How do we ensure ethical and authentic representations?
The issue of authentic and ethical representations in media is increasing prevalent issue within today’s society. Inaccurate representations of culture, race and identity can completely destroy a media pieces credibility before it is even received. Recently with the trailer for Disney’s live action Mulan released, conversations around the historical inaccuracies, cultural insensitivities and misrepresented identities of the 1998 film have rekindled. One blogger described the original Mulan as ‘an American film decorated with Chinese accessories to make it interesting and exotic’ (Wang, 2013). With this live action remake Disney is evidently attempting to avoid the problems of the original, instead focusing on a ‘rich tapestry of Chinese heritage’ (Vincent, 2019) by more closely following the original Chinese folklore story of Hua Mulan.
Mulan is just one example of many stories that are not necessarily told by those with backgrounds in the culture they portray, which brings the question – As a media practitioner how does one ensure authentic and ethical representations? And even further, should those outside of a culture, neighbourhood, ethnicity or any other group attempt to tell stories that are not their own. There is much discussion and argument as to who can represent what. Taking a look closer to home, Specifically at Aboriginal representations in literature, author Sandra Phillips takes the stance that non-indigenous authors ‘should never write about Indigenous subject matter or use Indigenous characters because….. as outsiders to that culture their representation would be vastly different’ (Heiss, 2002) [to an Indigenous writers account]. Others however have said that with appropriate research, consultation and preparation non-Aboriginal authors can respectfully include Aboriginal characters within their works, Byron Bay based author Di Morrissey states that she believes ‘Australian writers….have a moral responsibility to do the right thing by our native culture’ (Morrissey, 1994) by conducting research to ensure work is accurate and having works checked by Aboriginal people. Jackie Huggins writes that ‘having a respect and knowledge of Aboriginal culture, history, social issues…is imperative’ [to respectful representations] (Huggins, 1994)
I think Huggins statement holds the key to how, as a media practitioner one can ensure that the representations they create, not just of Aboriginal people, but of all people, places and cultures are authentic and ethical. One must firstly research that what they wish to represent, this means talking to people from this place or culture – discussing what is important to include, what might best not be shown & how to be respectful – reading/watching/listening to other representations of similar subjects and taking into account how they were received by the people they aimed to portray. It is imperative that as an outsider to particular issues, places or identities one goes to their subjects as a guide in the depiction they construct. Without doing so, it is incredibly easy to overlook significant aspects, misrepresent a particular place or people and offend those portrayed.
When creating my piece, I followed these ideas to ensure an ethical and authentic portrayal of the place concerned, the Merri Creek Labyrinth and my subject, Sebastian. The shots I chose for my documentary are true to the Labyrinth and its surrounds, a quiet, green place nestled amongst the houses, roads and concrete towers of Melbourne. With the initial intent of creating a piece that investigated the loneliness of city neighbourhoods and the way shared community spaces could combat this, I chose the Merri Creek Labyrinth before finding a character to tell me a story about it. After attempting to speak to those who created it, and then community members using it, I found Sebastian, initially I emailed him asking if he would like to be involved, after he agreed I sent him some questions, letting him know that if there was anything else he wanted to add, he was more than welcome and if there was anything he would rather not answer to leave it. I think this part was integral to getting an authentic representation of his character, I didn’t want to pigeonhole him with the questions I had planned to ask, and actually discovered somethings I wouldn’t have if I had only got him to answer my questions.
Overall I was happy with the representation I created, both of Sebastian and the Labyrinth – after struggling to find a character to tell me the story of the Labyrinth I was able to find someone who could tell me their story involving the Labyrinth – and as was pointed out in class, this made the documentary stronger. I was able to represent the Labyrinth through the impact it had on Sebastian’s identity and represent both the person and place in a manner that I believe was ethical and authentic.
References
Heiss, 2002. About Indigenous Australia – some issues to consider and protoco.ls to follow! A discussion paper. Southerly.
Huggins, J., 1994. Australian Author.
Morrissey, D., 1994. Australian Author.
Vincent, M., 2019. ‘Mulan’ May Finally Offer Some Authenticity Among Live-Action Reboot Fatigue. Femestella.
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