MABO

The simple story of a guy who wanted his home to be acknowledged

The great love story that had universal appeal
Here is an Australian hero
Journey of a man and a woman who saw a great injustice and decided though they and
though they had no means, that they would be the people who would make this change
Like most people who go out and create something, he had a great support structure behind
him.

Look at the quotes above about the docudrama Mabowhich do you think is the most accurate

Is the film about the land rights case?

Is the film about the love between Bonita and Eddie?
Is the film about the racism and prejudice of Australia at a particular time and place?
Is it about Eddie or the people who helped get him there?

If you believe it is just about one of these aspects of the film then you have missed the pointit is
about all of these things and in your response depending on the topic you will need to show an
awareness of all of these aspects
This is a part 1 textreading and responding and as such we are looking for the depth of the
knowledge you have of the text and the reasons for it construction and how that construction leads
you to see particular aspects of the characters and the themes.
As stated in the examiners report you will be given 2 questions which will ask you to respond with a
sustained discussion on one or more of the following

the ideas, characters and themes constructed by the author/director and presented in the
selected text
the way the author/director uses structures, features and conventions to construct meaning
the ways in which authors/directors express or imply a point of view and values
the ways in which readers interpretations of text differ and why

Thus you must know ALL of the above aspects of the text and not just focus on the characters or the
techniques and hope there is a question on them.

CHARACTERS
This is a character driven film, we are made to focus on Eddie and his family so that we see the
events through his experiences and therefore we empathise with him. You need to know the
characters well and be able to support all you say with quotes/examples
EDDIE MABO
Proud

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Passionate

Selfish

Family man

Self-educated

Violent??

Intelligent

Driven.

Cheeky

confident

Confident

Full of self-belief.

Natural leader

Islander.

if thats what I need to do to earn respect

I am gonna make history, I am the son of Benny Mabo
what happens if you dont win? I will win it
Hed read too much. He was just too smart
Koikis the one ( Davy)
You were always one to get above yourself, Eddie( Killoran)
Eddie Mabo is a smooth talker , always was.( Killoran)
If I appeal its about Eddie Mabos landif I dont and you take it to the high courts, its
about all the blackfellas isnt it?
The name, would it still be Mabo and others?
I cant stop Netta. I might as well curl up and die.
Im not working as a slave
Wheres that reading getting you?...Gonna be PM next, are you?
Im gonna meet my lawyers and I want to look black
If you love someone you stand in the breeze and the wind will take your scent to them.

It is important to see that Perkins does not show Eddie to be perfecthe is flawed. He lies to Bonita
about not drinking when they first met, his pride gets him thrown off Murray Island and he nearly
loses his family through his violence. But the same pride made him fight for his land and identity.
The passion that leads him to be aggressive with his family kept him going through out all the
setbacks.
WHY HAS PERKINS CHOSEN TO DEPICT EDDIE THIS WAY?
BONITA MABO
Loving

Hardworking

Supportive

Accepting

Stubborn

Resilient

Strong

Determined

Practical
Kids gotta be fed. Have clothes on their back.
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You remember the first time you saw me? ... I looked over and you was there in the doorway.
Sunlight behind you. You were just a silhouette. Beautiful silhouette. I reckon thats the moment I fell
in love with you. Even before I knew you was gonna make history.

Hey, am I see through or what?

I am getting into this bed the same way I have for 30 years and if you say one word I am putting
cotton wool in my ears

Bonita is the supportive wife but is no means a push over. She is willing to stand up tho Eddie and
challenge him. She will support him in public as seen by her marching with him, but her focus is the
family, the children. In real life it was Bonita that started the community school land kept it going.


