The Lost Generation...still lost?

Since almost every topic that I wanted to write on from the film "Australia" has been covered (thats what I get for waiting too long) I thought I too would delve into the aboriginal culture it portrays.  The Lost Generation seems to be a major theme in many Australian films, and Luhrman does not leave it out of "Australia".  However, I find that his take on the abuse of the aboriginal people was very generic.

Already we have seen many films where the abuse of the aboriginal people has been shown, and it has been disturbing to say the least.  However, I decided to google search "the lost generation australia" and see what the first hits would be.  I was surprised when I discovered that even the minor websites that appeared featured more information than what I had gathered from watching multiple films.  While I was happy to find that Luhrman addressed the abuse that the aboriginal women faced, and how it affected their lives, he (and many other film makers) left a crucial part of the story untold.  Perhaps because the abuse of the aboriginal people was so horrible, or perhaps because modern societies like to romanticize older cultures, but never once in a film have I seen the portrayal of a drunk, homeless, or down on their luck aboriginal.

Since before the 1900's the aboriginal people were being persecuted.  This website has the basic information on the history.  With a history of abuse this long, it was not surprising when I read that many aboriginals, in order to try and adapt to the new culture being forced upon them, became drunks and beggars.  While this may not fit the the romantic notions of an oppressed culture, it is real.  The only images we as an audience get through film, are those aborigines who defy the white man and continue to live in their own culture.  The grandfather in "Australia" is a perfect example of this.  He teaches his grandson the old ways, and the boy Nahla learns from him and grows to love the culture.  However, this was not the only option, many of the children were taken away (an estimated 8,000-great website for information on the children) and sent to work in white homes.  Those who were cared for by nuns and priests were not treated like real children. According to one website, they were fed food with maggots in it.  While the notion of taking children away from their families is bad enough, why not address the actual conditions that these children lived in.  It was lightly touched on in "Rabbit Proof Fence" when the children had to dump their toilet (a bucket) outside every morning.  However, "Australia" had many opportunities to address the actual conditions these children were forced to live in, and it skimmed over the topic.

Many are saying that Luhrman tried to attack too many topics, and that it why his film suffered.  I kind of agree with this, and perhaps if he had created a less romantic notion of how the aborigines rose above their treatment, it would have been too much; however, why address a topic and not fully show all sides to it.  Luhrman is not the only one, I have yet to see a true rendering of what really happen to the culture.  Obviously it is a strong one, since it is still around today, but instead of romanticizing the pain and suffering by only showing those characters who rose above the persecution filmmakers should feel free to explain how many were beaten down into an existence of poverty.