Australian Films

On the other hand, Australia's national identity in the film "Robbery Under Arms" is articulate to the Bushranger period of the late 1950"s, playing particular tribute to Captain Starlight. While the character representation of national identity alters in the two films the portrayal of the vast Aussie outback tends to be vary analogous in both films. Both present their viewers with a sense of Australianness through exposing the barrenness and desolation of the "bush". "National identity is not a fixed essence, permanently lodged in human nature, but a cultural value, susceptible to the forces acting on people, groups and communities." (Seminar 1, page 1) National identity tends to prevail for a period of time as a representative of Australia only to fall away or be transformed into something else; this is evident in these films as the Australia's identity shifts from the bushranger character to the great Aussie battler. .
             Australian national identity in the past was created on the basis of an assumed masculinity; this unwritten proclamation appeared to lie at the heart of Australian self-image. Women had a tendency to be seen in a subordinate role, but with a touch of the vigour and resilience of males as well. This male oriented image of Australianness is evident in both films, particularly in "Robbery Under Arms" were the women are seen purely as the sexual other. However femininity in "On Our Selection" is brought to another level in the sense that their opinions are also foregrounded during the film, one example of this can be seen in their fight to be able to vote in the elections. Yet this is not a prominent feature of the film as the women are still playing a subsidiary role to their fellow male characters. This depiction of masculinity, where the feminine appears as a support for the male, is significant to Australian national imaginary. This reflects the cultural values of the early Australian nation in a male oriented dimension as well as the "existence of a counter-tradition of strong female types and images.