PATRICK KILLORAN
Prejudiced

Arrogant

Overbearing

Manipulative

Paternalistic

Condescending

Very silly silly boys

You were always one to get above yourself Eddie
I protect you from yourself
How would [your father] feel watching you stuffing everything up for everyone?
MINOR CHARACTERS
This term doesnt diminish the impact of these characters in the filmin fact without any of these
the significance of Eddies achievements would be less
DAVY
His friend Davy who is used as a contrast to Eddiehe works with him on the railway and comments
about his reading of the dictionary as he doesnt see the point
Blackfella job thats all you gonna get (Davy)
But he is jealous of Eddie
I wanna be you .reading your dictionary, talkin in the union
It is Davy who is abusing his wife when Eddie and Bonitas son drinks the kerosene. Thus Davy is the
other direction Eddie could have taken in his life if he had not been the man he was.
NOEL LOOSteacher of Aboriginal history and anthropology
HENRY REYNOLDShistorian specialising in Aboriginal History
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So you have an interest in Indigenous issues (Henry)

You know the land technically isnt yours (Henry)
You mean its unusual to see a black man in the library! (Eddie)
It is these two men who not only acknowledge Eddies intellect and utilise it as a speaker to their
students, it is they who tell him the truth about the legal ownership of the land. If they had NOT
done this his activism may not have been as focused and therefore not as effective.
GREG MCINTYRElawyer in the Aboriginal legal service
BARBARA HOCKING-- lawyer in the Aboriginal legal service
RON CASTENhuman rights lawyer
BRYAN KEON-COHEN-- human rights lawyer
Youre gonna have to think carefully Byran. Itll pretty much shape the rest of your career. (Ron)
To our Indigenous friends we say this, now is your time (Greg)
What were doing here is monumental. (Ron)
The case is a moral victory.(Keon-Cohen)
It is these people who provide Eddie with the expertise and the means to fight for his rights. They
work hard for him but they also benefit from the case as it is the landmark case they have been
looking for.,
JUSTICE MOYNIHANQueensland supreme court judge
MARGARET WHITE---lead counsel in the Mabo Case
It is these characters who represent the legal opposition to the case. They are some of the hurdles
Eddie had to overcome to achieve success.
The problem is.that you havent really resided in a meaningful way on Murray Island since 1956
Eddie Mabo is in my opinion quite capable of tailoring his story to achieve any advantage
(Moynihan)
There is also the Union Boss who encourages him to speak up
If you want to raise stuff, do it yourself. Youve got a voice dont you?
We need to have a serious recruitment drive among the blacks
His co-workers in the second pub sequence who walk out in solidarity when he is refused a drink

