Man From Snowy River Stereotypes

TERM 4 ENGLISH

ASSESSMENT: ORAL PRESENTATION

HANNAH BAKER

How is the viewer positioned with regards to issues of gender in the Australian film The Man from Snowy River?

“One moment it 's paradise, the next it 's trying to kill you.” (The Man from Snowy River, 1982) Australia is an untameable land that most would not survive, however the quintessential Australian stereotypes thrive in this unforgiving environment. The 1982 Australian film, The Man from Snowy River, directed by George Miller, evidently exhibits the universally recognised gender stereotype of the Australian man; a man considered to be a masculine, indomitable individual who is adept at enduring the struggles that life brings, whilst contradicting the gender stereotype of the

The narrative of the film revolves around the young High Country stockman, Jim Craig, coming of age in which he must prove his worth when a valuable colt escapes the Harrison’s ranch and integrates with a mob of wild brumbies. Jim confronts the Victorian High Country to retrieve the colt and earn Harrison’s headstrong and feminist daughter, Jessica Harrison’s attention (Australian Screen Organisation (ASO), 2015). Jim Craig enhances the gender stereotype of the Australian man throughout the narrative, after being considered a ‘lad’ and a ‘mountain fella’ amongst the High and Low Country stockman, Jim, determined to be seen as a man, sets out to prove his worth through hard work and determination whilst living off the bare minimum. The Australian gender stereotype is prominent throughout the narrative with Jim being considered knowledgeable of the unforgiving terrain and possessing, “The mongrel quality of the mountain people”, which enables him to be a skilled tracker and stockman. Jim and the other stockman throughout the narrative display the stereotypical dry humour and concept of mateship, as they work off the arduous Australian land (Springfield College), with Spur a family friend of the Craig’s stating that “It’s a hard country, makes for hard men.” (The Man from Snowy River, 1982) Jim after impulsively charging down a steep valley to capture the escaped colt is reconsidered by the High and Low Country stockmen with their attitudes towards him expressing a newfound admiration saying, “He is not a lad…he’s a man. He is a man. The man from Snowy River.” (The Man from Snowy River, 1982) Jessica Harrison challenges the gender stereotype that Australian women are known for their frailty and their fulfilment of their expected domestic roles, in her feminist attitudes, behaviour and in the way she