This advertisement appeared in the Weekend Australian Magazine Dec 8th-9th, advertising the Weekend Australian itself. I had to photograph the ad as it was the only one that didn’t appear in the online version of the magazine. The center text reads ‘Take a Broader View’ and the tag-line below ‘The Weekend Australian’ in bottom right corner reads ‘The Heart Of The Nation’.
I tore it out and stuck it on the fridge and have spent the last few weeks thrusting it in the general direction of all our unfortunate and uninterested guests, demanding to know their opinion of it.
Here’s mine:
The tag ‘heart of nation’ takes on so many connotations when combined with this imagery. The excellence of the journalism – or getting to the heart of the matter, addressing those issues closest to the nation’s heart (think of the children Mr Brough), the nation’s physical heart – ‘The Red Centre’ and finally the nation’s future and heart – our children.
I’m not sure what it is that leads me to the assumption that the child pictured is male – in fact, after weeks of thinking about it, it only occurs to me now that I made that assumption. What was your first impression? I was going to make the argument that putting a male child at the centre of a picture with ‘the heart of the nation’ written beneath it is evidence of implicit patriarchy – however perhaps my own subconscious prejudices have just been exposed!
I think the choice of two women in the picture is very deliberate – if either one of the adults were male it would take on a whole different set of meanings – especially given the recent sexual abuse cases in Aboriginal communities that have attracted so much media coverage.
I think the woman’s legs (and I do think they belong to a woman, though others disagree) intentionally verge on gender neutrality – it implies a sensible, intellectual, readership and by not being too “feminine” doesn’t exclude male readers. I imagine them connected to an equally conservatively and well dressed body reclining in armchair some where in Sydney (again with my own prejudices!).
The positioning – even the inclusion! – of the legs leads me to the most disturbing aspect of the advertisement – the representation of race and class. The white woman is clearly outside the picture looking in – the faceless observer ‘taking a broader view’ as the text implores us. This positioning forces a very clear distinction.
The Aboriginal woman and child are part of the ‘issue’, a news item and therefore, by default, are not part of the Weekend Australian’s readership – desired or actual it would seem. The dichotomy is obvious and deliberate. White Australians are the readers, Indigenous Australians are the read about.
This ad invites the Weekend Australians readership, who the advertisers presume are, and actively represent as, white middle class Australians, to sit back, take in the ‘broad’ expanse of the red centre, the outback (because ‘real’ Aborigines live in the desert) and inform themselves thoroughly. The informed and the information.
The black child runs happily in the red sand while his mother looks on lovingly and white Australia watches them both from the privileged position of anonymous judgment.
There is obviously a lot more I could say – especially about the representation of race, Australian nationalism, and gender too – so pretty much all of it really – but I will try contain myself. Would really like to hear what others think of it – do any of you find it as disturbing as I do? Does it remind anyone else of an ad for the National Geographic channel (watch the natives from the comfort of your own home!)?
Let me know.
