Marriageability and Indigenous Representation in the White Mainstream Media in Australia

Marriageability and Indigenous Representation in the White Mainstream Media in Australia PhD Thesis 2007 Andrew King BA (Hons) Supervisor: Associate Professor Alan McKee Creative Industries, Queensland University of Technology Abstract By means of a historical analysis of representations, this thesis argues that an increasing sexualisation of Indigenous personalities in popular culture contributes to the reconciliation of non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australia. It considers how sexualised images and narratives of Indigenous people, as they are produced across a range of film, television, advertising, sport and pornographic texts, are connected to a broader politics of liberty and justice in the present postmodern and postcolonial context. By addressing this objective the thesis will identify and evaluate the significance of ‘banal’ or everyday representations of Aboriginal sexuality, which may range from advertising images of kissing, television soap episodes of weddings, sultry film romances through to more evocatively oiled-up representations of the pin- up-calendar variety. This project seeks to explore how such images offer possibilities for creating informal narratives of reconciliation, and engendering understandings of Aboriginality in the media beyond predominant academic concerns for exceptional or fatalistic versions. i Keywords Aboriginality Indigenous Marriageability Reconciliation Popular Culture Sexuality Relationships Interracial Public Sphere Mediasphere Celebrity ii Table of Contents Introduction ………………………………………………………………………….. 1 Chapter One A History of Aboriginal Marriageability in the Australian Public Sphere……………………………………………………………………..…..….37 Chapter Two Deep Meanings, Hidden Racism: Previous Academic Analyses of Indigenous Representation ...…………………..…………………….………………………. 69 Chapter Three Unspeakable Desires: The Emergence of Indigenous Sexiness in non-Indigenous Media ……………………………………………..………………….…………103 Chapter Four The Mainstreaming of Indigenous Sexiness: Indigenous Authorship of Sexy Images ………….………………………………….…………………………... 139 Chapter Five Romancing Reconciliation: Making Sex Ordinary on Television ………...…... 173 Chapter Six Ordinary Lives: Indigenous Parenting in the Media …………………..…..…... 211 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………….251 Appendix 1 List of Persons Interviewed and Consulted .……………………………………261 Appendix 2 Interviewee Questions………………………………..…………………………262 References …………………………………………………………………………. 263 Tele/Filmography ...……………………………………………………………….. 277 iii List of Illustrations Figure 1, pg 13 Kyle Vander Kuyp publicity photograph. Figure 2, pg 19 Cathy Freeman and Joel Edgerton (2003 AFI awards). Figure 3, pg 59 Newspaper report about the marriage of Mick Daly and Gladys Namagu (1960). Figure 4, pg 60 Ernie Dingo’s marriage to his wife Sally (TV Week , 1989). Figure 5, pg 92 Arnhem Land photograph of two topless Indigenous women (1920’s). Figure 6, pg 92 Christine Anu posing for the photography magazine Black and White (1996). Figure 7, pg 107 Publicity poster for the film Australian Rules (2002). Figure 8, pg 114 Indigenous actor Nicci Lane as Wendy in the pornographic production Arigato Baby (1991). Figure 9, pg 127 Indigenous mysticism in the pornographic title Australian Grand Prix (1992). Figure 10, pg 127 Nioka, a non-Indigenous actress, playing the role of the Aboriginal sex interest in Outback Assignment (1991). Figure 11, pg 154 Cover image of Shakaya’s debut single ‘Stop Calling Me’. Figure 12, pg 158 Christine Anu performing at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Figure 13, pg 159 Indigenous models posing for a publicity photograph for the release of the 2003 ‘Jinnali: Women on Fire’ calendar. Figure 14, pg 189 Justine Saunders’ Rhonda Jackson in Number 96 (1976). Figure 15, pg 189 Kylie Belling as Sharon in th e Flying Doctors (1986). Figure 16, pg 195 Heath Bergersen as Rueben in the teen drama Breakers (1999). Figure 17, pg 196 Publicity photograph of Aaron Pedersen. Figure 18, pg 201 HQ magazine profile of Deborah Mailman (2003). Figure 19, pg 221 Ernie Dingo, his mother and aunt featured in the Sunday Times (19/01/2003). iv Figure 20, pg 224 Nova Peris’ family featured on This is Your Life (Channel Nine). Figure 21, pg 245 Ernie Dingo and Cate Blanchett in the ABC drama Heartland (1994). Figure 22, pg 246 Photograph of Nova Peris, her baby and family. v Acknowledgements Thank you to Alan McKee, the model supervisor. Not a day has gone by when I haven’t learnt from your intelligence, professionalism and enthusiasm. Thanks to Helen Yeates, Vivienne Muller and Terry Flew for your advice in the final stages of the thesis, and to Harvey May for being so interested in Breakers . Thanks also to Laknath for the great conversations, and the STD telephone bills. Finally, thank you to Aboo for putting up with me for so long, and for being there when the final series of Secret Life eventually aired. vi The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet requirements for an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made. Signature Date vii Introduction ‘I went to an institution full of kids who all had stories: “Aren’t you supposed to be blacker than that?” “You are too pretty.”’ - Christine Anu (quoted in Albert, 2005). ‘Aborigines, indigenous people, are not sexy as a media issue; Aborigines don't sell.’ - Vox pop radio interviewee (Coulloupas, 1997). These quotes might be suggestive of the ways Indigenous people and issues are seen in the mainstream media. The first quote is from Christine Anu, one of Australia’s most successful mainstream Indigenous artists. She is speaking about her experiences visiting schools and teaching kids about her Torres Straight Islander background. Anu goes on to suggest that many people fail to distinguish her Islander identity, and misrecognise her ‘modern’ appearance as being non-Indigenous. She points out that for white people Aboriginal art tends to be associated with more ‘traditional’ motifs such as ‘bare bodies’, ‘chanting’ and ‘didgeridoos’. An over- emphasis on these elements may limit the ways in which Indigeneity is seen in the mainstream. For Anu non-Indigenous people’s reactions to her Indigeneity are 1 marked in other, more personal ways – she remarks of being considered ‘too pretty’ to be identified as Indigenous. The second quote speaks about attractiveness in a more metaphorical sense. It expresses pessimism about the way issues like Aboriginal reconciliation are represented in the mainstream media, because they are not judged to be commercially sound. ‘Aborigines don’t sell’. This criticism emphasises concern over the incompatibility of Indigenous representation with mainstream perspectives. Such a criticism has a long popular and academic history. It is tied to the belief that Indigenous issues and themes in the mainstream are marked by absences, and where they are present they do not engage audiences in any meaningful or lasting way. Aboriginality is seen as an issue, representative of a separate political cause that white Australians do not want to deal with. A sense of guilt might be operative in this type of appraisal. Not being seen as ‘sexy’ in this statement implies that Indigenous content does not entertain or connect with ordinary people. This thesis argues that sexiness in popular culture is an important way of representing relationships. In the above quotes, both speakers are worried that Indigenous content might not be seen as sexy in mainstream society. The latter quote is more concerned with the way political issues are unfavourably dealt with in the media, and that Indigenous issues are inevitably caught up in a more unattractive form of political debate. Speaking from personal experience, Christine Anu suggests that Indigenous people might not be seen as attractive and good looking in the media. This may well be related to the ways in which Aboriginal ‘issues’ occupy considerable air-time, caught up in abstract political debate and news stories. Both quotes suggest that Indigenous people and issues are not seen to be desirable within the non-Indigenous public sphere. The use of the term ‘sexy’ in these instances 2 evokes a sense of Indigenous people not being represented in the media as ordinary. Not recognised as sexy might suggest that Indigenous people are not seen to be available for meaningful, long term relationships with non-Indigenous people. This thesis looks at the ways Indigenous people are seen as attractive and good looking in the Australian mainstream media. It argues that an increasing sexualisation of Indigenous Australians in popular culture has occurred over the past ten years. Such a process has developed alongside of, and can be seen as contributing to, a broader process of reconciliation between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australia. In doing so the thesis will examine the significance of ‘banal’ and everyday embodiments of Indigenous sexuality in the contemporary mediasphere – films, television programs, soaps and dramas, magazines and music are the central foci. By looking at these kinds of texts, the thesis argues that sexualised images of Indigenous personalities provide a means of representing meaningful interaction between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. To argue this, this thesis develops a theoretical model for describing the reconciliatory significance of these relationships – ‘marriageability’.

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