BabaKiueria Question Sheet

Watch the short film “BabaKiueria” and answer these questions along
the way.

Although modern, how similar do you think this scenario would be to the
original ‘first contact’ situation?

Ans- The scenario shown in the movie seems to very similar to what happened in
the ‘first contact’ situation as both of them show the original dwellers of the
country being driven out through various strategies by the outsiders in order to gain
control and conquer the country by providing them with fake promises and making
the originals believe that everything is being done for their good, and that when a
minority of them have understood what is going on in reality the outsiders use
power in order to suppress them.

How does the reporter say the White people were found? What does she see as
“white people culture”?

Ans- The white people were found by the first black settlers, who arrived in
Babakiueria and found the natives of that area protected by primitive open fires
trying to cook their food using coarse tools and devices, and were further found to
be taking pleasure when burning their meat. The reporter describes “white people
culture” by talking about a typical day in a white family which included the day
being started with breakfast, wherein the family members talked to each other
about their dreams and hopes for their day ahead, after which the father leaves for
a day of hard work, while the mother played the role of homemaker, tending to
family affairs. The children left for school where they would further go on to learn
about their people. The day ended with all of them coming together for dinner and
where they would also share their experiences.
Do you think the son is particularly happy to be involved in this ‘program’?
Why?

Ans- No, the son does not seem to be happy as shown by his dissatisfaction of only
seeing black people on television for which he expressed that it would be better if
at least a few white people could put up shows and also the time when he rebelled
against his parents when sending of his sister and when they were moved out into
the dessert.

Does the Minister for White Affairs think they are doing the right thing in
imposing their culture on the White people? What reasons does he give?

Ans- Yes, the Minister for White Affairs does think that they are doing the right
thing as they would be blameable for not helping the white people take their place
in the society, also presuming them to be happy with what the government has
done for them and reasoning that the government’s job is to make decisions about
what the people want and provide them with it.

How does the reporter misunderstand the “Religion”? What are they really
doing?

Ans- The reporter believes the people to be following what their religion tells them
to, only because of the actions they exhibit including their heads bowed and the
deep homage, which in general is linked with the idea of praying. Though in reality
the white people are engaging in what is known as gambling to gain profits, by
betting huge sums of money on horses. This is also known as horse racing where
the winner helps all the people who bet on him to win prize money.

Why do you think the reporter considers the ‘Religion’ to be “...simple faith”?

Ans- White people have usually accepted a number of vices like gambling o be a
part of their life and to be in the system hence a direct contrast of the same has
been made with that of the religion wherein people concentrate on offering their
prayers by bowing their heads down just in their way these people get engrossed
bowing their heads witnessing the results of the horse racing.
How does the Bicentennial Park scenario relate to the first settlers effecting
Aboriginal people?

Ans- It relates because when the first settlers arrived they didn’t think about the
effect the changes in the country would have on the aboriginal people, and were
just seeking to fulfil their own ideas and possibilities for the future. This happened
when they decided to convert the community into a park not taking the hundreds of
families living there in the modern times and it also happened when the first white
people drove out the aboriginals out of their own country in order to set up their
own people, disregarding the effect it had on the natives such as the numerous
diseases they brought with them.

Are the white family being sincere? Or do you think they are just saying what
the reporter wants to hear?

Ans- The way in which the white family answers such as hesitating when asked
whether the event of their daughter being taken away is seen as the price which
they have to pay in order to contribute towards development, or the numerous
times when the son of the family disagrees or shows discomfort with several
topics, shows us that they were just answering what the reporter wanted to hear.

How does the reporter interpret the footy match? How does this scene include
a bias and or misrepresented opinion?

Ans- The reporter interprets the football match to be something which is violent
and brings joy to the white people who seem to love the idea of violence. This is a
biased opinion as the visuals of the football match show various kinds of people
from the audience which comprises of children, the mid-aged as well as the older
people. It certainly would not be that all the people including the children and the
old or even the weak and sick would participate or take delight in the violent
events which would take place anywhere through the match. Many of them could
just be someone who takes an interest and enjoys the game with the way it is
played.
Do you think the breakup of the ANZAC Day March was fair? Why?

Ans- The breakup of the ANZAC Day March was not fair at all as the government
contrasted its statement, which said that most of the white people are peaceful and
law-abiding and that only a few unhappy ones go on to rebel against the laws, by
breaking up the march which didn’t hold the slightest bit of violence. It was only
celebrating what was done in the past. The police superintendent mentions
drunkenness and offensive language as the things which held them to stop the
march and arrest a few people which is wrong as the actions of a few people
cannot be used to judge the whole gathering.

How does the last scene with the family being dropped in the desert translate
to the Aboriginals being relocated by white settlers?

Ans- The white settlers had pushed out most of the aboriginal communities out of
all the fertile areas by the 1870’s and forced them to live either on the outer rims of
European communities or were left to stay on lands which were considered to be
unsuitable for settling down on. This is the exact same thing the government does
with the white family by leaving them in the dessert where it would be nearly
impossible to survive, to drive them out of the community.

Describe how white people are portrayed?

Ans- White people in this program are portrayed as narrow-minded people who
don’t have any interest in the cultures, ideas and people outside their own
community. They are displayed as someone who migrated to babakuieria, having
no right to speak up and only follow the laws laid by the government, when in
reality it belongs to them.

What bias can you see throughout this program? List some elements that give
this program a particular historiographical bias?

 Discrimination of white and black people.

  Refusing to understand the various beliefs of the other races.
 Not accepting that every culture and race has the right to say and to
be heard when in crisis.

Using descriptive language, write a paragraph below on how this program

made you feel? Why did it make you feel this way? Does it make you wonder
anything? Does it make you consider what it must be like on the other side of
this situation? Do you think this is a reasonable parody of the
current/historical situation of Australian migration/colonisation?

Ans- The first few minutes of this program really confused me. Throughout our
lives we have been learning as well as have been seeing the partiality black people
go through on the hands of the whites. It has been embedded in our minds so much
that when watching this for the first time, it made me feel disoriented and the first
question which came to my mind was that how was this possible? It just didn’t
make sense. Though after a while I caught on to it. The sarcasm shown throughout
the movie gives it a light-hearted touch along with discussing serious topics
fittingly. The times when the family supports the actions taken by the government
shows how scared they were that they didn’t even speak a word against them. It
shows that behind all the promises the government had made it must have been a
nightmare for the aboriginal people back then as no one would want their children
to be taken away from them and be separated. This movie also reasonably conveys
the past events between the aboriginal people and the first settlers and also relates
to the current situation as racism in Australia is present to this day.