Diving Deeper into Australia

By Faith Brown

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Constructing Narrative: Linearity Reinforced and Resisted

Clearly, Rabbit-Proof Fence and Ten Canoes employ radically different methods for telling their stories.  While the former uses more standard Hollywood narrative techniques and cinematography to tell the tale of three girls’ journey to find their families, the later resists most of the markers of Hollywood cinema. That said, they both find ways to resist the status quo in terms of the stories they tell and the way they tell them.  Discuss narrative structure and visual style in both films, analyzing how the films both conform to and resist Hollywood structures (based on your own broad understanding of how films are so often presented)

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Both films Rabbit-Proof Fence and Ten Canoes conforms and veers away from the traditional Hollywood narrative techniques in a manner that would most effectively convey their message to an audience. For example, the message that Ten Canoes aims to tell the audience is that the Aborigines have their own culture, based on their own laws, outside of White Australia. The narrative structure of Ten Canoes conforms to Hollywood practices by providing a narrator who guides the audience through the plot, thereby providing much needed exposition in a film. The use of exposition through the narrator is done in the Ten Canoes as a way of maintaining the integrity of its message so western audiences do not conceive an inaccurate picture of what Aboriginal society is really like. Similarly, Rabbit-Proof Fence aims to educate audiences about the Stolen Generation of Aborigine children., and follows a linear narrative set in the present and has the aesthetic of a classic Hollywood Western. The linear plot structure is used to help the audience identify and sympathize with the three girls’ long, arduous struggle to be reunited with their family. It simulates the narrative of a race, where western audiences can identify the finish line as a victory or “happy” ending. In this way, it makes the message of awareness even more impact when a character like Gracie does not get her happy ending.

Even though Ten Canoes and Rabbit-Proof Fence conforms for Hollywood narrative styles, the films also maintain their authenticity by resisting other Hollywood markers. A distinct example of this in Ten Canoes is the use of color to distinguish time. The plot of the film does not take place in the present time, but in the past and in a time even further past that instead, meaning that it diverges away from the Hollywood standard of having a linear plot set in the present. Still, the “further past” is where the actual narrative takes place and that is what is filmed in color. While, the ‘initial past,’ where the plot is structured in the form of a story as well as a documentary of how the Aborigines make canoes, is filmed in black and white. Here, the use of color and black and white in the specific moments in time is used to distinguish the plot about love and war that takes place in the “further past,” from the plot of an older brother teaching is younger brother. This difference highlights the importance of storytelling in Aboriginal culture for western audiences. Rabbit-Proof Fence also deviates from Hollywood norms by a lack of dialogue and emphasis on actions. Hollywood traditionally allows dialogue to guide its narrative, where the girls’ actions in Rabbit-Proof Fence drive the plot with an unspoken mantra of ‘must keep going.’ Which forces the audience to focus on the lives and expressions of these girls instead of focusing on key words to help them predict the plot. Another way that Rabbit-Proof Fence resists Hollywood norms is in the ending. In Hollywood films, a happy or easily understood resolution is expected. Even though Rabbit-Proof Fence ends with Molly and Daisy returning home, the film truly ends with a set of text that informs the audience that Molly would make the same trek two more times, and discloses that the government stopped taking Aborigine children in the 1970s. This ending leaves the audience with a sense of horrified awe that the true characters whom they connect with through film endured the same treatment over and over again, and that the Stolen Generation effected millions of other families. By breaking Hollywood traditions, Ten Canoes and Rabbit-Proof Fence are able to deliver a perspective and message that is authentic to their causes of informing western audience about Aboriginal culture and history.  

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Surfing is now crossed off my bucket list. Today was another reminder that there is nothing that I can't do.

