Riddick-ulous here, writing from the public computer desk in the Somerset College staff room. I've just had the opportunity to watch the film Rabbit Proof Fence - we were showing it to our grade 10 English class in preparation for their next unit of work - and I quite enjoyed it. However, as with most films, there were a few aspects I wanted to bring attention to. So, strap yourselves in and enjoy the ride!
What you see above is what would be perceived as a largely inspirational and wholly tragic image. Rabbit Proof Fence is a true story based on the recollections of one Molly Craig, a young Aboriginal girl and one of "The Stolen Generation". The story follows Molly and her younger sister and cousin as they are taken from their family by the Chief Protector of Aborigines - a title I think this man made up to distract himself from the obvious lack of self confidence lurking within - thrown on a truck and carted off to what can only be called a concentration camp; only with less gas chambers and more throat-stuffing religion.
The trio are forced to dress in white and sleep on an old fold-out military stretcher in a room already brimming with other stolen children and a solitary tin bucket for a toilet. It would be matched only by the Japanese P.O.W. camps run during World War II if it weren't for the Fascist nuns and grinding church sessions. Molly eventually makes the decision that she would rather walk 1500 kilometres than sit through another of "Mr. Devil's" sermons (what the children call the Chief Protector of Aborigines). So, off they trek, into the heart of the Australian desert to find their way home. I'll leave the plot there partly because I hate spoiling movies for people but also because I'm just lazy.
Instead, I'll bring the focus down to the real issue I wanted to focus on in this review and one which I have hinted at a few times already. This is primarily "Mr. Devil's" extreme likeness to a certain dictator. If you haven't guessed it already then I recommend you stop trying to join in on discussions you don't understand. Regardless, I will tell you. I refer, of course, to the friend to the world, Adolf Hitler. It's phenomenal how similar these two men are and I don't just mean physically. I would imagine if "Mr. Devil" had as much determination as Hitler and just a little more political pull, he would have gone as far as to kill off all of the "half-castes" rather than just kidnap and imprison them. So, here's the first example...
Above, we see Mr. Hitler - I've decided this is what I'm going to call him from now on - presenting photographs of what later generations of Aborigines can look like if their heritage is diluted by years of interracial marriages; a process he refers to as "Breeding Out". This is certainly a less extreme version of what Adolf himself accomplished during the Second World War but this doesn't necessarily make it any different. As I've mentioned, this was the first time I had seen this film and Mr. Hitler really is one of those people you just wish would stop being stupid and maybe do something with his life that doesn't involved decimating our native culture. Decades later, of course, both John Howard and Kevin Rudd have felt it necessary to issue an apology to Aborigines everywhere as if it would fix anything their predecessors deemed as reasonable action.
From a realistic point of view however, this seems oddly similar to curb stomping your own brother in front of your entire family and years later giving his grandchildren cookies and milk as compensation - the phrase "Don't say you're sorry, just don't do it..." comes to mind. It is quite a meaningless venture; opting to apologise to a group of people generations away from those who suffered the atrocities, especially when you didn't actually do anything to them in the first place. I know the apology was supposed to be directed at their ancestors on behalf of our own but I don't think it was anything more than another way to gain good publicity from the Australian masses. I'm not saying Aborigines don't deserve some kind of compensation but to me, "sorry" just doesn't cut it.
(And in the background here, we see Herr Himmler... and... his "SS" pooch.)
And of course a photograph of Adolf for comparison...
(Don't you just want to ruffle his hair and call him adorable names?)
Okay, so I cut and pasted the moustache in but if Mr. Hitler could grow a moustache, I'd have money on it coming out like that. What really shocked me was not finding out when this film was set until the very end. Here I was, spending the entire movie thinking it was after World War II and that Mr. Hitler was inspired by the legend himself; I was oh so wrong! It seems Adolf took a leaf from the Chief's book and decided a high-cut hair style, square moustache and Fascist regime would suit as both a solid career and fashion choice. Here's another photograph just for your amusement...
("Look out Mein Herr! Zer iz a member of ze inferior race behind you! He's coming to destroy our illusions of grandeur!")
I just can't seem to get past the fact that this guy was essentially a less successful version of Hitler. If the real Chief Protector of Aborigines looked like this then maybe it actually was Hitler in his earlier years. Maybe he wasn't quite ready to take on the entire Hebrew race so he started small... with the entire race of Indigenous Australians. I see this happening in much the same way I could see Arnold Schwarzenegger lifting toy trucks as a child and perching Raggedy-Anne dolls on his tiny biceps.
It's all a preamble as far as I'm concerned.
Yours sincerely,
Riddick-ulous.
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