Australian National Culture

Australian TV shows have changed rapidly over the years. The decades that will be discussed in this presentation include the 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s, 1990’s and the 2000’s. Australian TV has influenced many changes in our society; some of these included fashion trends, hobbies, job courses, the food we eat, our opinions on things and, the way that we view ourselves and others. Some social issues have arisen over the years include the negative effects on our youth due to television watching.

Ladies and gentleman, the film Australian Rules is simply impossible to overlook as Australia’s entry into the international film everything that a proper ‘Australian’ film should, drama, romance, action and deceit. It portrays cultural differences that create segregation between the fabrics of society in a town that doesn’t possess the capacity to co-exist which is evident in urbanized Australia.

Television showed Australia’s national identity by using humour and soap operas that displayed Australian culture; it was the main medium of entertainment for many Australians. From the 1970s television became cheaper and more accessible in regional parts of Australia that never had television broadcasts. It also started colour television which revitalized it making it more engaging for children and adults to enjoy music, sports, movies and news. Television shows such as The Paul Hogan Show, Hey, Hey its Saturday, Countdown and Number 96 are example of popular and recognised Australian television shows from the 1970s. Television was an important factor in shaping modern Australian society because of its impact from television shows on Australians. Australians for the first time were able to see television and sports programs from around the world which influenced Australian culture. Some controversial shows used taboo and stereotypical subjects and changed the views of Australian people about those

When we view the award-winning documentary Cronulla Riots, we are questioned about the values and ethics of being Australian. Everyone either young or old, male or female, Middle-Eastern or White, living on Australian soil are questioned about the embodiment of Australian values. Therefore, the documentary successfully achieved its purpose on questioning the viewers of being Australian. This can be best

Australian people and culture are often stereotyped in the media in different forms, one of them being film. The two films being examined, ‘Red dog’ (2011) and the ‘Sapphires’ (2012), are an example of the Australian identity but from different points of view. ‘Red dog’ shows the kind and positive side which exemplifies mateship and loyalty. The film ‘Sapphires’ ,which takes place in the 1950’s through to the 1960’s, shows a negative and racist view towards the indigenous people. Both the films show different aspects of the Australian identity, not all insights of the films accurately represent contemporary Australian identity as the Australian identity has changed by the evolution of people and their lifestyle.

Australian Film allows the rest of the world to have an insight into our way of life, our communities and our land. Australian film usually provides a hard-working and hardy stereotype who lives in the outback and takes pride in his mates, and for a lot of the country, this is mostly true. The typical Australian is a laid back, hard-working community member who prides the relationship they have with their mates, who may not even be a person. The saying ‘a man’s best friend is his dog’ is incredibly true for many, especially Australians, where dogs can be found in all walks of life. At least, this is Kriv Stender’s perspective of Australian identity, seen in his 2011 film Red Dog.

Australia is filled with many different aspects in which makes it the country it is today. I believe it is important to study texts that explore aspects of Australia by studying texts such as ‘The Club’, by David Williamson, a play written in 1977 about an Australian football club and movies such as “The Castle”, directed by Rob Stitch in 1997, about the daily life of an Australian family when their happiness is threatened when developers attempt to buy their house to expand the neighboring airport. Both these texts show us what Australian life was like in the past. By us looking at themes such as language, tradition and the mateship shown we are able to explore different aspects of Australia that make it what it is today.

The film ‘The Castle’ by Rob Sitch presents a number of distinctive and quintessential Australian Voices, these include ‘the Aussie Battler’, the voice of family and mateship. This response will examine how film techniques and language are used to create distinctly Australian voices and then consider the degree or extent to which they are singularly Australia. The main character Darryl Kerrigan represents the most significance voice ‘the Aussie Battler’ in the film ‘The Castle’. In the High Court scene, the low angle shot of Darryl outside the High Court elevates his status to be almost valiant and how his courage is compared with the imposing nature of the High Court.

Kenny (2006) is an Australian mock documentary about a blue collar Aussie bloke, attempting to belong in social situations outside of Australia. But Kenny has taught me, that you can take an individual out of Australia, but you can’t take Australia out of an individual. The mock documentary had greater success in America than Australia. The depiction of work-class Australian men, in the film, showed the amount of pride Kenny takes in completing his dirty job well. Kenny’s character struggles to belong in his immediate setting, and seeks for his identity in the work that he undertakes. His Australian identity is obvious in the mass use of colloquial language that displayed Kenny’s stereotypical Aussie communication methods.

The national spread of American media including; TV, film and music has been the cornerstone of Americanisation in Australia since 1945, the end of world war two. 'Britain's Farm' and 'America's Junior Partner': that is what Australia was labelled as, around the end World War II. Prior to WWII it is argued Australia

There is a populace of 18 million in Australia with Indigenous Australians making up roughly one percent of the Australian population. Due to this, the closest that a non-Indigenous Australians will come to have contact with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person is through representation in the Australian media. Most media stories are viewed as one sided or racist with even the Prime Minster Tony Abbott making comments that it is a ‘lifestyle choice’ for the Indigenous peoples to live the way that they do in small communities consisting of up to 8 people. These statements that he had made is seen as racist, leaving him open to criticism by members if his own party, friends and his opponents. The 2 articles

Culture is always changing. Beliefs, behaviours and presentation, religion and language all form part of what is an individual’s or community’s culture. (Bowes, Grace, & Hodge, 2012, p.75 & 77). Due to its intrinsic nature, when people migrate to Australia, they bring their culture with them. As migrants come from all over the world, and not the one place, their

This research will only concentrate on the extent of Americanisation in Australia through the influence on television and the film industry as the aspect of Americanisation covers a wide range from fashion to language. To fully understand the topic of the hypothesis, proper exploration of the definitions of ‘identity’ and ‘culture’ are of relevance. ‘Identity’ and ‘culture’ play an integral role in what an Australian represents as well as how the world views Australians. The meaning of ‘identity’ can be summarized as; ‘The collective aspect of the set of

Multiculturalism Curriculum Name Course Professor Institution of learning Date of submission Multiculturalism in Australia Summary Through hand-on-activities and class discussions guided by the teacher, students will evaluate how various cultures in Australia have lead to the unique and diverse country. In addition, they will also discuss how the Australian natives have rejected the cultural norms from Africa immigrants. Learning objectives The students will be asked to; come up with television episodes that included Africans as participants Identifying the ways in which foods in Australia differ from African foods Identify how the African woman behaves differently from an Australian woman.

The work of communication theorist and professor, Stuart Hall, confirms that meanings are not inherently in people; rather they are derived from external sources, one primary source being the mass media to which we are repeatedly exposed; in our homes, in our cars, and on the job. Hall asserts " the media serves the myth of democratic pluralism-the pretense that society is held together by common norms, including equal opportunity, respect for diversity, individual rights.."(Griffin 2000). TV sitcoms may not be intended to mirror our society, but they are perceived as such and the resulting ideology is a culture that at some level accepts what's being handed to them without examining the messages within. This newsletter is an attempt to examine these messages on a deeper, more critical level.