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I know I look cool, but I was really happy that fence was there

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This is a photo that I took when me, Holly, Evelyn, and Mo got lost looking for our group at the Balancing Rock. We kept making jokes that we would be the next ones to disappear like the characters in the film Picnic at Hanging Rock.  I made that comment that all we had to do was not fall asleep in the baking sun to keep ourselves from going crazy from exposure. I also wanted to turn back and ask for directions, so I guess I would be Eddie. Still, Eddie made it back.

I took this picture of Balancing Rock because it's resemblance to the landscape in the movie really attests to the mystical and alluring air of  the Australian Outback that Director tried to portray in Picnic at Hanging Rock.  The more I think about it. The more it makes sense to see landscape as a character in Australia cinema as Arid environments like these that are still able to house and protect vegetation like the dry rain forest our guide Claire was telling us about tells a story all of its own. I am always finding one more thing to love about this trip.

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We came, we camped, we conquered!

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Discussion Question 9: The Limits of Reality

A literary mode rather than a distinguishable genre, “magical realism” is characterized by the presentation of two conflicting perspectives: one based on a seemingly rational view of reality and the other on an embracing of the fantastical. Magical realism is distinguished from  fantasy in that it is, by definition, set in a “normal” modern locale.  According to literary critic, Ray Verzasconi, magical realism is “an expression of the New World reality which at once combines the rational elements of the European super-civilization, and the irrational elements of a primitive America.”

Wright’s Carpentaria is often described as magic realism.  How do you see that concept presenting itself in the novel?  Does this definition place the style, structure, or purpose of the novel in a different light?

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The novel Carpentaria , is a prime example of magical realism as Alexis Wright’s narrative style blends the reality of real word with fantastical and romanticized imagery to the point where discerning story truth from the novel’s real truth can be difficult.  For example, Carpentaria begins by telling the world’s creation story of ancestral serpent, commanding the audience to, “Picture the creative serpent, scoring deep into … the slippery underground of the mudflats, leaving in its wake the thunder of tunnels collapsing to form deep sunken valleys.” (Wright, 1) Here Wright’s narrative sets the standard of magical realism for the rest of the novel by speaks directly to the audience, commanding them to listen and ultimately believe this tale that personifies a snake who creates the earth. Still, the fact that the ancestral serpent is actually the creation story that the Aborigine believes demonstrates magical realism by combing the fantastical truth of a powerful serpent with real information about Aboriginal culture.

The imagery of the snake peppers Wright’s novel to symbolize change within the narrative structure, which further solidifies Carpentaria as a magical realism novel. For example, Wright describes the mystery that shrouds the origins of Mozzie’s name as well as the threat of his convoy. Advising that it is best to the avoid the subjects altogether or else join the convoy. Wright warns, “once absorbed by the snake lizard moving along the roads following the path of the great ancestor, you were hit with a ton of responsibilities that common people could not even dream about,” (Wright, 125) suggesting that the collecting strength of the convey is so influential and all-encompassing that it must be compared to the ancestral snake who created the landscape. the repetition of analogies using the snake as a motif creates a fantastical image for the audience that depicts the convoy as an overwhelming force in the the area, but it also illustrates the real world issue of mob intimidation in small towns, thereby melding the story truth with the real truth to practice magical realism.

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This is a photo that I took when me, Holly, Evelyn, and Mo got lost looking for our group at the Balancing Rock. We kept making jokes that we would be the next ones to disappear like the characters in the film Picnic at Hanging Rock. I made that comment that all we had to do was not fall asleep in the baking sun to keep ourselves from going crazy from exposure. I also wanted to turn back and ask for directions, so I guess I would be Eddie. Still, Eddie made it back. I took this picture of Balancing Rock because it's resemblance to the landscape in the movie really attests to the mystical and alluring air of the Australian Outback that Director tried to portray in Picnic at Hanging Rock. The more I think about it. The more it makes sense to see landscape as a character in Australia cinema as Arid environments like these that are still able to house and protect vegetation like the dry rain forest our guide Claire was telling us about tells a story all of its own. I am always finding one more thing to love about this trip.

