A STUDYGUIDE BY KATY MARRINER

http://www.metromagazine.com.au

ISBN: 13-978-1-74295-250-5 http://www.theeducationshop.com.au

EPISODE 1

Six households. One street.

Redfern Now explores contemporary inner city indigenous life. Over six extraordinary episodes, the series portrays

life in the suburb of Redfern in Sydney, New South Wales. ‘Family’, ‘Joyride’, ‘Raymond’, ‘Stand Up’, ‘Sweet Spot’ and

‘Pretty Boy Blue’ offer compelling and challenging stories of ordinary people whose lives are changed by a quirk of fate.

Redfern Now is the first drama series written, directed and produced by Indigenous Australians. The series was

developed by UK screenwriter Jimmy McGovern and produced by Blackfella Films.

Episode running time: 60 minutes2

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SERIES KEY CREATIVES‘We would like to acknowledge the generous and continued support of the Aboriginal leaders, authorities and communi-ty of Redfern. We have assembled an astonishingly talented team of Indigenous writers and directors and some of the best actors in the country to create what we think will be some of the most powerful, heartfelt and dramatic televi-sion of the year.’ – Darren Dale

‘We drove the writers into the ground,’’ he says. ‘’Two four-hour sessions every day, just talking story; burrowing down, asking is this exciting, is this convincing? And because part of the exercise was to bring on Aboriginal writers, we had to make sure that they wrote every word.’ – Jimmy McGovern

Jimmy McGovern | Story Producer

With his writing often based on real events or socially vital issues, Liverpool-born Jimmy McGovern has built a formi-dable reputation writing powerful dramas for the stage and screen. McGovern’s writing credits read like a list of classic television. Having honed his skill working on Brookside, his major breakthrough came with Cracker, one of the best-loved UK TV shows of recent history. McGovern’s other television credits include The Accused (Series 1 and 2) and The Street (Series 1–3), as well as Gunpowder, Treason and Plot, Sunday, Dockers, The Lakes, Heart and Hillsborough.

A detailed biography of Jimmy McGovern can be accessed at British Film Institute Screen Online – http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/510555/

CURRICULUM LINKSRedfern Now is suitable for secondary students in Years 9 – 12. The series given its insight into the present experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, provides opportunities for students to engage in discussions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identity and belonging and to examine the influences of family, kinship, community, place, culture and mainstream Australian society.

For students in Years 9 - 10, Redfern Now has relevance to units of work in

the learning areas of English and History and addresses the cross curriculum priority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures. The series can also be used to teach the general capabilities of Intercultural Understanding and Ethical Behaviour.

For students in Years 11 – 12, Redfern Now has rele-vance to units of work in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Australian History, Cultural Studies, English, Health and Human Development, Literature, Media, Religion and Society, and Sociology.

Redfern Now can be examined as film as text or made part of thematic units of work Teachers may also use the film to discuss and analyse the issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The series offers stories of indigenous Australians told by indigenous Australians, allowing students to develop an awareness and appreciation of Indig-enous storytelling and to see the issues affecting Indigenous Australians from and Indigenous per-spective.

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Darren Dale | Producer

Darren Dale has been a company director of Blackfella Films, Australia’s premier Indigenous production company, for over ten years. In 2008 Dale, together with his business partner Rachel Perkins, produced the landmark multiplat-form history series First Australians, broadcast on SBS to over 2.3 million viewers. In 2011, Dale produced the feature documentary The Tall Man for SBS, based on the award-winning book by Chloe Hooper. Dale has produced a number of acclaimed short films and documentaries that between them have screened at the Sundance, Aspen, Edinburgh, Toronto and Palm Springs International Film Festivals. The 2010 SBS documentary Lani’s Story was the recipient of a United Nations Media Peace Award. Dale also co-curated with Perkins the film program for the Message Sticks Indigenous Festival at the Sydney Opera House from 2002 until 2011. Most recently Dale produced, with Miranda Dear, the critically acclaimed film Mabo. Dale currently serves on the board of Screen NSW and the Council of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.

