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| home | news lLift livesMP calls for change to Rabbit Proof Fence posters
Liberal MP Peter Slipper said he was opposed to the slogan on the promotional posters - "What if the government kidnapped your daughter?" - and the words underneath saying that was what happened every week in Australia from 1905 to 1971. The film is the story of three Aboriginal children who were forcibly removed from their parents in Western Australia in the 1930s. "What the promoters appear to be doing in the United States is to be sensationalising and misleading and grossly distorting what actually happened," Mr Slipper told Channel Seven's Sunrise program. "It wrongly infers that Australians are racist. "It wrongly infers that governments every week until 1971 took indigenous children away from their families. "That's simply not factually correct." Mr Slipper said the promotional campaign could "tear up" Australia's good reputation in the US. But he denied he was trying to censor the film and its portrayal of the Stolen Generation. "There's no problems with Australians being forced to look at aspects of our history," he said. "I haven't got a problem with the way that Rabbit Proof Fence was promoted in Australia. I think it was fair, reasonable and balanced. "I think Philip Noyce's work is useful. "All I'm asking is that there is an honest representation of those sad events that happened in Australia over so many years." He called on the promoters, Miramax, to change the posters which are still under consideration. Queensland Premier Peter Beattie says Hollywood often went "over the top", but the truth of the Stolen Generation could not be denied. "The reality is governments on both sides of politics were guilty for a considerable period of time for the Stolen Generation," Mr Beattie said. "Let's not rewrite history - it happened to young Queenslanders and young Australians and I won't be part of a lie." Source: The Australian
Controversial 'Rabbit-Proof' posters appear in US November 28 2002 - Controversial posters and newspaper advertisements promoting the Australian film Rabbit-Proof Fence have started appearing in the United States. Hollywood studio Miramax has defied complaints from outraged Australians and politicians to go ahead with the promotional campaign for the movie, which opens in American cinemas on Friday. The campaign focuses on the Australian government policy between 1905 to 1971 of removing Aboriginal children from their families. The Miramax posters are headlined in big black letters with the question: "WHAT IF THE GOVERNMENT KIDNAPPED YOUR DAUGHTER?" This is followed with: "IT HAPPENED EVERY WEEK IN AUSTRALIA FROM 1905 TO 1971" The film, directed by Australian Phillip Noyce and which Miramax is hoping could be an Oscar winner, tells the story of three Aboriginal girls who escape a government camp and embark on a long trek to be reunited with their family. When Rabbit-Proof Fence opened in Australia earlier this year the marketing of the film concentrated on the girls' journey, rather than the government's assimilation policy. The tagline for the Australian posters was: "1,500 miles is a long way home". Miramax said yesterday it stood by its US campaign. "We are committed to sharing this story with American audiences," Miramax senior vice president of corporate communications, Matthew Hiltzik, told AAP. "The additional attention it has received from the power of the promotional material will only serve to raise awareness of this historical film." One of the most vocal opponents to the Miramax campaign was federal MP Peter Slipper, who earlier this year said the posters appeared to be "misleading and grossly distorting what actually happened". The US release of Rabbit-Proof Fence has already focused American media attention on Australia's "stolen generation". A full page story this week in The New York Daily News said: "Rabbit-Proof Fence sheds light on a grim chapter in Australia's past and its lingering effects". The article went on to say the movie "also highlights the current government's refusal to apologise for the widespread removals that only ended in 1971." Hiltzik said Rabbit-Proof Fence will open in select cinemas in Los Angeles and New York on Friday. Miramax will slowly expand the film to other US cities in the coming months. The distribution plan is often used by Hollywood studios hoping to create momentum ahead of the Academy Awards. By opening the film in the US before December 31, 2002, Rabbit-Proof Fence also qualifies for Oscar consideration. Source: AAP related links:
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May 20, 2002 - Posters promoting Australian film Rabbit Proof Fence in the United States portrayed Australians as racist and should be changed, a federal MP said today.
