Area of Study Essay.

Paper One Section Three

The evolution of each individual is fertilised by their experiences of and
response to discovery. The extent of discovery is determined by the willingness
to embrace the process of discovery and the connections made with places and
people. Discoveries may be planned, as was the journey undertaken by the
participants of Ivan OMahoneys documentary Go Back To Where You Came
From (2008). Else, discoveries can be unplanned and evoked by curiosity, as
was the experience of Fat Maz in Tim Wintons short story Distant Lands (1987).
Discoveries have the ability to be intensely meaningful and transformative of
ones perspective.
The evolution of human perceptivity may begin in an environment that
stimulates new experiences with the potential to impel discoveries.
OMahoneys documentary opens with archival footage of Australian television
reporting on the issue of asylum seekers, involving prejudices and opinion. The
purpose of this is twofold. The archival footage gives contextual information to a
responder about the circumstance that stimulates the necessity of discovery,
but also makes this particular issue appear grounded in reality. Each participant
is introduced through indirect interviews and they each hold some form of
political or ideological stance. Jump cutting between participants reveals how
each of their opinions conflict. This juxtaposition reflects a cross section of
society. This way a responder may be able to identify with a participant and
experience the discovery as it occurs.
Racial prejudice is also a platform for discovery in Distant Lands. The girl
they call Fat Maz is reminded of the regularity of her day as the greyhound bus
passes daily going North to the city. The bus is a metaphor for the banality of
routine in her life, thus describing the situation that has stimulated her
consequent discovery. Furthermore, the bus going to the city indicates that she
lives in the country, stereotypically sheltered from the modern acceptance
stimulated in metropolitan areas. The introduction of a Pakistani character
encourages the protagonist to fear that if her racist father knew, he would have
thrown him out. Both Fat Maz and the participants of Go Back To Where You
Came From are sheltered and unchallenged in their Australian environment,
thus the foundation of their growth as individuals and the platform for discovery
is revealed.
The influence of discovery may not necessarily be determined by the level
of planning involved. The willingness of one to be ideologically receptive and to
make connections with places and people determines more directly the degree
to which a significant discovery influences the evolution of the individual. The
discoveries experienced in Go Back To Where You Came From were evoked by a
careful planning process. The voice of God narration provided by Colin Friels
follows the journey of the participants and explains the significance of any given
scene. At the beginning of the documentary, Adam Hartup is introduced in a
close up shot and indirect interview. The mise-en-scene of the beach
background supports Adams claims to being a shire boy before stating that
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all boat people are criminals. Similarly, a close up shot of Darren introduces
him as a believer that all people who arrive here by boat, without
documentation should be immediately expatriated. The high modality
indicates that Darren is not very willing to be ideologically receptive to
ethnographical discoveries. Conversely, although Adam calls asylum seekers
criminals he does admit through dialogue that he is apprehensive. His word
choice indicates that he recognises that he is not above the situation and is
receptive to the way the carefully planned journey may affect him.
The difference in willingness to make connections between the two
participants is highlighted in the Malaysian night raids scene. Cinema verite,
militaristic music, handheld camera and night vision allow the responder
to appreciate the circumstances that gave rise to discoveries. A close up shot of
Adams face reveals the devastation he is witnessing and indicates how the
discovery of the treatment of asylum seekers in Malaysia has both surprised and
challenged him. Contrary to Adams experience, Darren only makes a direct
comment on how impressed he was by the size of the convoy, he remarks, 3040 vehicles in this convoypretty pumpy. The close up shot reveals his smile.
Adam makes a discovery that challenges his views far earlier than Darren
because he was ideologically aware and willing to make connections with people
and places. Through dialogue, he states if I were one of themId get on a
boat. Darren only begins to appreciate the complexity of the asylum seeker
issue after speaking with Wasmis grandmother. A close up shot reveals the
surprising truth he speaks with about the discovery that challenged his original
stance when he states of the question of what to do about the Australian asylum
seeker issue, it is a difficult question to answer. The difference in response to
the surprising and challenging discoveries made by Adam and Darren is
determined by their initial willingness to make connections.
An intensely meaningful discovery is revealed in Distant Lands, which was
not evoked by a careful planning process, but of a spontaneous eruption of
wonder and curiosity. The evolution of Fat Mazs perception of circumstance is
directly influenced by her attitude towards making connections with people. The
Pakistani man enters the newsagency at lunch time to read the paperback book,
Distant Lands. The books becomes a motif for the intensely meaningful yet
mute relationship between Fat Maz and the Nescafe coloured man. The book
is symbolic of the distant lives that the two characters come from, yet it is the
symbol that unites them. The third person limited omniscient narrator can
reveal the attitudes of Fat Maz before and after the meeting of the Pakistani
man. Before the man is introduced, she could feel herself getting fatter every
day. This unhappiness explains the platform from which the discovery
eventuates. After the man becomes regular, the narration admits that she
had never felt this tacit understanding with anyone before. The discovery of
the connection she makes is surprising because something so challenging to the
way of thinking is fostered in such a sterile environment. The $50 note that he
gives her at the end of the short story is symbolic of the discovery she has
made that Fat Maz has reason to speculate about future possibilities. Fat Maz
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was always willing to make connections with the Nescafe man, because he was
introduced as an element that would fragment her banal environment. Although
the discovery of Fat Maz was not evoked by a careful planning process, the
intensity of her discovery was significant due to her attitude towards the
discovery process as her human perspective evolved.
The evolution of an individual is owed to experiencing discoveries. The
intensity of the surprise and challenge that comes with significant discoveries is
not determined by the process of planning or the unexpected nature of a
situation. Rather, the willingness of one to make connections with places and
people opens opportunity for discovery, to which Go Back To Where You Came
From and Distant Lands are both a testament to. From a point of initial existence
that provides a platform for discovery, individuals make discoveries that are
transformative of themselves and their perspectives.