Director: Phillip Noyce; Screenwriter: Christine Olsen;
Filmed in Australia showed the conflicts in Western Australia during early 1930s.
Filmed in Australia showed the conflicts in Western Australia during early 1930s.
As we began the semester understanding the true meaning of culture, we develop upon the concepts of Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism where the video Rabbit Proof Fence comes into play. While watching this tragic and morally wrong movie, all I could do was look back at my notes and reflect upon the cultural phenomenon such as ethnocentric where judging another society by their values and standards of one's own society. In this film, the white American and Australian officials where taking these innocent children from their homes and converting them into the white caste.
This movie from an anthropological standpoint focuses on these children or more like culture that is "half-caste" they are both white and black. The whole movie was structured around developing these "half-caste" children to be white and speak clear English. At the beginning of the movie, we get a glance at what the black culture is like through how they live their daily lives. The way Molly survives in the wilderness and how her mother has raised her all reflects upon the love that her mother has for her and her sister. This represents biological anthropology in the context that these children are born into the customs of their mothers. The way they survive in the bush and know when to hide, they have been struggling for freedom for so long that it has become accustom to know where to go. The ethnocentrism in this movie is a huge factor when you compare it to Rwanda where children who do not belong to just one culture are considered illegal in a sense. The commander of this camp for the children in the movie spoke about the children in the following context "bush natives who have to be protected from themselves, we are only trying to do what is best for them". These officials did not think that these people (the bush people) were humans, these moms who give life to children and teach them values could be the same as a white mother.
From a personal perspective, I have a lot to say. This movie was awful until the end but even then I was disgusted with how these poor children were treated. Being that young and having to look after yourself and know when to hide and always looking over your shoulder, my heart hurt. In the movie when one of the policemen said "We are taking you back where you belong," I was furious. To think that this has happened all over the world at one time or another makes me value where I grew up and when so much more. I tried to imagine just a minute in their life and it was awful, to be thrown into a whole new culture and not being able to see my mother, it is a huge culture shock and I would have done exactly what Molly did. However, lets face it, I am not nearly half as smart as Molly when it comes to wilderness survival so it would have been incredible for me to make it a few weeks let alone 2 months give or take. My favorite part was not when they got home, but when the tracker let those girls go because he knew that if they could last that long, then they deserve to be home free. Definitely a movie I will never forget, it was a huge culture shock to me.
This movie from an anthropological standpoint focuses on these children or more like culture that is "half-caste" they are both white and black. The whole movie was structured around developing these "half-caste" children to be white and speak clear English. At the beginning of the movie, we get a glance at what the black culture is like through how they live their daily lives. The way Molly survives in the wilderness and how her mother has raised her all reflects upon the love that her mother has for her and her sister. This represents biological anthropology in the context that these children are born into the customs of their mothers. The way they survive in the bush and know when to hide, they have been struggling for freedom for so long that it has become accustom to know where to go. The ethnocentrism in this movie is a huge factor when you compare it to Rwanda where children who do not belong to just one culture are considered illegal in a sense. The commander of this camp for the children in the movie spoke about the children in the following context "bush natives who have to be protected from themselves, we are only trying to do what is best for them". These officials did not think that these people (the bush people) were humans, these moms who give life to children and teach them values could be the same as a white mother.
From a personal perspective, I have a lot to say. This movie was awful until the end but even then I was disgusted with how these poor children were treated. Being that young and having to look after yourself and know when to hide and always looking over your shoulder, my heart hurt. In the movie when one of the policemen said "We are taking you back where you belong," I was furious. To think that this has happened all over the world at one time or another makes me value where I grew up and when so much more. I tried to imagine just a minute in their life and it was awful, to be thrown into a whole new culture and not being able to see my mother, it is a huge culture shock and I would have done exactly what Molly did. However, lets face it, I am not nearly half as smart as Molly when it comes to wilderness survival so it would have been incredible for me to make it a few weeks let alone 2 months give or take. My favorite part was not when they got home, but when the tracker let those girls go because he knew that if they could last that long, then they deserve to be home free. Definitely a movie I will never forget, it was a huge culture shock to me.