Talk:Sweet Country (2017 film)

Meat pie western

Don’t really see how this applies, except at the loosest use of the term, which is anything vaguely comparable to a western filmed in Australia; i.e. a definition so broad as to be almost meaningless. Qwirkle (talk) 02:18, 22 May 2019 (UTC)

Agree. I guess it was just a mis-STEAK. Lugnuts ^{Fire Walk with Me} 07:42, 22 May 2019 (UTC)

Such is life. I don't think I'd heard the term until a couple of days ago, but found many sources referring to this film as one of them - so also updated the article itself in an attempt to clarify what the term is supposed to encompass. Here on Wikipedia we don't include our opinions, we just faithfully reproduce what other people have written... Laterthanyouthink (talk) 11:05, 22 May 2019 (UTC)

No. We here on wikipedia are supposed to faithfully represent the informed consensus, and that sometimes means giving greater weight to some sources than others, and noting whether most sources make a claim, or only a fringe minority. Big, big, difference. Qwirkle (talk) 12:15, 22 May 2019 (UTC)

Yes, I understand that. I meant informed consensus, in this case represented by film critics and journalists (and yes, I know that they're not all equal). I have not yet come across a dissenting voice on this one, nor any grounds to rule it out of the category though, and many sources which use the term. It would be nice to find an opinion specifically on the genre by David Stratton, but I don't have access to his review and I don't think he mentions it anyway. (Personally I'm not a huge fan of Westerns, and think that meat pie Western is a particularly silly moniker even for more straightforward examples of the Australian genre, but that's just my opinion.) Happy to add "or drama", or "although not in the classic tradition" or something along those lines, in the lead, as those ideas are expressed in the sources. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 12:46, 22 May 2019 (UTC)

Attempted justification of slavery

There are two instances of Aboriginals being referred to as “farm workers” or “workers”.

I feel that this is ignoring the blatant fact that in early 20th century Australia these people were clearly slaves to the British empire.

I suggest that both of these instances be changed to the word “slaves” and also where Fred is called their “employer”, this should be changed to “master” or something equivalent.

Furthermore the term “hostile” used to describe the Aboriginal people (who had lived on this land for approximately 65,000 years), whose ceremony was interrupted by the white invaders, should also be changed as this implies that these people were in the wrong which is clearly incorrect. I suggest changing “hostile” to “rural”. GG2020SOR (talk) 01:31, 29 January 2022 (UTC)

GG2020SOR, I understand your objections, but there is a lot of complexity to the level of exploitation and racism towards Aboriginal people in different places in colonial Australia, and this article is about a film, not an historical analysis. As such, we stick to sources, the plot, and/or how language is used in the film, and there was no reference to slavery in the film, nor in any review. To refer to slaves evokes for most people ownership and value put onto the slave labour, with people being chained, bought and sold, as was the case in the U.S. In Australia, there was lots of exploitation, and people being "paid" with food, clothing and housing, but IMO, especially in the context of this film, it is misleading to refer to slavery. Sam had a kindly boss, who may well have been paying him, for all the viewer knows.

I have changed the phrasing from "hostile" to "Aboriginal warriors", as this seems like a better neutral description. BTW, are you aware that "Aboriginals" is a deprecated term these days? Aboriginal is the adjective, so it is usual to refer to Aboriginal people. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 03:04, 17 November 2022 (UTC)