Transformative Essay On Pleasantville

White Australians state “shame when [their] kids they die from colds or from sheer neglect. Shame when [they] live on the river banks. While collectin' [they’re] welfare cheques. Shame when [they’re] blind from trachoma. Shame when [they’re] crippled from blights.” The rhyming scheme in the stanza makes poem flow seamlessly constructing a conversational tone as if the narrator is speaking directly to the audience. This feature purposefully lulls the reader into agreeing with the white Australia’s arguments as it constructs an image that the Indigenous people are refusing to integrate themselves with modern society and suffering the consequences of those decisions. The mention of welfare cheques also contribute to the perspective that white Australians are attempting to mend the lives of Indigenous individuals, however this could not be further from the truth and message of this

I have seen both her mother’s and her struggles with oppression, subordination and exclusion, their fights for services and funding and their struggles with day-to-day life. I was an involved member of their family and so their struggles touched me deeply, the fight for social justice and acceptance is one that will take a very long time within the Australian community; nonetheless, it is already a personal value of mine. My values are now ones of equality for all, social inclusion, respect, and dignity and worth, and social justice for all.

Our knowledge of the generic conventions used in poetry influences our understanding of the text. “The Firstborn”, a poem by Aboriginal author Jack Davis, enables the reader to determine the poem as a graphic protest about the extinction of and discrimination against the Australian Indigenous people, and the loss of their ethnicity, as their world collides with the Western culture. By focussing on my understanding of both generic conventions and author’s context, I am able to conclude that the poem concerns a tragedy within the Aboriginal community.

Good morning and welcome to the Sunday afternoon poetry session. The alienation of individuals and groups within society is a tragic feature of Australian life. The despair and despondency experienced by those individuals allow for artistic endeavours that address issues that have left them outcast and marginalised from mainstream society. The isolation of minority groups such as migrants, Indigenous Australians or those deemed to be “other” from Australia’s dominant, white culture, provides an interesting lens through which our society can be viewed and examined. Two poems that explore and address the alienation of a minority group are Lisa Bellear’s Women’s Liberation and Uyen Loewald’s Be Good, Little Migrant. Through the use of the highest form of literature, although with differing emphases, the two poets put forth the harsh reality of the estrangement their own social and ethnic group face.

The 1998 film, Pleasantville, written, produced, and directed by Gary Ross is a “swell” example of the three perspectives of sociology. Two 1990 teenagers get trapped in the blue-sky world of a 1950’s sitcom. While spending time with the people in the small town of Pleasantville, the teens begin to drastically change the the bland ways of the townspeople and alter their world completely. Throughout these events, viewers can find examples of the functionalist perspective, interactionist perspective, and conflict perspective.

Oodgeroo Noonuccal was an Australian poet, activist, artist and a campaigner for Aboriginal rights. Her poems ‘We are going’ and ‘Let us not be bitter’ conveys the loss of the Indigenous culture and how much they suffered because of this. Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s perspective on Aboriginal rights is impassioned, concern and worry for the loss of her family and home. She expresses these emotions using imagery, poetic structures and poetic techniques, such as inclusive language and symbolism, to strongly represent what she is feeling and how much the Indigenous people have suffered through.

Through the use of poetic devices, the author has successfully encouraged the audience to explore their thoughts on Australian identity and to reflect on our nation’s history.

The poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, draws the realistic image of the confronting realities of alienation and displacement of Indigenous Australians. It is because of such experiences that has empowered Noonuccal to express and advocate learning from experiences by positioning the audience to view the horrors that occurred, creating a platform for her poetry. Through the emphasis of identity, it allows the audience to deeply connect with the past, determining and illustrating a profound link between the ancient past and contemporary present. Oodgeroo’s deep connectivity with art and poetry highlights the importance of learning from experiences, for not only the Aboriginal culture but, for all cultures, and that colonisation does not destroy self-identity. Through the poems The Past and China…Woman, it has allowed the individual to promote change, encouraging the survival of cultures through learning from past experiences

and the context during that time. Entrapment, displacement and suffering are accentuated by the use

