Reflection for the second pre-trip session

Kinda late...but better late than never.

I have to admit, the movie was more like a documentary than a movie. I felt that the issues that were being dealt with were deep, complex and meaningful.

It is indeed depressing to see such racial discrimination occurring in the past. It makes me think twice about taking for granted the racial harmony we enjoy in Singapore.

I have once read a book on Darwinism, and it states an amazingly offensive view - that apes evolved into Africans, then Africans into Asians and Asians into Europeans. It seemed to imply that Europeans were superior to people of other races.

It seems that such a mentality was at work in the movie, explaining the need to "promote" the half-caste children and assimilate them into the social structure of the Caucasians.

From a pragmatic point of view, it is no doubt beneficial to "help" the aborigines in the film by introducing them to the European way of life, especially in the light of capitalism. But the main issue about this that disturbs me seems to be the fact that the Caucasians in Australia back then seems to feel that the Aborigine's lifestyle is inferior to that of European civilisation. They did not seem to appreciate the diversity of culture.

In fact, the incident seemed to me as being similar to what the Nazis did. There seems to be a tinge of social Darwinism in the issue...

The film made me feel uneasy... I feeling that I am still quite unable to properly explain.