Film is an agent of social and political change. It is through film that dominant discourses can be challenged and rewritten. The films "Uncivilised" (1936), "The Tracker" (2002) and "Nice Coloured Girls" (1987) represent discourses of their eras that either conform to or challenge popular opinion. "Uncivilised" conforms to the notion of white culture supremacy, "The Tracker" confronts contemporary white Australia with their brutal history towards Aboriginals and "Nice Coloured Girls" redefines the power relationships between Aboriginal women and white men. "Uncivilised", "The Tracker" and "Nice Coloured Girls" all interweave the themes of gender, sexual and racial politics to create powerful films.
Charles Chauvel's film "Uncivilised"' (1936) entangles racial, gender and sexual politics at numerous levels. The film resolves around a white Australian woman, Lynn who sets out on an expedition to find the white savage, the white Australian man, Mara who lives with and rules an Aboriginal tribe.
The racial politics within the film resolve around the representation of Aboriginal characters in comparison to the representation of white characters. …