Miranda Dear | Producer

Producer Miranda Dear began her career with UK public broadcaster Channel 4 moving from Music & Arts through to Acquisitions where she became Senior Film Buyer. In 1997, Dear moved to Australia as Acquisition and Produc-tion Consultant and negotiated the channel’s involvement in a number of film funding and acquisition initiatives. In 2000, Dear joined SBS Independent as Senior Commissioning Editor Drama. Her commissions included Harvie Krumpet, RAN (Remote Area Nurse), and the long-form drama fea-tures So Close to Home, Jewboy, Martha’s New Coat and Roy Hollsdotter Live. She was the SBS Commissioning Edi-tor for the feature films Look Both Ways, Ten Canoes, Som-ersault, Australian Rules, Walking on Water and Tracker, and also for a number Indigenous drama initiatives which included Warwick Thornton’s Mimi and Green Bush, Beck Cole’s Flat and Plains Empty, and Wayne Blair’s Black Talk and The Djarn Djarns. In 2005, Dear joined ABC TV first as an executive producer and then as Head of Drama. There she executive produced a number of programs including Rake (Series 1), Sisters of War, 3 Acts of Murder, Curtin, Dirt Game, Bed of Roses, The Librarians, Rain Shadow, East of

Everything, Bastard Boys, Valentine’s Day, and The Silence. She was the ABC commissioning editor for the feature films Samson & Delilah, Bran Nue Dae, Here I Am and Eye of the Storm, and the short film series The New Black. Dear also commissioned the series The Slap, The Straits, Paper Giants and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. Since 2010, Dear has worked with Blackfella Films and most recently produced, with Darren Dale, Mabo.

Sally Riley | ABC TV Executive Producer

Since March 2010, Sally Riley has been the Head of ABC TV’s Indigenous Department. Previously Riley was Head of Screen Australia’s Indigenous Unit for nine years. Over that period she was integral to the development of Indigenous Australian filmmaking. Riley has also been responsible for developing and overseeing the production of a significant body of short films, documentaries and feature films, and she has fostered the development of a new generation of Indigenous filmmakers. One of Riley’s major achievements during her time at Screen Australia was her contribution to the development, financing and production of Warwick Thornton’s award-winning film Samson & Delilah. An experi-enced filmmaker, Riley’s film, Confessions of a Headhunter, won the AFI Award for Best Short Film in 2000. Riley was awarded the Australian Public Service Medal in 2008 for her services to the development of initiatives that have increased the participation of Indigenous Australians in the film and television industry.

Blackfella Films

Since 1992, Blackfella Films has created innovative and high quality content across documentary and narrative in both short and feature formats, for theatrical, television and online platforms. The company’s award-winning produc-tions distinguish it as a creator of distinctive Australian content. As well as production of screen content, Blackfella Films integrates a niche exhibition outlet for Indigenous content through Blackfella Films Presents and an online directory of Indigenous media and arts called The Black Book.

Visit Blackfella Films online at http://blackfellafilms.com.au/.

Episode Directors: Leah Purcell, Rachel Perkins, Catriona McKenzie, Wayne Blair

Episode Writers: Jon Bell, Michelle Blanchard, Danielle MacLean, Steven McGregor, Adrian Wills

BEFORE VIEWING REDFERN NOW

Indigenous stories

Redfern Now is a landmark in Australian television because it is the first piece of drama produced by the ABC’s Indige-nous Department. In addition, it is the first television drama series that has been produced, written and directed by indigenous filmmakers and has a mostly indigenous cast.

��Make a list of other texts that you have watched, read or listened to that tell the stories of Indigenous Austral-ians.

Did Indigenous Australians create these texts?

Why is it important to experience texts told from an Indigenous Australian perspective?

��What do you know about the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern? Have you ever been to Redfern? What sort of reputation does Redfern have?

Watch the opening credit sequence of Redfern Now. Make a list of everything you see and hear. How does this sequence portray Redfern and the people who live there?

��Working as a class, discuss why the filmmakers chose to set the series in Redfern.

Map the history of Redfern’s indigenous community. Use the Internet to source information and images to create the map. Your map will need a key and annotations to provide a detailed account of Redfern’s past and present. Begin your research at the Australian Bureau of Statistics: http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/POA2016? opendocument&navpos=220. Additional information cn be located at the Redfern Oral History website: http:// redfernoralhistory.org/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx.

��Why call the series Redfern Now? What is achieved by the use of the word ‘now’?