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Discussion Question 7: Growing Pains

While it might seem like just another gritty crime drama, one following in the lofty footsteps of The Godfather films, in many ways, Animal Kingdom is framed as a coming of age story that’s moved forward by the many negative influences that tempt Joshua. Some he eagerly embraces; others, he rejects with great force and conviction.  The overarching question about which influences will win out, and how much his still-developing adolescent mind can handle, becomes the driving force behind director David Michôd‘s film.  Comment on how the film functions as a coming-of-age story. How might that theme help you unpack the film and arrive at a different understanding of its force and purpose? 

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Honestly, while viewing this film I could not help but ponder the child’s role in their own development. David Michod’s 2010 Animal Kingdom explores the themes of loyalty and survival, using the coming-of age story for the character Joshua ‘J’ Cody as an anchoring focal point while the remnants of his criminal family crumbles due to police corruption. Even though J is the film’s protagonist, his character has a more passive reaction to the traumatic events her undergoes for the greater part of the film. An example of this is in the opening scene where the audience is initially introduced to J and his mother, who appears have fallen asleep on the couch, watching game show television. However, it is not until the police arrive and J calls his grandmother to come get him that the audience learns that his mother is dead from a heroine over dose. This moment represents a significant turning point in J’s development, because Jay does not cry or scream or give any reaction of obvious cinematic grief that traditional Hollywood conventions demand in a moment. Instead, J remains calm and leaves to live with his grandmother. This sets the tone for the rest of the film because it displays how adaptable children can be when faced with adversity and it shows that a child needs to have a role to survive. After his mother dies, his role model becomes Barry ‘Baz’ Brown, the former leader of family of armed robbers, who ultimately becomes a positive aspect of J’s life. For example, Baz teaches J how to properly wash his hands after using the restroom and encourages self-confidence by telling the teenage boy, “no one’s invisible mate,” when J does not think the hand dryer will see him. Baz is a strong leader who advocates for a drug free environment and cares about his family. J’s relationship with Baz represents a second chance for J to become a responsible and good man.

However, J’s character takes a darker turn when Baz is gunned down and his family becomes paranoid of him. Yet J follows his Uncle Pope’s instructions to steal a car, resulting in the death of two policeman, which reveals that J still needs an adult figure to look up to and to learn from. At the point where J’s Uncle Pope is violent towards him, his loyalty is questions and metaphorically framed by the police as the animal kingdom, “Some creatures are weak. They survive because they’re protected by the strong….You’re just weak because you’re young [and] you’ve been protected by the strong, but they’re not strong anymore.” The idea that his youth is reason why J is weak in his own narrative demonstrates the importance and necessity for J to grow up, without an adult role model, in order to survive. The conversation also leads him to question staying loyal to his family or to himself. One event leads to another in Animal Kingdom, and J’s realization that justice system will punish his uncle Pope for murdering his girlfriend becomes the final step in his development. Instead of following directions from adult figures, J takes matters into his own hands and kills his Uncle Pope for revenge. The act of resorting to murder indicates the deeply rooted influence that the criminal lifestyle has over J, because this was the first instance where he is the source of violence instead of being surrounded by it. The child’s role in their own development is to find an effective role model to learn from, and in being able to take action for himself, without the guidance of an available role model J completes his transition from adolescence to adulthood.

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I went to this French cafe called La Petite Creparie. It's the cutest cafe with amazing food and I was able to speak French to some of the waitstaff, if only my high school French teacher could see that. I really love the diversity of Melbourne and how little laneways can hold heartwarming experience. If you go, have the hot chocolate, a baguette, and a crepe, it's a lot of food and it's definitely worth it

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We went to the botanical gardens a couple of days ago, and it was a definite highlight of my time in Melbourne. The wildlife and diversity of the plants was breath taking, and given its history of oppression and pollution by the British Settlers, it is a wonderful thing to see what a beautiful landmark was placed on the Yarra River.

