Disturbia

How do we, as Australian, present modern day suburbia in our T.V and Film? if we take Muriel's Wedding as an example we can see the portrayal of the stereotypical "Bogan" family sitting around watching T.V while the mother is slowly being absorbed by depression in her untidy, unhealthy house.



The idea of suburbia tends to arise in Australian film. We find humour in the portrayal of the Anglo/Bogan family and their dysfunction or strange ideals. As is the case in The Castle where the family is lovably strange and familiar simultaneously.

But we do get slightly more serious ideas of the Australian suburban family as is the case in The Black Balloon in which there is a family with a mentally handicapped brother. The exploration of this idea of Family in Australia is shown to us in this film and the tension builds as the family threatens to fall apart. Below is the trailer in which you can see the stereotypes of the family played out as well as the anomalies.








However, we also have family portrayals in different films that are more multicultural like Looking for Alabrandi. In this film they portray an Italian-Australian family that are struggling to discover to function. this clip shows the stereotype of the Australian - Italian.





We can also see this euro-Australian image of the family in films like Strictly Ballroom, Wog Boy etc.
There are so many different representations of the Australian family that its no wonder the population is confused about Australian film Industry... because we are confused about our own identity and how to portray it.