Here is an example of some of the opening night sort of Australian Programming. ( I think this must have been from some modern Australian programming looking back to 1956. I thought it almost rude of the native gentleman at the end to laugh and make fun of the woman. I think for a white woman at that time, it is rather fine of her to care about the native culture and to want to study it. We may speak a language not our own with an accent, but it is hardly fitting to poke fun at it.)
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Wednesday, September 22, 2010
22 September 1956 “TV for Australia, the 1956 View of Tomorrow, and Fun Well Behaved Teens”
This month, on the 16th to be exact, Australia finally joined the ranks of TV viewers. It began on the 16th this year, 1956, broadcasting from TCN-9 Sydney. That is where the first TV tower was built in Australia.
Here is an example of some of the opening night sort of Australian Programming. ( I think this must have been from some modern Australian programming looking back to 1956. I thought it almost rude of the native gentleman at the end to laugh and make fun of the woman. I think for a white woman at that time, it is rather fine of her to care about the native culture and to want to study it. We may speak a language not our own with an accent, but it is hardly fitting to poke fun at it.)
While we are on the subject of tv, I thought I would share this little short. It was made by GM, but has some interesting fashions, home and cars. There is a fun part where she is in the ‘kitchen of tomorrow’ so space age. And her costumes for tennis, golf and swimming are adorable. Just a fun little piece to watch.
Here is also a darling film about auto safety. It is worth a watch to see the kitchen (wonderful red stove) great outfits and really well-behaved people, especially teens.
Until tomorrow, Happy Homemaking.
Here is an example of some of the opening night sort of Australian Programming. ( I think this must have been from some modern Australian programming looking back to 1956. I thought it almost rude of the native gentleman at the end to laugh and make fun of the woman. I think for a white woman at that time, it is rather fine of her to care about the native culture and to want to study it. We may speak a language not our own with an accent, but it is hardly fitting to poke fun at it.)
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Hi, after reading this post I actually felt angry. As a white Australian I can understand why the Aboriginal man laughed, we took their children to grow up in white families, did not allow aboriginals to vote and general treated the Aboriginal people very badly. For a white woman who was probably upper middle class to sing a Aboriginal song would be insulting and especially if it had to do with "mens business" .
ReplyDeleteWhile I understand your comments are your opinion and are free to be expressed you might want to understand how sensitive an issue this is in Australia and is still causing a great deal of distress to the Aboriginals.
yes, what the woman did is disrespectful, but she is a product of her time and was sincere about it. At least we have apologised to the stolen generation for the damage we have caused.
ReplyDeleteOn a completely different note, my grandfather worked for the t.v. station 7. He was one of the first people in his street to get a t.v. My Nana refsed to get a table or anything to put the t.v. on as she was sure it would never catch on, so it sat on a fruit box. I believe all the street gathered in their sitting room to watch the Melbourne Olympics on it - on situation where television brought everyone together.
Kylie-I certainly didn't mean to offend and it is true, I don't really know the situation, as I have never been to Australia. We, here in the USA, also have such strained relations with the native people. What is sad, however, is the local natives in this part of MA seem to want to have very little to do with their actual heritage. My friend is dating a son of the local tribe and he was saying how there is only one old woman left who can speak their language and none of the young kids nor even people as old as in their 50/60's want to learn. I think there is room for understanding on both sides. What I found amazing was a white woman wanting to know and to understand the natives. Isn't that merely someone making a move that took decades to happen to more people later? So much of what is PC today is almost about just being cruel back to the children of the older generations. It is a very hard to comprehend situation. We certainly could not all move out of the usa and leave the land nor could you do so with the natives, so an understanding of mutual respect needs to exist on both sides. My comment was to simply show how flippant we can be today. I am sorry you were offended.
ReplyDeleteElise-That is a good way of looking at it. Though I still don't understand how it is disrespectful that the white woman tried to learn the aboriginal song? Again, I am not Australian and know little about it, so I am asking to honestly know and understand and not to be facetious.
I love that story of the TV on the fruit crate.
50s gal - a lot of indigenous culture has things that are specifically for men or specifically for women. The didgeridoo, for example, should only be played by men. Cerremonial singing is also only performed by men. Women sing in informal places.
ReplyDeleteelise-thanks for letting me know that. I really did mean no offense.
ReplyDeleteI do hope, however, that the modern indigenous people allow their women to sing ceremonial, just as we now allow our women to be doctors and lawyers. Is that so, do you know?
Donna, I absolutely loved the, "Cars of the future", dream video. Wasn't that fun? All her cotume changes and the simply hilarious song at the end. Plus the really neat freeway city-scape in the back ground. Thanks for this post. '56 was certainly a foreward thinking year.
ReplyDeleteJulie in Wa
Actually there was a movie with Nicole Kidman which came out in the past few years, and in it the children of the indigenous population were taken away, just like we attempted to do so here in North America.
ReplyDeleteA very sad state indeed, I have nothing but the upmost respect for the First Nations, on my grandfather's side his Grandma Poupard was a Metis. To look at me you would never guess, I look like my father's British Isles side.
It's sad to see a way of life held sacred for generations diminish because of the influence of the Western culture so to speak, I hope that some of this can be retained..........
Mom in Canada
I hope I didn't offend anyone.......
The Aboriginals are very protective of their culture and any attempts at white people to "share" it with others are generally spurned. This past winter there was a Russian ice-dance pair that did an Aboriginal interpretive dance and the Aboriginals threatened to sue them. They also got into big trouble with the ISU over their horrid costumes. If I was Aboriginal I would have been insulted by that too.
ReplyDeleteThe Cajun language is being lost too. Which is really sad. It's a very lively variation of French and so many people don't know it anymore. But the federal government tried to stamp it out, just as they did with the Indian languages. (they prefer to be called American Indians, not Native Americans)
Isn't it interesting how different peoples view their own culture and its preservation. The local public schools tried, at one point, to offer the local native language, but the other members of the tribe forbid it. I, as a westerner, find this strange. We, as a culture, are all about preserving and documenting our language and history. But, indeginous tribes such as the American Indian and I am sure the tribes in Australia and also African tribes were culturally not set up to do so. Their histories were kept and passed down through song and tales, many having no written language. So, it must be hard for them, themselves being of course westernized, having computers and books and such, yet not wanting these means to preserve their remaining heritage. It is a sad state in some ways and I understand what might seem simple to me, use the current culture to record save and pass on your old culture, may not gel with them. And, as always, none of we ladies and gentleman here would ever intentionally mean to spurn or offend any culture or group. I think, as I become more and more 1950's in my way of thinking, am finding it even harder to understand the current PC attitudes. That does not mean I am becoming a bigot, but instead am viewing the world in a way that seems foreign today. I am not sure how I shall deal with this as I slowly re-acclimate myself to the 21st century. I haven't a clue.
ReplyDeleteI have less than no tolerance for 99% of the PC-nonsense. Been that way my whole life and the older I get the harder it is to listen to. It's ridiculous and only contributing to MORE division. Not less. Also, it makes no sense. You're definitely not becoming a bigot. You're learning how to see the world for what it truly is, and not the way the media tells you it is. There's a big difference and far too many people have lost the ability to do that.
ReplyDeleteAs a writer I hope we never lose the importance of the written word. But how does one adapt a verbal culture to a written culture? That's a real conundrum.