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This is the video that I referenced in my previous blog about Place and Displacement in My Place and The Fringe Dwellers. I wasn’t sure if it actually went through in my post, so I am uploading it here. Again, this is a video of my experience walking through Waterfall by Claire Lambe. 

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Finding One’s Place in My Place and The Fringe Dwellers

Both My Place and The Fringe Dwellers explore issues of identity and belonging.  In each case, we see characters who struggle to find a room for their  indigenous or original cultures, which have been metaphorically dislocated.  In both narratives, we see characters who struggle to reconcile various parts of their identity, characters who often feel “out of place” no matter where they find themselves.  Consider how the matters of place and displacement, major themes in most post-colonial literatures, function in both Morgan’s autobiographical text and Bruce Beresford’s film.  I’d like you to also reference one or more works from the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art that addresses such issues of place and its relationship to identity and belonging.

IF you wish, you can use artwork from the Potter Center or the NGV, instead of the ACCA exhibit.  

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In Beresford’s film The Fringe Dwellers and Morgan’s My Place, the themes of place and displacement are in constant juxtaposition to portray how the character’s desire for acceptance changes with circumstance. The malt shop scene in The Fringe Dwellers is one of the first glimpses that the film gives to depict this idea. Trillby and her other aborigine friends order milkshakes at a malt shop, where the waitress asks them to stay and bar. But when the girls defiantly take their seats at a booth, they overhear racist jokes from a group of blonde teenagers her age until an older white man stops them saying, “those girls have every right be to here as you do.” In response, Trillby angrily leaves the malt shop saying, “I don’t want anyone defending me.” This scene depicts how Trillby’s desires to be accepted change, as she initially wants to be accepted by the mainstream white community and to enjoy a milk shake with her friends like all of the other girls her age. However, the racist attitudes of the waitress and the blonde teenagers create a sense of displacement by making Trillby and her friends feel unwelcomed because of their aborigine skin tone. Nevertheless, the when the older man speaks out against the ignorance, he creates a space in which Trillby and her friends can be accepted. Still, Trillby is offended by his actions. When the older white man defends Trillby and her friends he is really defending the fact they are not white, thereby bringing more attention to the girls’ pre-existing racial displacement. Here, Trillby’s desire for acceptance from the white community morphs into wanting to be left alone and not have attention drawn to her simply because of her skin.

The dichotomy between place and displacement also manifests itself in Morgan’s My Place, as Sally experiences a similar change in her desire for acceptance. For example, even though she used to claim she was Indian, Sally receives an Aborigine scholarship, to which a classmate comments, “But you’re lucky, you’d never know you were that, you could pass for anything.” (Morgan, 175) This moment in the text provides some insight to Sally’s desire for self-acceptance. By claiming that she was Indian before confirming that she is Aborigine, Sally searches for some way of classifying her heritage and to find her place in the context of her family’s history. In accepting this Aborigine heritage, she is also to accept and acknowledge a part of herself that she was previously unaware of. However, her classmate’s comment essentially congratulates her for not looking quite like the traditional Aborigine, but looking enough like one to take the money. This devalues Sally’s newfound roots, thereby displacing her from her newly discovered sense of self.

This idea of displacing her sense of self is also prevalent in Claire Lambe’s work Waterfall at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. I have uploaded a video of my experience going through the mirror display. The video depicts me looking at my own reflection in the mirror and then walking until my body’s reflection disappears by one can still see my feet. I found that when walking through this exhibit, it forces the subject look at itself and its surroundings. When I went through the display, walked away from it and then looked back, my perspective kept changing and I image I saw changed by viewing different people and angles through the mirrors. When I was looking at my reflection, I paid more attention to my movements within the space, which emulated the concept “place”. When the image of my body suddenly disappeared, my movements were rendered unimportant because they were not a part of the space I had once inhabited, this embodied the concept of “displacement.” The desires of acceptance associated with place and displacement really do stem from how one perceives herself, and they juxtapose each other based like then time in which their events take place.

