(GBTWYCF) is a documentary that shows the viewers a message and ideas conveys about refugees. It shows six Australians goes on a journey in reverse to discover what refugees go through to get to a safer place. These six Australians are taken on a 25 day journey where they are placed into the troubled “worlds” of refugees. For a few of the Australians it is their first time overseas but, for all of them it is the most challenging and confronting experience of their lives. Most of the six Australians had negative thoughts about refugees and why they come to our country “99.9% refugees are criminals” Adam recalled, “when the boat crashed I thought serves the bastards right” Raye said but Gleny thought different “we could probably bring more refugees into the country”. So most of them did have there thoughts about refuges but by the end of the documentary it shows that they all have I different thought from what they had from the start and I think that what would happen to the viewer as well.
One of the main techniques used in the documentary was to present the stories of the six Australians using a “reality TV” format. The camera was an observer of the reactions and raw emotions showed from the Australians as they experienced first-hand the troubles of many refugees. We see this clearly when they are on the asylum seeker boat. A heated argument broke out between Raye and Raquel, stress levels were high when the boat started to sink. Through this technique characterisation is developed and we follow the changes in the six Australians’ views and attitudes as they live with and get to know refugees in Australia, Malaysia, Africa, Jordan and Iraq. “I guess I am a bit racist, I just don’t like black people.” However, by the end of the first episode Raquel reaches out and comforts Maisara, from the Congo, “You’re a lovely lady. You don’t deserve this.” We see this characterisation develop in all of the characters with the exception of Darren who remains fixed that asylum seekers decision to come by boat is wrong. Another technique used in the documentary to challenge the viewers’ assumptions was the use of narration to present facts about the refugee situation. These facts and figures give the viewers a truthful and realistic picture of the situation. Some beliefs that exist in Australian society are that we are taking in too many refugees; they are criminals, they are taking over Australia, Finally, camera angles and shots were used cleverly to draw the viewer into the journey of the six Australians and the lives of the refugees. Close-ups were used to capture emotions and feelings of the characters. For example, during the immigration raid in Malaysia, close-up camera shots showed the fear, confusion and also shock on the six Australians.
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