tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post6276887150697483167..comments2024-03-27T21:42:56.131-05:00Comments on 1001plus: No Bunnies were HarmedSJHoneywellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-24213122617752321802016-11-09T11:30:05.382-06:002016-11-09T11:30:05.382-06:00There's plenty of racism in just about every s...There's plenty of racism in just about every society if you dig hard enough. You don't really have to dig that hard in a lot of places. I remember hearing about the outrage from a chunk of Australia's more backward population about having a (gasp) Aboriginal athlete lighting the torch for the Sydney games in 2000. That's not that long ago, so it's not hard to assume an even more backward stance further back in history. SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-31265272402583716902016-11-09T10:03:23.851-06:002016-11-09T10:03:23.851-06:00I took a few weeks off of watching movies from the...I took a few weeks off of watching movies from the 1001 List to watch bunches and bunches of monster movies I taped off TCM. (I did watch a few movies from the list, like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Freaks, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc., but they were movies I've seen before, some of them numerous times.) But I'm done with those and ready to go back to watching one or two movies from the list every week. I've already got The Quiet Man and The Ear on the DVR, and TCM is showing The Mortal Storm, The Sorrow and the Pity, Night and Fog and Hoop Dreams in the next week or so.<br /><br />But I started off again yesterday with Rabbit-Proof Fence. WOW! I loved it! I'm generally very receptive to Australian movies, but this one blew me away. I can see why it's on the List.<br /><br />As for it's historical accuracy ... I did a little digging, and I came across the articles by the right-wing Australian guy who really hates this movie. It sounds like the right-wing apologetics I see here in the U.S. where they try to say that slavery really wasn't that bad. (All you have to do is read archival newspapers from the South circa 1800 to 1860 to know that, yes, you really can't condemn American slavery too much.) <br /><br />I have not studied the subject of the treatment of the aborigines and the Stolen generation that much but I know an apologist when I see one. I did a little more digging and I came across some more in-depth critiques of the Australian right-winger's condemnation of Rabbit-Proof Fence, and, yes, there are some questions about his methodology and his sincerity and his selective use of sources. The right-winger's name is Keith Windschuttle.<br /><br />Which is not to say that Rabbit-Proof Fence didn't mess with the facts for dramatic license. It's just a friendly warning to double-check the critiques, especially those that are trying to minimize the role of racism in Australia's policy toward the aborigines. Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17921029597363212734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-71481074302021476372012-06-19T19:12:21.631-05:002012-06-19T19:12:21.631-05:00Fair enough. And this is what I get for accepting ...Fair enough. And this is what I get for accepting a film at relative face value rather than doing the research.<br /><br />The fact that the story was mirrored in real life, though, is sort of fascinating. "Get back here and let us keep you away from your family! We need to make a film about a kid like you being kept away from her family!" In a different context, that's pure black comedy right there.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-20355701153145753942012-06-19T16:53:14.306-05:002012-06-19T16:53:14.306-05:00First, let me preface my comments by saying that I...First, let me preface my comments by saying that I liked this movie.<br /><br />I'm afraid that what we saw on screen, other than being taken from their homes and then walking back along the fence, was fiction. After seeing the movie I wanted to find out more about this part of Australia's history. What I found was that the most outrageous parts in the film simply had no basis in fact. Yes, the government did take aboriginal children away from their homes "for their own good", but there has never been any evidence found for attempts for breeding programs to get rid of them genetically, like that described by Branagh's character.<br /><br />In addition, what we are told at the end regarding the fate of the main character and her daughter is false. Not only did the mother and daughter have contact, the movie is literally based on the book the daughter wrote from her extensive conversations with her mother.<br /><br />Finally, in the extras on the DVD the filmmakers even admit that they ran into a morally ambiguous situation with the lead child actress. She decided that all of this was too much for her, she missed her family, and she wanted to go home. She ran away from where the filmmakers were boarding her and tried to get home to her family. The filmmakers intercepted her, and because it would have cost a ton of money to re-cast the part, they finally managed to convince her to do the movie. They even admitted that it was too close to the situation portrayed in the film to be comfortable for them.<br /><br />So...I liked the movie, but it should be taken with a rather large grain of salt.Chip Laryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00787403805554027107noreply@blogger.com