The problem with identifying racism and ‘othering’

Contemporary racism in Australia is closely linked to the media portrayal of security issues. Australia has moved on from the blatant out-dated racism witnessed through policies of protectionism and assimilation. Now racism resides within the stories of Australia’s security (Jakubowicz, 2011). We have progressed beyond slogans advocating Indigenous dispossession, to ‘stop the boats’ and more recently to discussion of Islamic terrorist threats to our borders. These media depictions have had explosive reactions in the past (Jakubowicz, 2013). One could argue that the media conversations, which lead to the Cronulla Riots in 2005, have been mirrored in the coverage of the Sydney siege event.

The biggest issue with identifying racism within media is that it is often difficult to recognise racism at an individual level. It is particularly difficult to recognise low-level racist attitudes when they are accepted by our institutions and disseminated by governmental policies and the media (Jakubowicz, 2011).

Are we racist-ish?

This post will discuss the power dynamics in play within comedy and the fine line between satire and racism. 

 

Australian comedy has always been viewed as ‘rough’ and often hard hitting, we don’t leave much off the table when it comes to ‘taking the piss’. However, what does this mean, are we all buying into casual racism? Earlier this year Chris Lilley’s spin off series ‘Jonah from Tonga’ aired on HBO following the success of Jonah’s character in Summer Heights High. ‘Jonah from Tonga’ positions itself as a ‘mockumentary’ of 14 year old Jonah Takalua from the Kingdom of Tonga as played by Chris Lilley, a 39 year old Australian man. And here we have our issue.

Film Crossovers: Does crossing cultural borders change the narrative?

This post discusses the fluid nature of  media narratives once they cross borders (whether it be transnational or cultural)

Khorana (2014, p.6) proposes that a crossover film should be cross-cultural in terms of text, “such that the film does not suggest a Western audience at the outset but rather is forged from multiple cultural affiliations and eventually appeals to a range”. Kavoori (cited in Khorana 2014, p. 6) refers to Slumdog Millionaire as a classic crossover text as it uses “the specifics of Indian locale to speak to wider global concerns of personal responsibility in a heartless world”. As I mentioned earlier in the previous post, this regard of films produced by Western media to be cultural products in dangerous. Yes, Slumdog Millionaire can be considered prolific in is use of the Indian setting, but labelling it as Indian cinema or even as a cross-cultural film can be disenfranchising. In this case the use of culture was subject to over arching power dynamics.

The power of who informs cultural choices, brings our attention to the complexities of crossover cinema. Khorana (2014, p. 7) states that  for a crossover to be successful “transnational appeal needs to be both globally and locally dispersed rather than invested in an elite Western milieu”. This need for appeal also raises questions about how appealing a cultural product needs to be to generate interest amongst multiple audiences. Does this need for appeal detract from the original cultural narrative?