Satellite Boys

A Journey to Redemption Brenden Fletcher enforces the importance of male role models in families in the film Mad Bastards (Ryan Dennis) The Indigenous genre in recent Australian films have been depicted as falsely represented. Prime examples being recent Australian films Satellite Boy (directed by Catriona McKenzie) and Australia (directed by Baz Luhrmann). Though they are world-renowned the representation of the Indigenous genre shown through these films have been criticised as shallow. However Mad Bastards (2011) directed by Brendan Fletcher gives an insight of a unique yet accurate portrayal of Indigenous genre by the usage of the characters, the setting, the music and their connections to their land. It manages to be what many Australians films are not, gritty and confronting. A
As TJ journeys towards his family, he runs into a man named Uncle Black (Douglas Macale) who is significant in helping TJ through his troubles. TJ quoting in one of their conversations that he had “a little man inside of him with an axe”, showing his more caring and sensitive side. Another character that TJ has a certain fondness for was his aunty who supplied him with money whenever he ran out. In the film everyone who were Indigenous referred to one another as ‘uncle’, ‘brother’ or ‘cousin’ and the elderly were treated with the utmost respect. This further reinforces Fletcher’s idea of family importance and how male role models such as Uncle Black are people who can be relied on. TJ shows a clear hateful approach for authority figures. When he visited his brother in prison, he disrespects a policeman, remarking “just another f***ing man in uniform”. But later on in the film, TJ has to take responsibility for Bullet, and in order to do that, he had to accept the authority figures who he disliked