Analyzing World Cultures- Australian (Essay Sample)

Analyzing World Cultures- Australian Name Institution Analyzing World Cultures- Australian Since its inception in the 1960s, the Australian film industry has always had culture as one of its primary themes. Some of the best movies depicting the Australian culture include Australia (2008) and Muriel's Wedding (1994). Both films have performed excellently commercially are widely popular in Australia. The film, Australia, is an epic romantic film directed by Baz Luhrmann. It is the second highest grossing film in Australia and one that has featured the Australian culture prominently. Firstly, the movie showcases the cultural diversity of Australia. The Australian community is highly diversified with many races and ethnicities. The film features characters representing the indigenous tribes such as the Aborigines. The film shows the lives of the Aborigines under their local leadership within their kingdom. Agriculture also features prominently in the film, most notably cattle rearing in the farm managed by Fletcher. Apparent racial discrimination also features in the film when a woman of Aboriginal origin dies for being denied access to medical assistance due to her cultural background. The film shows that in as much as Australia faces challenges with discrimination and murder, there are many cultural elements such as strong family ties and love that hold the community close together. Muriel's wedding is a 1994 film produced by P. J. Hogan. The movie's story follows through the life of Muriel, whose ambition to have a glamorous wedding despite being socially awkward due to her obese condition. The film shows the perception of Australians towards obesity, beauty, and fashion. Muriel is highly ridiculed for her looks and fashion sense. The film also touches on elements of corruption as seen through Muriel's father, who is a politician. This shows the perception of Australians towards rogue politicians. Most importantly, the film demonstrates the perception of feminism and the family in the Australian culture. Australian culture is more or less similar to the culture in other western countries such as the US and Britain (Pekerti&Sendjaya, 2010). Both Australia and the West share a lot in common including the English language, British colonialism, similar government systems, and cultural diversity (Meldrum, Liamputtong&Wollersheim, 2014). Australia has attracted immigrants from all over the world, contributing to the country's enormous cultural diversity. Therefore, the Australian culture features a diverse lifestyle concerning modern foods, music, and other cultural practices. Nevertheless, this diversity and growing population have also raised numerous challenges such as racism and ethnicity, murder and other crimes, as well as insecurity in certain parts of the country. Australian art, music, and language have developed over the years to their distinct nature through movements. These include the Heidelberg school of painters, and bush balladeers such as Banjo Paterson, whose works in poetry helped to create a different Australian literature while also promoting egalitarian Australian outlook (Sotiriadou, Gowthorp, & De Bosscher, 2014). Also, Australia features several elements such as sports activities like rugby, football, and cricket, which were borrowed from the West, but are popular in the country. There are several similarities between the Australian culture and my culture. For example, here are similar...