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Discussion Question 1: Picnic at Hanging Rock and Resolution

At an industry screening of Picnic at Hanging Rock, director Peter Weir recalled, one distributor “threw his coffee cup at the screen at the end … because he’d wasted two hours of his life—a mystery without a solution!” Like some other viewers, the distributor was frustrated by the film’s lack of resolution, the fact that the narrative introduces so many “useless” facts, loose threads, and mysteries that it ultimately fails to solve. Weir’s celebrated film is often described as one of Australia’s best films; yet, it eschews traditional narrative conventions, instead working to establish a poetics of Australian landscape: one that is mystical and impenetrable. In fact, one could argue that the film  focuses on seeing and feeling, at the expense of knowing. In contrast, Boynton’s stories are much more concretely rendered.  Still, they, too, have an air of mystery about them, showing an acceptance that not all things can be “known” in a definite way.

Discuss this issue of “resolution” and how mystery is used in the film and how it engages with the notion of “truth” and the perhaps human tendency to want more clearly defined answers.  What does the film suggest about “truth” and narrative?  How does this compare to what you see about truth, resolution, and mystery in Barbara Boynton’s Bush Studies?  

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The ambiguity in the film Picnic at Hanging Rock is the driving factor that keeps audiences engaged with the story. The plot initially sets itself up to be a detective-esc effort to find the missing school girls, but that quickly dissolves into an inconclusive search for any truth with the film, as questions keep piling up. For example before disappearing into Hanging Rock Marion says, “It is probable [human beings] and performing some function unknown to themselves” to which Miranda replies, “Everything begins and ends at exactly the right time and place,” which are both mysterious and existential statements that leave the audience wondering what the girls truly mean. Dialogue like these occur throughout the film, as the narrative style in Picnic at Hanging Rock seems to deliver a piece of critical information and then cuts away to another scene before properly addressing what has just been discovered. For example, Bertie tells a story about a recent dream where his estranged sister, Sara, at his former orphanage visited him to say goodbye, the film later shows Sara’s lifeless body in the garden in a mattered that suggested that she killed herself. The fact that Sara calls for Bertie in the distress earlier in the film, and is later asked to go back to the college, leads the audience to question if Bertie actually dreamed about his sister or if it was real. However, Sarah’s suicide leaves the question unanswered, dashing any hope for truth. By giving piece meal information that leads to more questions about the plot lines creates the sense of ambiguity and enhances the audience’s need for resolution. In this way, one is forced to shift through the film’s details like landscape and character mannerism, to find some kind of truth within the narrative.  

This is like the narrative in Boynton’s Bush Studies which also creates an intentional sense of ambiguity, but is more merciful towards her audience by allowing some resolution. For example, in “The Chosen Vessel” a woman and her child are left in the bush by her husband, and does what little she can to help a strange man. The woman experiences a very real sense of fear when the strange man breaks into her home. Boynton writes, “He went to the other end, and the uncertainty of what he was doing became unbearable,” when the man seemingly left the perimeter of the house. This conveys the frustration of what audiences feel when reading this text and watching Picnic at Hanging Rock, as they fear the worse until they know the exact truth of what is happening. Boynton grants the reader with a conclusion, although it is tragic, with the woman being abandoned by a religious bystander and murdered. The short story ended with the bystander Peter Hennessey confessing to a priest that he interpreted the stranded woman as a sign from god to vote a certain way. The priest responded, “and you did not stop to save her! Have you not heard?” which is a vague ending, but it suggests that the bystander could have intervening and stopped the woman from being Murdered. Through this dialog, Boynton gives the audience a sense of resolution, in knowing what happened to the woman and that Hennessey knew what his actions have done. Ambiguity in Picnic at Hanging Rock and in Bush Stories serves as a plot device that pushes a narrative style forward, by manifesting into the audience’s need to find resolution through its search for truth.  

