Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002 Film)

The Representation of Racism against Australian Aborigines in Phillip Noyce's Rabbit-Proof Fence College

Rabbit-Proof Fence is a 2002 Australian drama directed by Phillip Noyce. The film is based on the book, Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence written by Doris Pilkington Garimara. It is based on a true story regarding the author’s mother and two other Aboriginal mixed-race girls, who ran away from the Moore River Aboriginal Settlement. The girls (Molly, Daisy, and Gracie) were forcibly removed from their Aboriginal family and wanted to return to their family members. The film follows their 1500 miles journey home in 1931. The forceful removal of these Aboriginal children is connected to white people’s aim to “civilize” them and to the notion of “breeding out” their color, which will be explained later on. Thus, the Moore River Settlement can be seen as the key element regarding racism against Australian Aborigines.

Firstly, the notion of the “Stolen Generation” has to be explained and analyzed in regards to how racism appears in the movie. The term refers to an often forgotten historical past in Australia, and the story of the young Aboriginal girls refreshes people’s memories. This segment of their historical past concerns the official policy of forced removal of Indigenous children from their families from the late 19th century up...

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