Branding the Gold Coast: National Identity in the Australian TV series H2O: Just Add Water (2006-2010)

Abstract

[eng] White Australia has always found it hard to define a national identity of its own since colonisation. Television and film productions, as well as other icons, celebrations and traditions of cultural value, have an impact on the construction of such a national identity. Media and audiovisual narratives create national stereotypes that shape the imagined community and help citizens form an idea of what it means to be a white Australian and understand how that identity is exported to the outside world. The Australian Young Adult TV series H2O: Just Add Water (2006-2010) illustrates many of the recurrent stereotypes of white Australia and, in particular, those that are based on the tropical landscape, the beach lifestyle and inhabitants of the Gold Coast region. In this dissertation it is argued how the series presents a reduced vision of Australia that denies its diversity and promotes the Gold Coast as a holiday destination, contributing to the creation of a national brand that is attractive to many viewers.