How Is The Notion Of ‘Retreating From The Global’ Explored In “The Castle“?

6 Pages 1457 Words

How is the notion of ‘Retreating from the global’

The Castle: directed by Rob Sitch (1997)

In a local community, north of Melbourne, residents struggle to retain their homes with the ever-increasing pressure of globalisation and economic rationalism.

Globalisation looms in the form of the airport and the need to extend to make way for bigger, longer and more runways to stay abreast of increasing economic demands of the global marketplace, eventuating in the compulsory acquisition of private property.

The Castle highlights the repercussions of globalisation on family life and the local, but also upon the residents of the community both collectively and as individuals. We find that globalisation threatened to integrate people into a global community. This would have seen to the erosion of their traditions and principles to one global culture, which in effect would mean the community’s loss of identity.

Through a strong sense of community and history/tradition, ignorance of the global force, idealised notions of ‘normalcy’, links to ‘the house’ and ‘the land’ and family values, the Kerrigan family were able to retain their ‘local’ ideals, and thus retreat from the global.

The strong Australian spirit of mateship and barracking for the underdog, come across as major themes, as the Kerrigans and their neighbours come together unwilling to accept the changes and vacate their properties (and as such are resisting global change). Consequently, a real sense of community is expressed throughout the story.

The first dose was administered when Farouk came knocking on the door on the morn that Darryl (Kerrigan) and the residents of Coolaroo were served notice that their houses were to be compulsorily acquired to allow for the extension of the airport to which they lived adjacent. Darryl answered the door and was confronted with Farouk’s plea to read the letter which he did not understand: “read this t...