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Rob Larsen
10652686
Sept. 24th, 2008
CES 444
The issue of frames is one that has a strong role on the subject of white power and the white power movements. The way those involved in the white power movement frame themselves vastly differs from the way groups against them frame the community. At the same time, certain aspects of the media will portray the white power movement in another entirely different way than either of those previously mentioned. The movie Romper Stomper is no exception to this rule, as it clearly shows the ability of a group to show only specific parts of the white power movement. Romper Stomper is an awkward look into the lives of Australian skinheads that have created their own gang and are outwardly against the expansion of Asian peoples into their once white neighborhood. The movie sets the characters up as skinheads and Neo Nazis, but after the initial introduction and some insight as to their drive towards the white power movement, it does little to portray them as anything more than street thugs. The movie uses frames to portray these characters in a negative light by having them come off as mindless followers, but takes almost no direct stabs at the white power movement.
Romper Stomper has quite a few interesting elements related to the way it frames the white power movement. Some of these may be due to the fact that the movie does not take place in the United States, so my perception may be off, and others are clearly the result of the way the movie chose to show these individuals. First and foremost, aside from the first scene underneath the train station the movie makes the group look like nothing more than a random band of street hooligans. It seems as if the director decided to take many common stereotypes associated with British soccer thugs and apply them to Hando's gang. The group is absurdly unorganized and seems to care very little about an actual movement throughout the film, which contrasts even the loose organization of skinheads in Louis and the Nazis that we watched earlier in the semester. While the Neo Nazis in Louis and the Nazis were at least organized enough to hold a rally, those in the film Romper Stomper were more like people hearing a dinner bell and running for the action. All they seemed to care about beyond fighting was partying and looting without much thought for the cause they were supposedly fighting for.
The movie does an amazing job showing the leader and follower roles generally placed on those in the white power movement by media organizations or film crews. Many documentary outlets are quick to point out that only a small percentage of Germany was ever Hitler following Nazis during the Nazi movement around World War Two. In much the same way, Romper Stomper only shows Hando as the knowledgeable leader, and leads you to believe the others are just blindly following because they're racist, or they don't know any better. This tactic also becomes obvious when watching American History X, as Edward Norton's character later confronts the movement leader, saying he was brainwashed and does not feel the same way anymore. In Romper Stomper, only Russell Crowe's character is generally seen as knowledgeable on subjects concerning white power. When speaking about Mein Kempf, he states that the book was "turned into a joke by other people who don't want to know Hitler's view of the world. It's simply about, the ongoing struggle of the white race and the enemies it faces" (Hando, Romper Stomper). No one else in the movie seems to share the actual knowledge or desire to really learn about the foundations of the movement they are in. Besides the music that plays in the background throughout the film, there are really only two instances in which members of Hando's gang seem interested in the actual white power movement beyond being a band of misfits.
The first instance of this is the selling of the standard issue Hitler Youth knife. This shows care in the cause (or at least its history) beyond just following what their leader says. At the same time however, Hando is needed to come up with the cash to buy the knife, which reasserts that all of those in the gang are reliant on the leader and follow him because of this. The second instance is when Flea is given the Nazi salute by Hando as he is leaving the day after the party. Flea, in full Navy garb, salutes back. He is slightly reluctant, which plays on the fact that he is seen as willing to drop everything he holds dear in values for a job that pays. His character is framed as one that is on the fence about his old friends and the startling realization that he somehow has to eat, and cannot go on living the gang life forever. This salute is still instrumental in showing that even though he has given up part of his love for the cause for money; there is still a part of him willing to salute Hando back.
The problem with showing these followers as little more than punks is that it almost allows a viewer to sweep the white power problem under the rug. When the viewer can say that these people are only following because they are framed as having nowhere else to turn, it becomes easy to ignore the racist aspects of the individuals and focus more on their misguided natures. It also allows a viewer to place blame on their leader, Hando, as opposed to on the individuals and the actions taken by them. Even if the members of this group are just following, they participate in violent acts that are racist, which is undeniable. Ending the movie with the leader being overthrown and everything seemingly all right (aside of course from the various murders, theft, car fires, and so forth) seems to free those followers that are left, and only adds to the confusion of the way the film is framed. Davey, Daniel Pollock' character, is specifically freed by this, and no longer forced to be Hando's underling. He gets the girl, and he gets to make up his own mind from here on out.
In the end, I feel the frames used to view the characters in Romper Stomper show a very uneducated band of misfits, and not those truly involved in the white power movement. They more or less come off looking like lemmings, willing to follow their leader while he blindly follows his, rarely ever coming off like they know what it is they are fighting for. Perhaps that is the real statement the director of this film was trying to frame, and it makes sense with the mention early in the film of the Hitler Youth. These characters are young, strong, easily manipulated, and do not have much to lose; which makes them perfect candidates for an underground street gang that is following a cause that can be barely described as more than general racism. Perhaps the real point this film is trying to show about white power ideologies is nothing more than confusion, people desperately clinging to something, even if that something is backwards philosophies from decades before half a world away from the location of this film. It is almost as if a viewer is supposed to feel confused by, and saddened by, these characters and their following of the white power movement. It is almost as if a non biased viewer would be confused as to why these characters would so blindly follow these ideals, in the same way these characters turn to them in times of confusion.
Works Cited/Referenced:
American History X. Dir. Tony Kaye. Perf. Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. 1998.
Cabb, Stuart, dir. "Louis and the Nazis." Louis and the Nazis. By Louis Theroux. BBC. 21 Dec. 2003.
Romper Stomper. Dir. Geoffrey Wright. Perf. Russell Crowe and Daniel Pollock. 1992.