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Romance and reconciliation: the secret life of indigenous sexuality on Australian television drama

2009; Routledge; Volume: 33; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14443050802672528

1835-6419

Andrew King,

Island Studies and Pacific Affairs

Abstract This article examines the representation of indigenous sexuality on Australian television drama since the 1970s, suggesting the political importance of such representations. In 1976 Justine Saunders became the first regular indigenous character on an Australian television drama series, as the hairdresser Rhonda Jackson in Number 96. She was presented as sexually attractive, but this was expressed through a rape scene after a party. Twenty five years later, Deborah Mailman starred in The Secret Life of Us, as Kelly, who is also presented as sexually attractive. But her character can be seen in many romantic relationships. The article explores changing representations that moved us from Number 96 to The Secret Life of Us, via The Flying Doctors and Heartland. It suggests that in representations of intimate and loving relationships on screen it has only recently become possible to see hopeful models for interaction between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. Keywords: Aboriginalromanceinterracialtelevisionsoap opera Notes 1. See John Hartley, The Politics of Pictures: The Creation of the Public in the Age of Popular Media, Routledge, London, 1992; John Morton, 'Aboriginality, Mabo and the republic: Indigenising Australia' in Bain Attwood (ed), In the Age of Mabo: History, Aborigines and Australia, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1996, pp. 117–35; Marcia Langton, Well I heard it on the radio and I saw it on the television … : an essay for the Australian Film Commission on the politics and aesthetics on filmmaking on and by Aboriginal people and things, Australian Film Commission, Sydney, 1993. 2. For instance, Philip Hayward, 'Safe, exotic and somewhere else: Yothu Yindi, Treaty and the mediation of Aboriginality', Perfect Beat, no. 2, vol. 1, 1993, pp. 33–42; Karen Jennings and David Hollinsworth, 'Shy maids and wanton strumpets', Hecate, no.2, vol. 13, 1987/88. 3. The first to broach the subject were Stephen Muecke and Catriona Moore, 'Racism and the Representation of Aborigines in Film', Australian Journal of Cultural Studies, 1984, vol. 2, 36–53. See also, Kevin Brown, 'Racial' referents: Images of European/Aboriginal relations in Australian feature films, 1955–1984', The Sociological Review, 1998, Vol. 36, pp. 474–503. 4. Andrew King, 'Reconciling Nicci Lane: The unspeakable significance of Australia's first Indigenous porn star', Continuum, vol. 19, no. 4, 2005, pp. 523–543. 5. Andrew Jakubowicz, et al., Racism, Ethnicity and the Media, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1994. 6. Jakubowicz et al., Racism, p. 39. 7. Jakubowicz et al., Racism, p. 37. 8. Jakubowicz et al., Racism, p. 39. 9. McKee, 'Marking the liminal for true blue Aussies: the placement of Aboriginality in Australian soap opera', Australian Journal of Communication, vol. 24, no. 1, 1997, pp. 42–57. 10. McKee, 'Marking the liminal', pp. 50–52. 11. Albert Moran, 'Crime, romance, history: Television drama', in Albert Moran and Tom O'Regan, The Australian Screen, Penguin, Ringwood Victoria, 1989, p. 245. 12. Moran, 'Crime, romance, history', p. 247. 13. Multiculturalism as a policy was formally adopted in 1974. 14. One such example is Kylie Belling's Sarah in Prisoner (1981) who is victimised, tied-up and painted white for punishment by her racist cell mate. 15. McKee, 'Marking the liminal', p. 50. 16. Kylie Belling, 'Interview with the author', October 2006. Belling confirms that she received many letters of encouragement from personal fans and viewers of the show. Belling was adamant to add that she'd never received a single letter expressing disapproval. 17. Belling.'Interview with the author'. 18. Morton, 'Aboriginality, Mabo and the republic'. 19. Harvey May, 'Australian multicultural policy and television drama in comparative contexts', PhD thesis, 2003, p. 202. 20. May, 'Australian multicultural policy', p. 197. 21. Heath Bergersen, 'Interview with the author', May 2005. 22. In the case of Breakers May suggests that independence from network interference was a major factor in the program's success. 23. See Sophie Tedmanson, 'No secret Deb's loving a lazy spell', The Australian, 2003. 24. Kathryn Torpy, 'Secret to success', Courier Mail, 10 June 2002. 25. Her role as Kelly in the show also affirmed her image as a celebrity face for Channel Ten's self-promotional advertisements. 26. The 'Commonwealth Council for Reconciliation Act' was passed in 1991.