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Discussion Question 2: Ned Kelly: Individual Agency versus Fate

Throughout Carey’s novel, Ned Kelly repeatedly represents himself as someone driven by fate, circumstances beyond his control that drew him to a life of crime.  He asks, “What choice did I have?” shortly after he kills Strahan, for example. (250). Do you buy these claims of his?  What are some of the forces, political, personal, cosmic, etc. that influence his life? How do other people and their choices influence what becomes of Kelly?  Is it really about fate or individual agency?  Or, a combination of both? 

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It seems to me that Ned Kelly’s choices were driven in defense of the mistreated, the poor, or the helpless, ultimately drove his perception that it was his fate was out of his control. Yes, his early home life was not most ripe for a typical child to thrive. His father was a convict, his mother became a prostitute to support her family while coming from a family of known convicts, and he was mentally tormented and harassed at an early age by Sergeant Kelly. In the beginning of Carey’s novel, The True History of the Kelly Gang, Kelly acknowledges that it was common for the police to investigate their family, “they was constantly examining the brands of our stock or shifting through our flour,” (9) which indicates that Kelly grew up personally experiencing the police abuse their power, and had criminal behavior demonstrated as a response. Nevertheless, when Kelly commits a crime, he does it for the good of others. Like when he butchered first cow to help become the breadwinner of his family, or shoots the Constable Fitzgerald for pulling a gun on his mother. This shows that he cares about the people, and is willing to go outside of the law to defend those who cannot help themselves, which leads him to be out in judicially compromising position against corrupt officials. Ned Kelly’s innate sense of empathy and “vigilante” justice is the reason why he believes that fate played such a large influence in his life, and many people do not have to make the choices that he had do make, and could also be the reason why he is regarded as a hero.

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Discussion Question 3: Fatal Shore: America and Australia Two Contrasting Frontier Histories

After reading about the arrival of Europeans in Australia, I’d like you to think about how that compares to what you’ve learned about the arrival of Europeans in America.  How does the frontier history of Australia, as it’s represented in Hughes’s book, compare to what you know of America’s frontier history?  According to Hughes, the largest difference between both nations, is that the settlers in America arrived by choice.  How does that influence the image of America in the popular imagination?  How does that influence the life of the Australian? The self-image of the Australian and their image of “their” nation as they settle in the “new” land?

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Reading Robert Hughe’s Fatal Shores really changed my perspective on this history of Australia. Admittedly, one of the few things I knew for sure about Australia’s ancestry was that the continent was used by Britain to keep its criminals. I interpreted criminals to mean that Australia was initially colonized by hardened, dangerous convicts, like murders and rapists, that needed to be removed from the British mainland for the safety of its innocent citizens. This made sense to me because it fit into the idea that Australians were tough and rugged outdoors man, as portrayed by the stereotypical character Mick in the film Crocodile Dundee. However, Fatal Shores debunked this misguided assumption, writing that roughly three percent (Hughes, 163) of the convicts sent to Australia were murders and criminals of a similar nature. The rest were petty thieves, stealing food and clothing items, meaning that the majority of men and women sent to Australia exiled for trying to support themselves. With this newfound knowledge, I could see how choice has a large impact on the colonization of both continents, as Americans settlers choose to leave Britain to pursue new economic opportunities and religious freedoms. They knew what was in store for them when they arrived and had planned for their new life. Hughes, however, describes that, “none of the convicts could have any idea of their destination,” (77) which supports the idea that were not prepared for a forced immigration. Also, because the majority of the convicts had committed petty theft, which is an act fueled by desperation, transportation suggests that families were broken as the convicts left behind poor and desperate loved ones. American colonists left by choice and expected to prosper, giving America the reputation of an exciting land for opportunity. Contrastingly, the convicts were forced to colonize Australia as punishment, giving Australia the reputation of being a land to either die in or scrape together a way to survive.

