Rabbit Proof Fence
Film Response – Rabbit Proof Fence
In the novel entitled Rabbit Proof Fence, written by Doris Pilkington, three half-caste girls encounter the journey of escaping from the Moore River Native Settlement; this is the location in which the girls are forcibly taken away to. Descriptions of the girls’ adventures and explorations are written in a simple and complex form; readers can elaborate and understand in a simple form, as compared to other Aboriginal Protection Act based documents. The film version of the Rabbit Proof Fence focuses on the view of the girls’ return, in order to show the events of danger and risks that the girls have gone through. The major difference that has been noticed after seeing the film and comparing it to the book was that in the film version, the audience has the opportunity to be in the experience of the girls’ escapes, rather than just imagining it. The book version explains the escape in a third-person point of view, but in the movie, the audience has the opportunity to see and feel what the main character, Molly, experiences. In Potter and Schaffer’s article, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Relational Ecologies and the Commodification of Indigenous Experience, it is stated that many scenes shots in the movie are in the view of Molly’s eyes. This identification is important because the audience is watching the scene in a hand-held camera, as if they are actually the character,, and existing in her experiences. For example, Potter and Schaffer relates to the beginning portion of the movie, when the girls are forcibly taken away from their mothers. The camera is shot at child height, in which dramatically expresses the experience as if the audience was in that situation. The book has difficulty in expressing the emotions of the girls in detail, but the movie illustrates a much easier and detailed view of the girls’ adventure.
In the novel entitled Rabbit Proof Fence, written by Doris Pilkington, three half-caste girls encounter the journey of escaping from the Moore River Native Settlement; this is the location in which the girls are forcibly taken away to. Descriptions of the girls’ adventures and explorations are written in a simple and complex form; readers can elaborate and understand in a simple form, as compared to other Aboriginal Protection Act based documents. The film version of the Rabbit Proof Fence focuses on the view of the girls’ return, in order to show the events of danger and risks that the girls have gone through. The major difference that has been noticed after seeing the film and comparing it to the book was that in the film version, the audience has the opportunity to be in the experience of the girls’ escapes, rather than just imagining it. The book version explains the escape in a third-person point of view, but in the movie, the audience has the opportunity to see and feel what the main character, Molly, experiences. In Potter and Schaffer’s article, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Relational Ecologies and the Commodification of Indigenous Experience, it is stated that many scenes shots in the movie are in the view of Molly’s eyes. This identification is important because the audience is watching the scene in a hand-held camera, as if they are actually the character,, and existing in her experiences. For example, Potter and Schaffer relates to the beginning portion of the movie, when the girls are forcibly taken away from their mothers. The camera is shot at child height, in which dramatically expresses the experience as if the audience was in that situation. The book has difficulty in expressing the emotions of the girls in detail, but the movie illustrates a much easier and detailed view of the girls’ adventure.