Where is Redfern?Redfern is an inner-city suburb of Sydney with a population of 12,035 people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples make up 2.4% of the population.

The Block is an area of the surburb in the immediate vicinity of Redfern Station bounded by Eveleigh, Caroline, Louis and Vine Streets. The Aboriginal Housing Company (AHC), the first urban Aboriginal community housing provider, used grant money to purchase the houses on the Block. 5

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EPISODE SYNOPSISGrace and Wesley haven’t had a holiday for years. Now they’re off on the holiday of a lifetime with their two chil-dren and the taxi is waiting to take them to the airport. But as Grace races back into the house for one last thing, the phone rings.

It’s her nephew Tyler. His mother, Grace’s sister Lilly, is off her medication, and he and his little sister Maddi are desperate for help. Grace knows she has to go to them as nobody else will, but Wesley can’t believe Lilly is messing things up for them again. Grace promises to be back in time to make the flight, not knowing that Lilly is in no mood to cooperate. Unable to restore order and aware that Lilly needs medical treatment, Grace makes the decision to have her committed.

Grace now has to find somewhere for Tyler and Maddi to stay. She calls Wesley to say that she may still be able to make the flight if she can get one of her other sisters to look after the kids while they’re away. Maddi is taken in but no one will take Tyler. Grace has no choice but to take Tyler home with her. Their long-awaited holiday is off. Grace’s children blame and ostracise Tyler for their plight and Wes-ley is furious.

But the next morning Tyler has disappeared. Wesley wants to leave finding him to the police. He is unable to come to terms with the fact that Grace has put somebody else’s kids before her own, and threatens to leave if she brings Lily’s kids back. Grace eventually finds Maddi and Tyler at the hospital – astonished to discover that they walked ten kilometres to see their mum – something her own spoilt kids would never do for her.

When Grace and the children arrive back home Wesley is packing his bags. Grace follows suit, packing her own case and then leaving with Maddi and Tyler. She takes them home to Redfern, determined that she will be better off looking after Lilly’s children two than her own ungrateful family. When Wesley arrives to ask Grace to come home she initially refuses. An apology from Wesley and the prom-ise of change prompts a reunion.

INTRODUCING THE CHARACTERS

Grace is married to Wesley and has two children Malakai and Jasmine. Grace is Lilly’s older sister and has always looked out her. As the mother of two children, Grace has worked hard to provide a stable and safe environment for her own children but has always felt guilty about the way that Lilly’s children have to live. She could never bring herself to report her sister to Community Services because losing the kids would be devastating for Lilly and would probably make her illness worse. Lilly’s neediness and the fact that Grace can’t say no have always created problems in Grace and Wesley’s relationship.

Wesley is Grace’s husband. Wesley is hard working and is trying to ensure a better future for his own children. He doesn’t have much empathy when it comes to Lilly or her illness. Any understanding he did have diminished along with all the money they have loaned her over the years and never gotten back. He thinks that Grace’s need to fix things for Lilly hasn’t helped, and in fact has made her more dependent. He feels for Tyler and Maddi but not enough to want the responsibility of caring for them.

‘Family’Teachers may select from the following information and activities to support students’ viewing and close analysis of ‘Family’.

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Lilly is Grace’s sister and Tyler and Maddi’s mother. Lilly has suffered with bipolar disorder for most of her adult life. Wary of any form of authority, Lilly relies heavily on her son Tyler to help her cope.

Tyler has had to grow up fast. Much of the responsibility for caring for his ill mother and his younger sister Maddi falls on his shoulders. Tyler is accustomed to dealing with Lilly’s erratic behaviour and does everything he can to keep her disorder under control, monitoring her behaviour and encouraging her to take her medication.

Maddi is Tyler’s younger sister. Tyler shields her from the madness and upheaval that comes with being Lilly’s child. Maddi is happy as long as Tyler is around. He makes her feel safe.

Malakai is Grace and Wesley’s oldest child. Like most boys of his age he is obsessed with playing computer games, argues with his younger sister Jasmine and takes all that he has for granted.

Jasmine is Grace and Wesley’s youngest child. She likes hanging out with Malakai even though all they do is argue. Like Malakai, Jasmine is spoilt.

Helen is Grace and Lilly’s sister. She has always been a

bit of a pushover especially when it comes to her husband Jerome. She would love to help Grace but needs to run everything by Jerome first.

