Accentuate the 'Negative': Reality and Race in Australian Film Reviewing

This article examines the ways in which Australian newspaper film reviewers interpret cinematic representations of Aboriginality. It points out that reviewers use the language of 'realism' in order to insist that the reality of indigenous life in Australia is one of suffering and disempowerment, refusing alternative understandings of indigenous culture and survival. alternative representations of indigenous 'reality' are considered, and the importance of this question for indigenous/non-indigenous relations in Australia is addresse