Rabbit Proof Fence Speech

Assessment Task- )

Good morning class, today I will tell you why it is extremely important for students to study texts that represent a variety of cultures. The films I have deconstructed to convey my points are “Bend it like Beckham”, directed by Gurinder Chadha and “Rabbit Proof Fence”, directed by Phillip Noyce. The cultural concepts explained in these movies are the early 1900s British culture and how dominant and cruel they were, the aboriginal Australians and how they were treated badly, the Indian culture and how much their traditions matter to them and the modern British culture which is carefree. These texts are important to study as they give us a better rounded, less biased education as students can be taught to understand and accept people are different and learn how different cultures were treated throughout history.
It is important that we study films from a variety of cultures because students nowadays need to understand and accept that people are different. This is shown in a scene in the Rabbit Proof Fence where Mise en scene, there is the aboriginal tracker on the horse approaching the English man in the car when they had attempted to flank the girls. Technology defines this world and the huge step up from animal to machine shows a great difference in culture and should be noted. The film technique of aerial helicopter views greatly shows how much the aboriginal spirit birds mean to them and their culture as this signalled the bird watching over them and protecting. This is in contrast to most shots of the “dominant white males” being angled up at them to show their power and how their desire is to be the dominant race. This is a terrible attitude and students must learn that all people are equal and studying films designed to give empathy to the victims is a good way to teach that. Another difference in culture that is shown in a film is in Bend it Like Beckham when all the soccer girls are in the change room and one of the girls questions jess on “how she can stand getting married to someone just cause you are told to by your parents”. Jess responds with “it’s just culture”. Students need to learn that people and their cultures are different and I believe that watching films with people with cultures that are ever so different, living side by side, will better students and give them a sounder less biased education.
Films that show a variety of cultures, I believe should be taught to students because it help students to have a better historical understanding of how people have been treated. This is important as student must learn from the mistakes of our elders who in the past have treated some cultures with total disrespect. The movie rabbit proof gives us a good insight into the way the aboriginal culture was poorly treated in the early 1900s. The film technique of a shot angled up at the protector, as he is talking to Molly when the two first meet, portrays the emotions of fear, hatred and hopelessness as there isn’t much Molly can do to him. This film techniques shows the fear and helpless ness of the aboriginals who in the past were treated very horribly by the British. Students should study films like this because it helps open their eyes to how people were treated in the past,
These two reasons is why I believe that students must be taught films that represent a variety of cultures. Using the films Bend it Like Beckham and Rabbit Proof Fence I have provided examples as to how they can be useful. These movies can teach students to be more accepting of other cultures and teach them how some cultures were treated in the past. Thank you everyone for listening and I hope you’ve considered what I’ve said.