An unpleasant taste of the times

Well well. I didn't know what this was to be as I started watching it, and pretty quickly twigged that it was a propaganda reel, and so more or less OK to watch it in that context. As a result the references to 'Japs' being 'masters of deception' could wash over me without leaving a taint. Don't like it, but given what this was made for, fair enough.

But then, the commentary just leapt out and punched me in the face, displaying the deep seated bigotry that undrerlines the attitudes of the time and tells me that the way they were talking about the 'Japs' was not just an enemy-at-war kind of thing, but rooted in something fundamentally more unpleasant. The footage showed the native people helping the Australian wounded out of the jungle, carrying stretchers over unforgiving terrain. The commentator says that their efforts are much admired by the Aussie soldiers and that "for them, the black skinned boys are white". Woah! There you have it - if you don't have white skin, you're no good.

I know that it is an historic document, and I'm making no judgement of anyone now, or of the soldiers then, but that really is a horrible testament to the unpleasant attitudes that pertained then, and kind of underscores for me the idea that patriotism is a subset of jingoistic nationalism with all the fascistic tendencies which that leans towards.

An interesting and valuable piece of film, but not a particularly salubrious insight into human nature.