Jerome is married to Grace’s sister Helen. He is selfish and opinionated and never misses the opportunity for a good argument.

Marcia is Grace and Lilly’s sister. She finds Lilly’s illness particularly difficult to deal with and tries to distance herself from it as much as she can.

Evelyn is Grace and Lilly’s sister. Kind hearted but also pragmatic, Evelyn knows that the taking on Lilly’s kids means that you must also take on Lilly and all her prob-lems.

Jon is Evelyn’s husband. He always seems down on his luck and can never seem to hold down a job. He knows that taking on Lilly’s kids is a problem they just don’t need.

Jake is Tyler and Maddi’s father. Jake is a drug addict who has recently found God and cleaned up his act but in order to do this he has left everybody else behind. Jake is living a lie. He is trying to make a new life and pretend the old one doesn’t exist. He has no connection with his children and has done nothing to help Lilly provide for them.

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1. Plot

�� ‘Family’ begins at Grace’s house. Grace is ironing. Four suitcases are set out on the dinner table in front of her. Wesley is watching a rugby league game and is oblivi-ous to his wife and children. The sound of a PlayStation game can be heard from down the hall. Grace and Wes-ley’s children, Malakai and Jasmine are arguing about whose turn it is.

What happens after Grace turns off the PlayStation?

What do we learn about the family during the opening sequence of ‘Family’?

How are we positioned to view each member of the family?

Are there any indications of the conflict to come?

��The next morning Wesley loads the luggage into the boot of the taxi. The family are about to embark on a long-awaited holiday to Bali. Grace is still inside the house, packing her toiletries, stripping the beds, locking the windows and checking that the passports are in her handbag. The phone rings as Grace leaves the house and walks towards the waiting taxi. She decides to ig-nore it. Meanwhile Wesley has realised that Malakai has packed the PlayStation. Wesley hands the PlayStation to Grace and she returns to the house with it.

What happens next and why is this the moment that changes everything?

��Working as a class, make a list of the other key scenes.

Working in a small group, make a detailed analysis of one of the episode’s key scenes.

Use the following questions to make notes about the scene you have selected.

What is the scene about?

Why is the scene significant?

How are production elements used to construct meaning?

�� ‘Family’ ends with Grace, Wesley, Malakai, Jasmine, Tyler and Maddi ready to take a well-earned camp-ing holiday. Grace is just about to close the front door when the phone rings. She looks over to the car where Wesley, Jasmine, Malakai, Tyler and Maddi are waiting.

What happens next?

What ideas are resolved in the closing scene?

Was this the conclusion that you expected?

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2. Characters

��Complete the table by adding a description of each character’s personality traits and by identifying that views that they express and the values that they hold.

Character Personality traits Views and values

Grace

Wesley

Lilly

Malakai

Jasmine

Tyler

Maddi

Helen

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Jerome

Marcia

Evelyn

Jon

Jake

��Draw a family tree that names the characters and that both shows and describes their relationships with each other.

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�� ‘They need to know the truth. They need to know that you’re not perfect, Grace.’ – Lilly

Grace is a strong woman, there is much to admire about her. Do you agree? Lilly is upset and angry when she makes this accusation but what motivates her at-tack?

��Grace: Have you ever made a decision in your entire life?

Wesley: Have you ever let me?

What type of man is Wesley?

��Malakai, Jasmine, Tyler and Maddi are cousins but their lives are very different.

How does the filmmaker make the audience aware that Malakai and Jasmine are spoilt?

‘This is not fair on the kids. They shouldn’t have to see this. They shouldn’t have to live like this.’ – Grace

Tyler and Maddi have had to cope with more than any children should. Do you agree? When were you con-scious of the children as vulnerable? When were you conscious of the children as resilient?

Describe and explain the bond between each pair of brother and sister.

�� ‘I can’t change the past Grace. I just need to start again.’ – Jake

How has Jake lived his life?

��Alec Doomadgee is Wesley.

Doomadgee is a well-known identity in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, with numerous

acting and presenting credits to his name. Use the internet to research Doomadgee’s career. Write a short biography that acknowledges Doomadgee’s achieve-ments.

��Leah Purcell is Grace.

