Post 13 | Indigenous Media, Film & Music

 THE SAPPHIRES
How are Aboriginal and other indigenous people portrayed in the media?

For Aboriginal and Indigenous people, past identity representations in movies has been quite negative. These depictions include Aboriginal and Indigenous people as being violent, having substance abuse problems, lower education, are unemployed and are considered to have a lower life expectancy. After watching The Sapphires, I thought it was quite interesting when looking at how Aboriginal and Indigenous men and women are portrayed in the media. The Sapphires, released in 2012, has been widely acclaimed as an entertaining and intriguing film which reflects the lives of four Indigenous women Gail, Julie, Kay and Cynthia in a positive light. These four women were discovered by the very own David Lovelace, an Irish talent scout, who takes them on the journey of forming the music group called the Sapphires (Kroenert, 2012, n.p). The Sapphires travel to Vietnam during 1968 to sing for the troops during the war. 

At the beginning of the film it shows the state of Australia, in which the main characters deal with racial prejudice and discrimination in the 1960s (Kroenert, 2012, n.p). When they meet David Lovelace, their lives begin to change for them and they become widely successful with the crowds in the war. According to Naomi, one of the original Sapphire members, no one in her community knew originally that the Sapphires were successful, "A lot of them didn't know. They were still out in the country due to the White Australia policy. It was after the 1967 referendum that black people started to come back in [to the cities]. In Melbourne before then, there were hardly any black people except us" (Nunn, 2012, n.p).

Written by Tony Briggs, son of one of the original Sapphire members, this film has been seen as a look into the lives of the indigenous people who lived during the White Australian policy. This film I believe was inspiring and eye opening to the state of Australia back in that time when it touches on the Stolen Generations. It is really good to see films now embracing and illustrating our past. The Sapphires have been acknowledged wide known and have been largely successful. Laurel, another one of the original Sapphire members says she's absolutely thrilled "that someone took a chance on us. That someone took the time to tell our stories. That my son, Tony, has received so many awards for telling our stories. We're so proud of him" (Nunn, 2012, n.p).

References

Kroenert T. (2012). Aboriginal Voices Silence Vietnam War Stories. Eureka Street 22(15), 6-7. Retrieved from http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=32676.

Nunn G. (2012). The Sapphires: Where are they now? Australian Geographic, Sept 5, http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/in-conversation-with-the-real-sapphires-movie.htm