Reading Idiot Box : Film reviews intertwining the social and cultural

Geographical analyses of film have previously relied on reading films as texts. We extend these analyses by discussing the role of film reviewers as important cultural intermediaries who provide both an initial audience and a framing of the film for a more general audience. We argue that film reviews provide an important window into the intertwined nature of the cultural and the social and the possible obstacles faced by those producing cultural interventions into social problems. We make this argument through a case study of an Australian film called Idiot Box , a film that was designed to both entertain and highlight the problematic nature of cultural stereotypes. Reviewers, however, represented the film within a stereotypical working-class suburban dystopia that effectively emptied the film of its potential for social commentary.

Keywords:

• Film
• Film Reviews
• Representation
• Suburbia
• Working Class