Purcell is one of Australia’s leading actors. Her first pro-fessional break came in 1993 when she was cast in the musical Bran Nue Dae. What other acting roles has Purcell played during her career? Visit Purcell’s website at http://www.leahpurcell.com/ to learn about her other contribu-tions to Australian society?

3. Theme – Mental health

Mental health refers to how people feel about themselves emotionally, socially and spiritually, and about their ability:

to cope with everyday life and stressful events;

to reach the goals they have set out for themselves;

to go to work and work productively;

to be a part of the community they live in.

��What factors in our everyday lives affect our mental wellbeing?

��There is an inequality in mental health between Indig-enous and non-Indigenous Australians that starts from an early age.

Why does this inequality exist?

Why is important that Indigenous Australians can ac-cess culturally specific mental health programs?

Begin your research about the mental health of In-digenous Australians and the programs that they can access for support by visiting the following websites:

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

http://www.aihw.gov.au/indigenous-health/

Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing

http://www.health.gov.au/indigenous

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet

http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/

Share your findings with the class.

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��Tyler: Can you come and talk to Mum?

Grace: Is she taking her tablets?

Tyler: She said she doesn’t need them any-more.

Lilly is rampaging through the house. Grace chooses to answer Tyler’s cry for help and leave her own family waiting in the taxi un-certain of whether they will make it to the air-port. She tells Wesley, ‘I gotta go. I‘m worried about them kids.’ Wesley disagrees, ‘You’re not going anywhere, babe. We’re going on holidays remember?’

Grace claims that she doesn’t have a choice. Is she right to see it this way?

Wesley acquiesces, ‘Look the latest we can go is 11.30, alright? Make sure you’re back.’ Grace leaves, Wesley pays the taxi driver and the kids start complaining.

Write what Grace is thinking as she drives away from her family.

Or

Write the scene that follows Grace’s departure, as Wesley explains to Malakai and Jasmine what has hap-pened to delay their departure.

��When Grace arrives at Lilly’s house, Grace tries to stay calm and talk Lilly round but Lilly doesn’t want her help. Lilly’s mental health has deteriorated because she has not taken her medication.

What moments suggest that Grace has had to manage this type of situation before?

What moments suggest that Lilly is a danger to herself and her children?

When Grace hands Lilly the water and the medica-tion, Lilly pelts the tablets and the glass of water back at Grace. The glass of water just misses Grace’s head smashing against the wall behind her.

Why is Lilly so insistent that she doesn’t need the medi-cation?

�� ‘You’re trying to get me committed. You’re supposed to be my sister. You’re supposed to care.’ – Lilly

Isn’t the fact that Grace is there and does call for medi-cal attention for Lilly prove that she does care?

��Grace: ‘I just got Lilly committed. It was bloody terrible. The kids watching.’

Marcia: ‘Hey, I’m sure you saved them kids from a bloody ugly situation. Somebody had to do it.’

Did Grace make the right decision? Does Marcia’s ap-proval make it easier for Grace to reconcile all that has happened?

4. Theme – Family ties

��What does it mean to be part of a family?

Do you spend time with your extended family? What role do they play in the life of your immediate family?

Write a personal narrative that tells the reader about your clan.

Family, kinship and community play an important role in the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Access data about these relationships online at the Austral-ian Bureau of Statistics: http://www.abs.gov.au/ websitedbs/c311215.nsf/web/Aboriginal+ and+Torres+Strait+Islander+Peoples+-+Family,+Kinship+and+Community. Spend time investi-gating the data and sharing your observations with the class.

��Why does Tyler call his Aunty Grace? Why doesn’t he call his other aunties?

��When the police arrive and take Lilly, Grace is upset but relieved. Grace watches the police vehicle leave and then turns her attention to the children. She calls

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her sister Helen and asks if she will look after Tyler and Maddi. Helen agrees.

What happens when the kids know where they are go-ing? What happens when they arrive?

‘I can’t, I can’t. I’ve got to worry about my kids. You should be worried about yours.’ – Marcia

Marcia is supportive of Grace’s decision to place Lilly in care but she refuses to look after her niece and nephew.

What reason does she give and is it reasonable that she suggests that the family should involve DoCS? Who are DoCS? What are the arguments for and against Mar-cia’s suggestion? Is Marcia heartless?

