Visible Only Behind Bars: How Indigenous Australian Women Reframe and Reclaim their Experiences on Wentworth

Abstract

This article examines Indigenous Australian characters in Foxtel’s popular prison drama Wentworth (2013–present). I employ feminist textual analysis of six seasons to argue that the prison drama offers nuanced depictions of Indigenous Australian women. Taking Wentworth as a case study, this article contributes new understandings about how communication and televisual representation participate in the politics of seeing. It highlights offscreen decisions that contribute to Indigenous authorship and decolonization through self-representation. Analysis of three major characters (Doreen Anderson, Rita Connors, and Ruby Mitchell) demonstrates how the series acknowledges their Indigenousness without making it their sole identity marker and addresses the racism they endure. Finally, I discuss the politics of seeing to elucidate differences in the portrayal of Indigenous Australians, especially between major and minor characters, within the prison drama.

Keywords:

• Australian television
• decoloniality
• feminist textual analysis
• Indigenous Australian women
• Wentworth
• women in prison

Notes

1 The developers for Prisoner were purposeful in developing “a serious, realistic examination of prison” (Wilson & O’Sullivan, 2004, p. 122) and paid careful attention to both the heavy scrutiny around Australian prisons during the late 1970s and the “eventually successful campaign to free Australia’s longest serving female prisoner” (p. 122). They conducted research around women’s prisons for nine months and eventually used parts of interviews that they had with actual inmates as material for some of their televisual story lines (Wilson & O’Sullivan, 2004).

2 There were only six seasons to date at the time of writing this article (January 2019).

3 Screen Australia is a federal government agency that was established in 2008 and combines the functions of its predecessors: the Australian Film Commission, the Film Finance Corporation Australia, and Film Australia Limited.

4 Stolen generations is a term used to describe the six decades (between 1910 and 1970) in Australia when governmental policies caused the forcible removable of Indigenous children from their homes (Australians Together, 2020).

5 In fact, there were only two Indigenous female characters on Prisoner: an inmate named Sarah West and her social worker, Pamela Madigan (O’Hanlon, 2014, para. 7). As O’Hanlon (2014) points out, “Interestingly Justine [Saunders who played Pamela Madigan] was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her services to the performing arts. She returned the award in protest at the emotional turmoil her mother was suffering over the Howard government’s denial of the term ‘Stolen Generation’” (para. 8).

6 I would be remiss to not also acknowledge and mention that Beck Cole, who hails from the Warramungu and Luritja nations, directed two episodes in the seventh season of Wentworth (Groves, 2019b).

7 She has a daughter, Kaiya, and a son, Joshua. Still a young girl, Kaiya is initially raised in prison by Doreen, although the two are not biologically related. Kaiya’s biological mother is Toni Goodes, who suffers from substance use disorder. In Australia, newborn to young children can live in prison with their mothers up to a certain age (Walker, Baldry, & Sullivan, 2019).

8 An added layer to this, as was discussed earlier, is that actor Rarriwuy Hick (who plays Ruby Mitchell) created a social media campaign to bring attention to this devastating issue. Hick’s stardom from Wentworth afforded her additional prominence among the Australian public.

9 In S1E2, Doreen has Kaiya’s grandmother raise Kaiya outside Wentworth. Later, in S4E1, Doreen has the recently paroled Nash come to pick up Joshua and raise him on the outside.

10 A peer worker is an inmate who can work with both inmates and staff if any issues arise. In addition, this person can advocate for inmates and can visit them in either the medical unit or isolation.

11 It is revealed in this same episode (S6E1) that Rita Connors is not her real name but an alias.

12 It is implied that Rita leaves young Ruby (and her father) to avoid Indigenous customary law. As Clark (2002), then-chairman of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, explains, “Customary law should not be seen only in terms of the traditional tribal punishments of spearing, banishment and payback. Customary law should be seen principally and more positively as the application of cultural values and principles to Indigenous community life” (para. 20). It should be noted that non-Indigenous viewers of Wentworth might not pick up on the subtle reference to Indigenous customs here. However, the reference opens an additional space for Indigenous peoples to be seen and recognized.

13 The term Koori refers to Indigenous Australians who stem from either New South Wales or Victoria. Depending on their proximity to the region, they might use a variant spelling (e.g., koorie) or pronounce it differently (such as goori for Indigenous Australians from the far northern part of New South Wales).