Language forms and features in 'Go Back to Where You Came from'

Interviews

The interviews serve to show their values and opinions of the participants and how they change as they experience the life of a refugee. For example, when the participants are introduced, we get a clear sense of their values from the beginning. As viewers, we are therefore able to measure how the characters’ perspective change or stay the same. In the opening interviews, Raye says that she thought it served the ‘bastards right’ who were affected by the ship that crash off Christmas Island and Roderick says that he fears being seen as a ‘huge lefty’. Raquel tells us that she is a ‘bit racists’ and that she doesn’t like ‘Africans’ and Darren says that people who come by boat illegally should be ‘immediately expatriated’. Gleny thinks Australia has the ‘capacity’ to take ‘more refugees’ and Adam says that we are ‘spending millions of dollars housing ‘these’ criminals’. With the exception of Gleny, almost all participants are prejudiced against refugees.

As the episodes progress, the participants become more aware of the plight of refugees. In Episode 1, After Maisara’s story Raquel reflects that she is not sure how she would cope being in the country the Masudi family come from and experiencing something like Maisara did. She has empathy as she feels that seeing something like what Maisara described would be distressing. When Adam comes out of the detention centre, he says that he experienced a ‘reality check’ as he spoke to people who are experiencing a hopeless situation. He talks about one man who has had his application denied several times and said he would commit suicide rather than return to Iraq. The man tells him that rioting is not far off at the detention centre. There is another shot of the moon in the distance. This shows that his attitude that the refugees deserve the harsh treatment they receive has shifted to a more compassionate perspective.

The footage of the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre gives the insight into the tortured state of many of the people who live there. The narrator tells us that Wasmi visits here and he wants the group to visit his friends. The narrator tells us that in the last 9 months 3 detainees have committed suicide and 18 have self-harmed themselves. The group reflects on their experiences speaking to the detainees. They are all affected by the experience. Gleny says that she felt the hopelessness of one of the person she spoke to and Adam experiences a ‘reality check’.

Activity

1. Analyse how the interviews represent ideas about discovery. An example has been completed for you.

Modelled response

In Episode 2, as the male participants work in the fields with the refugees, they are shocked by the harsh conditions they refugees work under. Adam asks how much the men get paid, to which he is told that the workers are volunteers. This confuses Adam. In exchange, they get food and shelter. They don’t look for work outside, as they are afraid of getting arrested. As Adam hoes the ground, his anger at their predicament rises. He empathises with them, comparing men at home who have a ‘pay check to go home to’ and these men who ‘have nothing’. The medium shot of him with his head to the ground, not looking at the camera shows that he is deeply affected by the injustice.