THEMES
RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND SOCIAL PREJUDICE
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This film is about TIME AND PLACEit shows the changes in Australian society and law with regard
to the Aboriginal/Indigenous population over the 36 years that is covered in the film. From the start
we see how the Indigenous population is treated as inferiorthey have to have a protector to
manage their affairs, reflecting a paternalistic belief that they are not capable to do it themselves.
The 2 pub scenes reflect the way that Indigenous people were treated and how that changed as
Australia developed through the 60s. In the first pub scene, Eddie is told to drink out the back and
his co-workers only comment that was a bit rough but stay to drink, In the second scene his co-
workers walk out in support and Eddie returns to sit at the bar in a passive protest with a sign saying
Im not leaving till I get a drink For this he ends up in jail. We see how the legal system
discriminated against Indigenous people here and when Eddie is stopped by the policeman after
meeting Bonita and told you know the drill, implying that this is a common occurrence.
Racial prejudice is also seen in the hotel scene. Bonita and Eddie look for accommodation after their
son is released from hospital. They are told that there is no room, despite the silence and darkness
of the hotel indicating that it is empty. they are refused accommodation because of their colour, as
Eddie says what do they think were going to leave our black skin on their bloody sheets This kind
of racism is so prevalent in the society that even Bonita accepts it as normal when a shop assistant
serves everyone else first then her. Her reaction however is not normal as she pays for all the goods
and then leaves them, making her feelings clear. Perkins uses real footage of the protests during the
60s in which people hold up signs saying equal pay irrespective of skin colour and adds in footage
of the actors taking part in the same march. The film is showing that people have to stand up to this
kind of discrimination if anything is to be achieved.
People like us. We cant afford to be troublemakers
(Bonita)
Netta, people like us have no choice but to be troublemakers
(Eddie)
Interestingly Perkins shows that by the time the Mabo verdict comes through Australia has
changed. Bonita and her son hear the news while sharing a cup of tea with white older Australians
and they hug in joy at the news. These are the very people who earlier would have accepted the
discrimination that the family suffered and now embrace them. Perkins is showing the potential for
this kind of prejudice to cease. That the fight that Eddie went through to change the world has had
an impact.
There are other types of prejudice in the film. Interestingly there is also the racial prejudice amongst
the Indigenous peoples themselves. Bonita is not an Islanderher clothing when they first meet is
very white and mainstream in contrast with the clothing we see the Murray Islanders wearing. Eddie
himself writes to his father that she is not one of them but is willing to learn their ways. This is
reflected alter in the film when she is seen teaching in the community school.
There is also the social prejudice against the union and commies. When Eddie sits in protest in the
pub he is asked are you the Vietcong? he quits his job when the conditions are changed when he is
seen as a unionist. Even Bonita accuses him of spending the nightgrogging with communists If
you dont stop mixing with those Commos Im leaving you and Im takin the kids. At this time in
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Australia during the cold war and the Vietnam War the fear of communists lead to any group that
fought for equality such as the unions being seen as a threat.
FAMILY, IDENTITY AND SUPPORT
Katherine Rogers the film critic said the love story is at the films core. This is a film about the
private man as well as the public and the support and strength he gained form Bonita and his family.
Without Bonita it is hard to see Eddie achieving what he did. Theirs is a love at first sight that grows
and develops to strengthen. She keeps the family going, working when heavily pregnant to support
the family financially, laying out his clothes every day of their relationship and being by his side both
physically and metaphorically throughout the whole case. She walks with him in protest marches,
helps in the school and keeps quite about the death threats so he can focus on the case. She fights
for their children and he fights for the community. Her practicality kids have to be fedis a good
foil to his idealism. Eddie jokes about their anniversarynot their marriage but opening the school
reflecting how the two aspects of their livesthe private and public are not easy to separate.
Perkins has scenes to illustrate their relationship, Bonita waiting impatiently at the train station for
his arrival, their dance to many rivers to cross and ultimately Eddies voice over reflecting on their
relationship at the end of the film. The film ends on their relationship not the win, making it the
focus.
I never knew how hard it was for you to grow em up
how my wife has stuck to mesomehow we made it.
Im sorry I didnt help you more
The film also explores the role of family in shaping your identity. From the start we see Eddie as
Bennys boy. After the opening shots of Murray Island we see images of Eddie with his father who
explains that Everything here is yours. This is who you are. This scene Perkins repeats throughout
the film making us see the connections between Eddies sense of self and his family and the island.
.It is this which is at the core of the case , for by fighting for the land he is fighting for his identity
Though Bennys warning that young man go to the mainlandthey forget everything , is also
present throughout as Eddie strives to retain his connection with his family. This is seen in the way
he teaches his own children Merian Law. This identity which is nearly denied him when he is refused
entry to the island to bid farewell to his dying father. They made him die without being able to look
his son in the eye and fulfil tradition. Much is made in the court in an attempt to discredit Eddie that
he is in fact not a Mabonot part of that family. Benny is not his biological father but rather his
spiritual and emotional one. This raises the issue of family and what makes it.
Eddie is buried on Murray Island in the last sequencethis is real footage, reflecting his return to his
land.
LAW AND JUSTICE
Throughout the film we are reminded that there is a difference between law and justice. It is the law
that Indigenous people are not allowed to drink in pubs, but Perkins makes us see it through Eddies
eyes and how it is not just. The Island Council and the protector have the legal right to deny Eddie
access to the Island to see his father, but the shot of him alone on the pier shows its injustice. There
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is where Margaret White is a key. Her character reflects the legality of the system and the
constitution she is defending, yet we feel disgust at her pursuit of Eddie and his relationship with
Benny. Perkins cleverly shows the way the law is manipulated by the faceless men when Bjelke
Petersons government passes a law overnight and that it is retrospective. The use of real news
footage adds to ours sense of injustice as we know this really happened.
The conflict between white mans law and Merian Law also highlights the difference between
cultural systems in society. To Eddie, he is the rightful owner of his fathers land, yet to the State he
owns nothing. In the sequence in James Cook University we see the gulf between the two systems
of law.
so you think you own the land because some giant octopus said you did?
You think some fella sticking a Union Jack in sand wipes out sixteen generations.

