Constructing Aboriginal Australian's Historic Past in Australian Films

Abstract

Culture is a dynamic entity learned through several social institutions. While books, a social institution, used to serve as the major space which educated citizens about culture, in a digital media age, media is considered a social institution that plays a strong role in reinforcing the beliefs, values, and norms that influence cultural beliefs. Of the various forms of media, movies on streaming services and their characteristics of creating a more lively and global impact took over the educational aspect of books. In spite of the growing relevance of media to cultural studies, there has been an ongoing debate on how media represents the cultures and the history of a community. Hence, this study investigates the media depiction of Aboriginals in three award-winning Australian Aboriginal movies released in the 21st century on the most popular streaming service in Australia- Netflix. Agenda setting theory has been combined with theoretical understandings of culture to understand the correlation between media, culture, and education.