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Discussion Question 12: Frank the Poet: A Rebel Voice and a Rebel Heritage

Examine poems written by the man known as “Frank the poet,” and be sure to examine some of the other supporting material included in that link. A great many of convict poet Francis MacNamara’s poems were compositions based around protests about conditions within prisons and refusals to work.  Or, they celebrated convict escapes, the exploits of famous bushrangers, seizures of ships, or the death of the infamously cruel head of the Moreton Bay Penal  colony, Captain Patrick Logan.  Although only two of his poems were published in his lifetime, a great many of MacNamara’s poems have been set to music by contemporary folksingers. Discuss how his work celebrates rebellion in its various forms.  Why do you think his work continues to hold such appeal for folk singers?

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The work of Frank the Poet celebrates rebellion by relaying the minority’s point of view, and by delivering a direct and unyielding prideful tone for the convict.  In “A Convicts Tour to Hell,” Frank explores his options in an afterlife. Thinking that the actions of a convict rejects him from Heaven, he initially looks for his place with the Devil. The fact that Frank first believes that he belongs in hell mirrors the perspective of the judicial officials represents the “morally upright” majority, like mayors, judges, and captains. However, the poem depicts Satan saying to the convict, “none shall in my kingdom stand except the grandees of the land,” where the grandees refer to the majority. This indicates that Frank directly promotes that those who condemn and punish the convict belong in hell. The poem ends in a dream with Frank knowing that he, as a convict, was personally invited to heaven by his fellow convicts. This conclusion reveals that the convicts represent the minority, the downtrodden, and the defeated, yet Frank’s poetry celebrates the convict’s strife while unsurprisingly speaking against the judicial officials. For this reason, Frank the Poet inspires folk singers, because the Folk genre focuses on the unearthing the pain and celebrating the legacies of minority groups.

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Discussion Question 8: Landscape as Character in Jedda

You will be visiting landscapes much like the ones depicted in Jedda.  In Chauvel’s film, landscape becomes narrative, landscape becomes character.  I would argue that the film has much to say about who belongs in what space, about the politics of territory and ownership and where those issues intersect with questions of race and gender and nation.  The film ask us to think about who is put in their place and when?  It also ask us to consider who is displaced and replaced and by what or whom?  Consider those questions in relation to to Jedda, but you could also draw on other readings or viewings as well.      

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The landscape in Jedda does play a role defining cultural boundaries by displacing characters. Characters like Marbuck and Jedda experience displacement in the film because their ability to adapt is tested when they venture to landscapes that are outside of what they are used to. For example, when Marbuck first comes to the Sarah and Douge’s ranch he refused to where pants and is told to work on the most isolated part of ranch. This indicates that Marbuck does not adapt well to the culture on the ranch, so he does not belong to that land. However, he thrives in landscapes like the jungle and mountains where he kills alligators, eats snakes, and free climbs desert mountains. Marbuck’s ability to adapt to the wilderness means that he does belong to the land outside of the Sarah and Douge’s ranch and is displaced on a landscape that is integrated into white Australian culture. Jedda, on the other hand, does not belong to the wilderness because outside of Sarah and Douge’s ranch she is almost eaten by alligators, is thrown over a cliff by Marbuck, and admits that she would be completely debilitated in the desert landscape if she were by herself.  Even though Jedda was born an Aborigine, her upbringing in a white household displaced her from the natural Australian landscape. Therefore, Jedda is unable to adapt to her new surroundings, meaning that she belongs to the culture of Sarah and Douge’s ranch.

The idea of testing a character’s limits through displacement is also seen in the 1986 comedy Crocodile Dundee, as a major comedic plot point develops when Dundee travels from a rural town in Australia to New York City. There, Dundee is seen confidently stumbling around New York by unknowingly punching pimps, inappropriately “testing” trans gendered women, and climbing over people in subways. Because displacing Dundee is the main comedic element indicates that Crocodile Dundee suggests that the protagonist belongs to his originals Australian outback landscape instead of New York City.