Victims or Perpetrators: Aboriginality as Represented in the films Rabbit Proof Fence and The Tracker - Essay Example

Victims or Perpetrators: Aboriginality as Represented in the films Rabbit Proof Fence and The Tracker In addition to being cinematic masterpieces, the movies Rabbit Proof Fence and The Tracker offer two distinct and contradictory perspectives in representing Aboriginality. Rabbit Proof Fence shows the Aborigines as playing the role of "helpless victims" to the whites. It focuses on the experience of three young girls who are forcibly taken from their mothers in order to be trained as indentured servants. Women and half-caste children from the Aboriginal community are shown as exploited and dependent on white society to fill their basic needs. The girls are pursued, caged and apprehended at every turn. In contrast, The Tracker is a movie that represents the Aboriginals as perpetrators of crimes against the whites and against themselves. The main characters are men who are on a mission to bring to justice an Aboriginal man suspected of murdering a white woman. The sojourn they follow is filled with countless acts of violence and accusations against the morality of the Aborigines. During the course of the film, an Aboriginal man hangs a white man and spears a fellow countryman in the leg. Indeed, the portrayal of the indigenous Australians is far different in The Tracker than it is in Rabbit Proof Fence. These two opposing viewpoints bring up the important question of which story is more accurate. Does the evidence supporting the claim that the Aboriginals are victims outweigh the proof that they are perpetrators The film Rabbit Proof Fence begins with a history lesson. It is 1931 and the British have finally succeeded in colonizing Australia after 100 years of fighting with the natives. One man has been appointed the task of overseeing the welfare of the Aborigines, and he has the particular ability to remove half-caste children from their homes. This man is A.O. Neville "guardian of all Aborigines", played by Kenneth Branagh and he has an agenda. Early in the movie when he is giving a slide show presentation, he talks about having the "Aboriginal bred out" of people in 3 generations. This is a revealing scene where we learn that the true intent of the white settlers is to westernize, civilize, indoctrinate, and assimilate the Aboriginals into their society. However, Neville soon discovers that the Aboriginal Spirit is not so easily subverted. Molly, Gracie and Daisy are the three young protagonists who attempt to escape Neville's snares. They are abducted by white policemen and taken to a school for "re-education". We can see immediately that Molly is not content at the school. She just doesn't seem to belong here. In the scene where there is a conversation between the head girl at school, Nina, and Molly we hear Nina say that "nobody here got a mother". This is countered by Molly who proclaims that "I got mother". Girls who try to escape the school are captured and returned by Moodoo the Aboriginal tracker man. So far, no girl has gotten very far away from the school before being returned. But there is something special about Molly. As Neville says, there is still "too much of their mind in her". At the beginning of the film, Molly is shown the "spirit bird" by her mother Maude. Her mother tells her that the spirit bird is always looking out for her. This winged guardian makes several more appearances in the movie. The first of which is when Molly is at the school lying in bed, trying to figure out what is to be done. She says that the white people "make me sick", and she dreams of the spirit bird flying overhead. In the next scene she is shown escaping the school ground with her two friends. As they trek across the outback, one theme that is repeatedly presented is the beneficence of nature upon the oppressed children. The movie shows how the Aboriginals strongly identify with the land, the animals, and all of nature. It seems that Molly shares common traits with the spirit bird. When she whistles, she makes the same sound as the bird's cry. Molly looks out for her two young friends and attempts to return them home to their mothers, the same way perhaps that the spirit bird watches over them all. Neville and the white men maybe antagonistic to the Aboriginals, but Mother Nature certainly is not. The movie leads the viewer to sympathize with the plight of the children. It seems right to be on the side of the underdog because they display qualities of hope, courage and strength though adversity. How could the run-away children be seen as anything but helpless victims escaping from an unjust system which is attempting to enslave them and crush their souls Moodoo is the Aboriginal tracker man who pursues the girls in an attempt to return them to school. He is unique in that he is purposefully helping the white men to apprehend and retain his own people. In this way he is represented as a traitor of sorts. But he is ensnared in a way as well. We learn that he has a half-caste daughter who is at the school. So perhaps he has love in his heart for some white woman somewhere. Even this man who is sworn to apprehend the girls eventually begins to see things differently. There is one important scene which is particularly telling in this regard (Villella, 2002). Moodoo and a white policeman are tracking the girls, who are very close nearby hiding behind a bush. The camera hangs on Moodoo's face for a very long time and the hint of an enigmatic smile appear. He knows the girls are there, but he does not give them up! Apparently he is not really trying to capture the girls at this point, and he is only pretending to pursue them for the sake of the white man. Practically the only words Moodoo says during the whole movie are: "Pretty clever that girl" and "She wants to go home". By the end of the movie, this