Second Chances

Pillar 4: Shared Values

Media description: Prisoners and a juvenile delinquent cum aspiring composer gain mutual respect for one another in these Broken Hill (Audience Alliance Pictures 2009) scenes.

MEDIA CONTEXT
The lead character in the movie Broken Hill (Audience Alliance Pictures 2009), Tommy McAlpine (Luke Arnold), is sentenced to community service for impulsive reckless and destructive behaviour. He carries it out at Willyama Gaol, where he hopes to transform reluctant inmates into an ensemble fit to perform one of his own compositions at the Jail Exhibition in Broken Hill. The concert will double for Tommy as an audition to the Sydney Conservatorium; only the prisoners don’t know that. In the scenes shown, Bear (Andy McPhee) makes a deal with Tommy, pledging his and the other inmates’ full support if Tommy will do all he can to get them beyond Broken Hill to the Jail Nationals in Sydney. But things go awry when a group member escapes before they’re able to sound their first note in Broken Hill. Tommy loses hope for his dream and breaks his promise to Bear. The expressions on the men’s faces tell their own feelings. Realising later how selfish and narrow-minded he’d been, Tommy sees the bigger picture. He asks the inmates for a second chance and rehearsals reconvene with gusto. The Sydney concert has a positive impact for all involved.

MEDIA CRITIQUE
The scene in the movie Broken Hill where Bear (Andy McPhee) and Tommy (Luke Arnold) make a deal is cleverly filmed. The reduction of background activity through close ups of the two men add weight to the significance of their conversation in relation to the rest of the story. Tommy’s slight hesitation at sealing the deal with a handshake is clear evidence that he’s still in it for himself. Time spent on looks of disgust when Tommy tells the ensemble members they’re not going to Sydney may have been excessive. Inserts of scenes along the road, rehearsals and so forth are placed effectively among Tommy’s apology speech, indicating passage of space and time without adding unnecessarily to the length of the film. Again, Bear’s brief exclamation, “Let’s go space truckin’,” speaks volumes to the viewer without time wastage and boring rhetoric. It also ties in an earlier section of the film.

ANALYSIS & REVIEW

1. Tommy made a promise. What duty did he have to honour that agreement? (Does Bear’s status change the rightness or wrongness of Tommy’s actions?)
2. Discuss how or why Tommy was given a second chance after offending inmates of Willyama Gaol.
3. Consider how participation in Tommy’s ensemble and the performance in Sydney was a second chance for the prisoners.
4. Australians should seek to accomplish something worthy and admirable; try hard; pursue excellence; exercise vision, hope and optimism. How is Tommy McAlpine an example of this ethos? 

THE AUSTRALIAN CONSTITUTION & AUSTRALIA TODAY
In regards to offenders of the law, the Constitution mentions that States should make provision for their detention and punishment. It does not declare how those offenders should be treated. However, the United Nations (of which Australia is a part) has made a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. What does this document say about the human rights of convicted criminals i.e. how they should be treated? The Commonwealth of Australia accepts the Declaration. Would it be appropriate to amend the Constitution in order to include some of the ideas in the Declaration?

PERSONAL APPLICATION
Have you ever broken someone’s trust? If so, seek forgiveness, strive to fulfil your agreement and improve.
Have you ever been wronged by someone? Give them a second chance; forgive and forget. Move on.

AUSCIVICS FILM & TV SERIES LINKED TO SCHOOL CURRICULUM
Learning areas and/or outcomes relating to the questions and issues above have been identified for each state and territory in the following links:*