Literary Play Analysis: “the Removalists” and the Film “Training Day”

Literary Play Analysis: “the Removalists” and the Film “Training Day”

  • Submitted By: pamjarkowski
  • Date Submitted: 11/30/2010 6:14 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 1020
  • Page: 5
  • Views: 757

A text is always influenced by the context in which it is composed. Thus different contexts will produce different texts; this is shown when comparing “the Removalists”, a play written in Melbourne and “Training Day”, a film released in 2001 and set in Los Angeles. Both tell the story of the first day of a “rookie” policeman under the guidance of an older mentor, who shows the young man a very different kind of policing from the one which was expected. Ross, a foolish yet enthusiastic policeman unintentionally kills a defenceless man while Jake Hoyt, another young cop, gets caught up and witnesses one of the darkest side of the Los Angeles Police Department. Both texts explore police corruption and the abuse of authority, but their interpretations and representation of these themes is influenced by the respective contexts and the different modes of production.
“The Removalists” was set in a time of social upheaval and social change. Williamson created a very controversial insight into Australian society in the 1970s. The changing societal views of feminism, challenged the stereotypical image of men. It can be said that this play explained issues which were happening at the time. “Training Day”, however, was set in a different context, 30 years after The Removalists. The play is mainly set in a small police station and in an Australian suburban apartment, the setting of Training Day is on the crime-infested streets of Los Angeles in 2001. Training day was written at a time of high awareness police corruption in America, using the Rodney King scandal as an example. This view was counter balanced by the perception of police as heroes following 9/11. In spite of these differences, both tests convey the ideas of police corruption and the abuse of authority.
Both Training Day and The Removalists convey the message that it is dangerous and immoral for the police to abuse the authority they have been given for their own personal benefits. In the Removalists this...

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