is exactly what happens. Molly and Daisy are reunited with their mothers, though Gracie was captured and returned to the school. The final words of the film state that the girls belonged to the "Stolen generation" and that Aboriginal society is still recovering from the insults sustained during this period in history. In contrast to the above mentioned description of "Aboriginal as victim", a completely different landscape emerges in the movie The Tracker. It is 1922, nine years earlier than when Rabbit Proof Fence takes place and the atmosphere is markedly dissimilar. The Aborigines are still wild and fighting off the whites. There is an unnamed group of four men pursuing an Aborigine accused of murder. The Tracker man is the Aboriginal leading the chase. He is followed by the chief of police, the new recruit, and the deputized farmer. Aboriginals are represented as murderous, untrustworthy, lawless, and law breaking by the chief policeman who is more than determined to return the fugitive to justice. Fighting and killing each other is all they do, from the chief policeman's understanding. He firmly believes that they are a "deteriorated" race and his only wish is to guide the Aborigines to the proper way of living. The Tracker man acts and speaks so as to fulfill the captain's expectations of him as an ignorant, vanquished savage who hopes to gain the wonderful gift from the white man of learning how to live properly. Over time it appears that Tracker's behavior around the white men is more of a charade. Perhaps it is a tactical maneuver used to get close to this enemy and see what he is all about. It is easily imagined that Tracker is on a recognizance mission to learn from the white men. His obvious mirth at his own remarks shows his absolute amusement of the irony of the situation (Wilson, 2003). These four men are shown trekking through enemy territory until they inevitably fall under attack from a group Aborigines who are armed and dangerous. The indigenous tribes are at war with one another and also at war with the white men. An Aboriginal bushman throws a spear through the deputized farmer, but it is not enough to stop them. The Tracker man cares more about the hurt officer than does the captain, showing his good nature and respect of living beings. The injured man continues to travel with the troop until the head policeman decides that he is slowing things down and then murders him in his sleep. Having witnessed the murder, the Tracker man drugs the new recruit and hangs the chief policeman. We are left with no doubts of Trackers motives when we see him become the captain's judge, jury and executioner. At the end of the movie when only Tracker and the new recruit are the last of the posse remaining, we learn even more about the complexity and intricacy of Aboriginal society. After these two are captured by the "enemy" tribe, we witness the diplomatic skills and justice system employed by the Aboriginal people. They are not cowards, idiots, nor liars. They have their own laws and Tracker says that "god loves the black people's laws even better than the whites". This is a living and thriving society with a lot of integrity. But all of it is hidden from the whites because they refuse to see it. The new recruit catches just a glimpse of the Aboriginal intelligence and skill. It is put upon the Tracker man to again deliver justice to a law breaker. The captured fugitive is sentenced by the enemy tribe for the crime of rape. Tracker puts a spear through his leg for his punishment. There is no doubt that the man was innocent of killing the white woman, the crime which he was initially charged. Tracker says in his final words that a white man probably committed this crime since white people are "murderers". In both movies there is ample evidence to support the conclusions brought about in each. The accuracy of the tales presented leaves some room for interpretation however. Despite the cinematic portrayal of the Australian Aborigines in Rabbit Proof Fence at victims of an unjust white society, historical evidence exists that suggests this depiction is not entirely accurate (Howson, 2002). Because the movie is based on actual events, there is a written record of what actually transpired. The truth of the matter is that Molly, Gracie, and daisy were taken from their homes without any resistance at all. Half-caste children were looked down upon by the Aborigines as inferior during this period in history. Children were removed from their homes in order to protect them from neglect and abuse. The treatment of the Australian natives by the white settlers is nothing short of a tragedy; however the entire scenario must be appraised in relation to all available data. There was a war between the Aborigines and the colonists. It is clear that the Aborigines lost the war and were subsequently decimated by the victors. The nature of Western society is to destroy traditional cultures and to supplant them with modern doctrines. This has been true throughout history. It seems that nearly every culture has suffered mercilessly at the hands of the white man. A similar defense can be prepared for the case of "Aborigines as perpetrators". The indigenous Australians fought viciously against the white colonists in order to maintain the integrity of their culture and land. It cannot be interpreted as unjust that the indigenous population brutally assaulted the white settlers. This period in history presented many challenges to the natives and settlers alike. References Howson, Peter (2002) "A rabbit-proof fence full of holes", The Australian, March 11, 2002. Ipe.net. Referenced 23 October 2008 Villella, Fiona A. (2002) Long road home: Phillip Noyce's Rabbit-Proof Fence. sensesofcinema.com. Referenced 20 October 20, 2008 Wilson, Jake (2003) Looking Both Ways: The Tracker. sensesofcinema.com. Referenced 20 October 20, 2008 Read More