�� ‘Right. Off to Uncle John and Aunty Evelyn. Oh, you guys’ll have a good time. Righto, quick sticks, let’s go.’ – Grace

Why does Jon refuse to help? Why is Evelyn prepared to take Maddi but not Tyler? Is this fair?

Grace is furious. She rebukes her sister, ‘Oh, I know. Why don’t we just drop him of at a boys’ home and be done with it? And when he’s forty and broken, I hope you’re around to pick up the pieces.’

Why does Grace give in to Evelyn’s ultimatum and separate the children?

��Jake: I’m sorry Tyler. You’ll understand when you’re older.

Grace: No he won’t. Why couldn’t you get your act to-gether for their sake? They needed you. They still need you.

Why won’t Jake take Tyler? Should Grace have even asked?

‘You disgust me. I liked you better when you were a drug addict. At least then you had an excuse for being a lousy father.’ – Grace

Jake may be a lousy father to Tyler and Maddi but is Grace right to speak so bluntly in front of Tyler?

�� ‘What did you want me to do? Let them fend for them-selves. What if it was your family?’ – Grace

When Grace returns home with Tyler and it is clear that there will be no holiday to Bali, Wesley accuses Grace of playing Wonder Women. Is he selfish? Didn’t Grace do what she had to?

�� ‘He won’t bring her back here. You know why? Because I’m the bitch who split them up. Where’s my keys?’ – Grace

When Tyler and Maddi go missing, Grace blames her-self.

Why does Wesley believe that she should leave finding the children to the police?

Why does Grace refuse to see the situation from Wes-ley’s perspective?

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��One of the most important concerns of any community is the health, safety and well being of its children. Whilst parents and carers are responsible for the safety and welfare of children in their care, protecting children from abuse and neglect is the responsibility of the whole community.

Wesley: Look, the police will take them to DoCS and DoCS will find them a family.

Grace: They have a family. We’re their family.

Why is Grace reluctant to place Tyler and Maddie in care?

What type of intervention do you think is in the best interests of Lilly and her children?

Indigenous children and young people are over represented in the child protection and out-of-home care service sys-tems in NSW. There are many reasons for this over repre-sentation, including the ongoing and generational effects of Stolen Generations and the separating of Indigenous children from their families, the increasing effects of pov-erty, drug and alcohol abuse, poor health, poor education, unemployment, discrimination, housing and the disempow-erment of parents and communities.

Keep Them Safe is the NSW Government’s five-year plan to improve the safety and wellbeing of children and young people in NSW. It includes measures to support and work with Indigenous children and families and to reduce the number of Indigenous children coming into contact with the out-of-home care and child protection system.

Learn more about Keep Them Safe online at: http://www.keepthemsafe.nsw.gov.au/initiatives/supporting_ab-original_children_and_families

What other programs have been implemented to strengthen and nurture Indigenous children and fami-lies?

Why is it necessary to have programs that have been specifically designed to address the needs of Indig-enous children and families?

Working with a partner, use the Internet to find out more about a government or non-government organisation responsible for the welfare of indigenous children and families. Use PowerPoint to share your findings with the class. Limit your presentation to ten slides. Make sure that you include words and images in your presentation. You may include audio.

5. Theme – From resentment to respect

�� ‘Malakai give your sister a turn and bring me your run-ners here, please.’

‘Oh Jasmine get away from there, you’ll be burning yourself. Go to bed’

‘You don’t see a bloody thing when the football’s on, do ya Wesley?’

‘I got a husband who won’t lift a finger and two spoilt brats who follow his lead.’

Why does Grace resent her roles as wife and mother?

Given Lilly’s situation, does Grace really have anything to complain about?

Who do Malakai and Jasmine blame when things don’t go their way?

Why does Wesley blame Grace for his failings as a hus-band and as a father?

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�� ‘Just go back to where you’ve come from because I don’t want you here.’ – Lilly

Grace arrives at Lilly’s rundown house and bangs on the door. There is no answer. After a few attempts Lilly finally opens the door and immediately starts on Grace.

Why isn’t Lilly pleased to see Grace? What does she fear? Who does she blame for her predicament?

�� ‘This is what happens when we let Lilly back in our lives, everything turns to shit.’ – Wesley

She was committed last time and it didn’t make a bloody difference. The mad bitch nearly got us evicted.’ – Marcia

‘I hate Aunty Lilly, she ruins everything.’ – Malakai

Who resents Lilly and why? Is their resentment under-standable?

