Racism and White People Essay

According to Roscoe & Hight, parodies are engaging works, that present themselves as documentaries but are not, and contain non-factual text. They work on several levels creating humor, sparking anger and sometimes critical reflection in the viewers. Both parodies and satires rely on the sophistication of its audience and a general familiarity with its content. Their comic elements can only be appreciated if one recognizes the objects are being mocked. The mock-documentary can only develop inherent complexity as seen in parodies, if its viewers are familiar with the documentaries codes and conventions and it serious intent. The use of parody is well established in the film â€Å"Babakieueria†. The film begins with a group of Aboriginal people arriving by boat on the Australian foreshores and attempting to communicate with a group of white people. When the new arrivals manage to communicate an enquiry as to the name of this place, the white people respond with ‘Babakiueria’ (BBQ area). The humor highlights the patronising approach taken by white people to Aboriginal Australians over the centuries and captures many of the issues surrounding racial inequality and racism. Through humor, it invites viewers to participate in its reversal of events and to find humor in the insight into white Australian culture one gains by seeing it through the eyes of an audience. For example, the interviewer queries an Aboriginal man getting out of his car, â€Å"Excuse me sir. What do you think about white people? † The man answers: â€Å"White people? You’ve got to be joking. † The film thus employs a desire to know more about the other in a slightly different way (humor). It puts viewers momentarily into the position of the contemporary descendants of colonized people—minority, disempowered, misunderstood—and uses humor to perhaps make viewers more receptive to this increased self-knowledge. By the use of humor, It really encourages you to think about racial inequalities and the stereotypes, assumptions and opinions that are still prevalent in society and the media today. Moreover, it tests the viewer’s abilities to distinguish between truth and fiction by presenting them in a satire style that makes it difficult to decipher between the two. The audience is given the opportunity to decide whether they will accept what they are shown or ignore it as a joke. From the way I see it, the jokes are primarily aimed at particular public figures, sending the overall message that racial views are still rampant in our society today, and that there is not much we can do about it except feel superior. This type of humor is not ultimately about how useless it is to care about racial issues; rather it is premised on the feeling that there are racial issues out there that we should care deeply about.