Who's the weird mob anyway? Assimilation and authenticity in They're A Weird Mob

Who's the weird mob anyway? Assimilation and authenticity in They're A Weird Mob

As one of the most well-known films about Australia's post-war immigration, Michael Powell's They're A Weird Mob (1966) is also one of the most complex and arguably problematic filmic representations of migrants' experiences.
Nevertheless, it remains one of the very few mainstream Australian films from the time that in any way addresses immigration and settlement during this period of post-war nation building. Specifically, the film captures a moment in
Australia's post-war history when immigrants were expected to assimilate into an Australian culture and society that was still imagined in terms of its colonial connections to Britain. Critical perspectives of They're A Weird Mob
vary from those that decry its assimilationist overtones to those who are able to recognise in the film a form of inclusive 'benign multicultural tolerance'. While the film remains problematic because of its assimilationist message,
particularly from a current multiculturalist perspective, it must be appreciated as an important artefact of its era.

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