�� ‘You choose to be responsible when it suits you,’ Grace tells Wesley as they argue about her decision to search for Tyler and Maddi.

Is this claim true of other characters?

��Wesley: No. I’m not having those kids back in this house.

Grace: I am.

When Grace returns home from visiting Lilly in hospital

with Tyler and Maddi, Wesley begins packing his be-longings. He is puzzled when Grace grabs her suitcase and starts filling it with clothes.

‘You really think I’m going to let you leave me here with four kids on my own, and two of them your spoilt brats? No way, I’m leaving and I’m taking Lilly’s kids with me.’ – Grace

Grace walks away from her own family.

Was this the right way to tackle her unhappiness? Is Grace’s decision to leave understandable? What does she hope to achieve? When does she come home?

6. Theme – Love is all you need

�� ‘Do it for your kids.’ – Grace

Grace is desperate for Lilly to take her medication. What does Grace’s plea tell us about Grace’s sense of a mother’s love for her children?

‘I love you. And I love them. Don’t get me wrong, I love our kids. But I don’t like them.’ – Grace

Were you shocked when Grace declared that she loved her children but she didn’t like them?

�� ‘They wanted to take you, they did. They got a houseful’ – Grace

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Nobody but Grace wants to take on the care of Tyler and Maddie.

How well do Tyler and Maddie cope with rejection?

Do they think of themselves as unloved?

Why is Grace the one who feels guilty about the chil-dren’s predicament?

��Grace drives the route from her house to Lilly’s house in search of Tyler and Maddi. When she does not find the children, she goes to the hospital to see if Tyler and Maddi are there.

Lilly: How could you do that?

Grace: I was trying to do what was right by your kids and mine.

What does Lilly think of Grace’s decision to separate the children?

Tyler and Maddi are with Lilly. Grace is relieved and amazed. The children have walked ten kilometres to be with their mother. Grace is amazed.

�� ‘You may not think that I’m fit to be a mum, but they do.’ – Lilly

Is Lilly a good mother?

7. Symbols

Symbols are used to add to the viewer’s understanding of the story, a theme or a character. Symbolism can be obvi-ous or subtle.

�� ‘Once upon a time, there was a beautiful duck called Ping and he lived on a boat with his Mum and his Dad and his Aunties and Uncles, and all seventy two cous-ins.’ – Grace

Can you remember reading PIng when you were a child?

The children’s picture storybook Ping can be regarded as a symbol. What meanings can be associated with this symbol?

��What other symbols are used to tell the story, portray characters and establish the key concerns of ‘Family’? Next to each symbol that you have listed explain its significance.

8. Setting

‘Family’ takes us to the homes of Grace and her sisters. We also visit the housing commission flat that is home to Jake and his new family.

��Write a description of each of the homes used to tell the story.

What do Grace and Lilly’s homes reveal about the char-acters and the lives they lead?

Why do we only get as far as the doorsteps and front doors of Helen, Marcia, Evelyn and Jake’s homes?

��Working as a class, make a list of the other settings used to tell the story.

Spend time as a class discussing the significance of each setting.

Write a description of one of the interior settings. Explain how this setting is used to tell the story.

Write a description of one of the exterior settings. Explain how this setting is used to tell the story.

EPISODE KEY CREATIVES

Catriona McKenzie | Director

An experienced television drama director, Catriona McKenzie has recently directed her first feature film Satellite Boy. Graduating from the Australian Film Television and Radio School in 2001, Mc-Kenzie has an outstanding list of credits including Dance Academy, My Place (Series 1 and 2), as well as Satisfaction. McKenzie was also the set-up director for The Circuit, RAN, The Alice and Fire-flies. Her critically acclaimed and award-winning short films include Box, The Third Note, Road and Redfern Beach. McKenzie also wrote and directed the documentary Mr Patterns and directed the half-hour drama Grange for ABC TV.

Danielle MacLean | Writer

Danielle MacLean is an Indigenous writer, direc-tor and producer from Darwin. She directed many CAAMA productions before writing and directing For Who I Am: Bonita Mabo, My Colour Your Kind and the award-winning drama Queen of Hearts.

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