cocosmooth Review of Mabo

Mabo (2012 TV Movie)

Lovely little TV film ... just a pity change is still slow coming in Australia

[9/10 · 10 June 2012]

I think the summary says it all. Dramatised as it is, everyone in Australia should watch this film to understand, and maybe even feel the very, ordinary human side to the Mabo story. Though Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders only make up a tiny proportion of this great country's population, and have little visibility in day to day life ... it's 20 years since the Mabo decision and I think we owe it to ourselves to do better, faster! It's a joke that peoples that have lived here for at least 40 thousand years don't have much of a say, even in a token way, in regard to their their ancestral territories and resources. My only criticism is the use of Deborah Mailman in the main female role. Yes, she's a great actress, and I'm sure that will help give the film legs ... but it would've been nice to see another Aboriginal or Torres Strait actress for a change. Poor woman seems to be every female Aboriginal character in every local film that requires one!