The appearance of color in Pleasantville showed that the town and citizens were undergoing change, and that this change was making the inhabitants feel free and similar to people from the ‘90s. When objects and people around town quickly turned from black-and-white to color, many of the older, more traditional citizens of the town resisted the change. Pleasantville mayor Big Bob speaks of the changes, “up until now, everything around here has been, well, pleasant. Recently certain things have become unpleasant. Now, it seems to me that the first thing we have to do is to separate out the things that are pleasant from the things that are unpleasant” (Pleasantville). Big Bob and a large group of citizens, mostly consisting of the older men of the town, form a group of people trying to keep the town “pleasant,” or not colored. This group begins putting up signs around town banning colored people, similar to situations that African Americans dealt with before the civil rights movement. They also harass all the colored people on the streets, and even vandalize and destroy Bill Johnson’s shop for having colorful art on the windows. Finally, the group has meetings featuring all the influential non-colored people in town, and this new assembly draws similarities to Nazism with their symbols and beliefs.

The term ‘discovery’ can be explored and interpreted in many different ways, the meaning is created by an individual’s perception, opinion and experiences of discovery. In the book Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch and the film, Titanic by James Cameron explores the concept of discovery as an idea that discoveries can be challenging as they allow for the transformation of an individual’s perspective, and they allow for an individual to discover their true identity and the identity of others around them.

The Apology Day Breakfast, and, Heart’s Core Lament are two powerful indigenous poems which use poetic techniques and devices to portray theme, times, places and identities. These poems both address the stolen generation and the impact that white colonisation has had on the Australian indigenous community. However, Natalie Harkin’s, Heart’s Core Lament has more impact through using graphic imagery to connect the poem to historical

Leanne Betasamosake is a popular Indigenous writer who’s had growing experience throughout her life writing numerous of books in multiple of genres, which speak particularly upon Indigenous issues alongside of the playful stories and poetry she enjoys sharing. Leanne is part of the Annishnaabe community and proudly acknowledges her ethnic background and her tradition. “This Accident of Being Lost” written by Leanne Simpson successfully attempts to discuss the underlying issues surrounding Indigenous people and government conspiracy, she views the different types of ways in which love can be expressed and how the mind is deceiving in terms of forgetting old love. The author relates real life issues to her poems written in her book attaching a deep connection. One of the reasons why I chose to write about this book was its connection to one of many discussions we all have, there’s living moments of significant stories, lyrics and poetry she includes in her book. Leanne hasn’t failed to give an authoritative author reader connection in really making one explore the emotion in the book and understand the factual meaning behind her words.

Popular culture is the artistic and creative expression in entertainment and style that appeals to society as whole. It includes music, film, sports, painting, sculpture, and even photography. It can be diffused in many ways, but one of the most powerful and effective ways to address society is through film and television. Broadcasting, radio and television are the primary means by which information and entertainment are delivered to the public in virtually every nation around the world, and they have become a crucial instrument of modern social and political organization. Most of today’s television programming genres are derived from earlier media such as stage, cinema and radio. In the area of comedy, sitcoms have proven

Oodgeroo Noonuccal is considered as one of the most influential voices of the Aboriginal people through the European Settlement Era in Australia in the early to mid-20th Century and ideology and political movement. Despite the act of the government threatening the practice of international law resorting to force short of war in vengeance, Noonuccal continued to peruse her writing career. These provocative poems explained the societal differences and experiences she had gone through for the minority of her life. Social justice and human rights is a life full of opportunity and dignity, free from discrimination and disadvantage and at the time of the European settlement was an ideal not a basic human right. Aboriginal society was the consequence of collaboration between economic, ecological, social and religious forces. Traditional Aboriginal family life and the supporting kinship structures have taken the maximum disruptive impact by the European invasion. In comparison to the ‘whites’, indigenous were seen to be less superior and treated of minimal value. As a result of her ongoing work, Oodgeroo Noonuccal is seen to be one of the most influential ladies in Aboriginal history for the freedom and opportunity she provided for her people.