are all one “race”, the human race) have their prejudices, we all have a fear of what is different. The thing is to try and work against that. Sorry for being so incoherent.

Posted 09 Nov 2008 at 5:55 am ¶
Lessie wrote:

Didn’t watch the trailer, don’t plan to. I’m sick to the gills of this film and it’s not even out yet.

Posted 17 Nov 2008 at 10:29 am ¶
Tony Robertson wrote:

Some fantastic comments here. I’m grossly offended that Baz’s half-arsed, hammy views of “Australia” - indigenous and non-indigenous -are to be given such a wide airing. Please join our Facebook group Australians Against Australia The Movie at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15135448806

Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 6:43 pm ¶
channah wrote:

I stumbled upon this while looking for somewhere to post and discuss a publicity still from the feature film ‘Australia’ (still looking).

Interesting discussion. Most people here have overlooked something though!

The video above is a tourism *advertisement*.
So it was developed from specifications intended to target the insecurities and fantasies of a specific market segment - apparently, white female corporate players in the United States, and their significant others.
If it were screened here in Australia I guarantee it would be met with bewilderment, and result in no bookings to holiday at that unidentified remote lake.

For insight into white Australian womens’ gender role insecurities and racialised fantasies (and there are plenty), view advertising targeted at white Australian consumer markets.

Posted 20 Nov 2008 at 10:04 pm ¶

Baz Luhrmann tourism ad for Australia

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