TECHNIQUES
This is a film and as such you need to be very aware of HOW the film is constructed to lead you to a
particular interpretation of the characters and the themes.
You need to be able to answer:

How do we know the characters feel a certain way?

How does the director convey this?
How are we, the audience, positioned to feel/react?

You also need to use the correct terminology (the language of film) remember CAMELSS

CAMERA

Establishing shotMurray island at the startwe see its beauty and we see time-lapse to
show how it has been there for ever.
Long shot-creates the whole scene into which we are about to enterthe first sight of
Bonita in the hall
medium shotsuch as the scenes with Benny and Eddie as a child to focus our attention on
them
Close upfocus on the face of a character to show their emotion.
High camera angle when a scene /character is shot from above to show their vunerabilty-eg
when Eddie is standing over Bonita and their daughter
Low Camera angle when a scene/character is shot form below to show their power. Eg
when Eddie stands and Killoran is seating.
Slow motionthis is used to reflect Eddies emotional state such as when he first sees
Bonita
Some scenes will use a mixture:
Eg. After Eddie has embarrassed himself after meeting Netta whilst drunk, he is shown dancing on
the railway tracks. The initial high camera angle shows him as smaller than he actually is; as he feels
vulnerable and powerless at this point in his life. This shot is juxtaposed with medium and close ups,
as Eddie attempts to use the traditional dance as a way of staying true to his identify and reclaiming
his power. The scene culminates in a low camera angle to represent the shift in power, as well as
several close ups to read the various emotions registering (shame, frustration, anger etc)
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ACTINGNot only does this include the way the people act but how they speak
Language--look at the difference between the characters and how their education and status
is reflected in their language. Davy speaks poorly compared to Eddie. The lawyers are
surprised by Eddies vocabulary.
Costumesthe islanders are in bright colours reflecting their culture and lifestyle, whereas
on the railway the workers are in drab colour reflecting the living conditions. The lawyers in
their robes are a complete contrast to the island.

MISE EN SCENEthe construction of a whole sceneall the elements that add together e.g. the
Mabo housesimple furniture reflecting their financial state, the pictures on the walls show the
importance of home and familythe whole image creates a portrait of a strong united family.

EDITINGthe way the film goes from scene to scene.
Archival footage--the way that Perkins has interspersed real footage from the news and
newsreels with faux news footage to create a sense of realism. The film begins and ends
with news footage to remind us that this is a real and momentous story.
The use of montagesshot series of scenes such as the opening about Eddies life
Sub headings/titlesto indicate change of time and place.

LIGHTINGhow a scene is lit to create mood or express an idea about a character. Killoran in the
early scenes is shrouded in smoke indicating untrustworthiness. The light behind Eddies head as he
dances on the train linehalo????

SOUND--Music is an essential technique in Mabo to signpost the emotional journeys of the
characters. The music also assists the pace of the film. When Eddie and Mabo are both separately on
a bus, there is fast paced acoustic guitar music which accentuates the idea that they are on the
move with its fast rhythm. In the scenes of Eddies decline, the soundtrack consists of slow, simple
piano music. It is mournful, complementing the emotions in the scenes. Perkins refers to this score
as a funeral march.

SYMBOLS these are short hand for ideas/themes/characters. You need to know what they
represent

Netta being bathed in white light; the white room and white dress Netta is wearing as she is
setting up for the wedding as well as the white light/dress as she waits for Eddies train?
Several shots of railways?
The dictionary Eddie is reading when working on the railway?
The coconut sent to Eddie in the mail?
Netta always seen in the kitchen?
The lawyers walking barefoot in their robes on Murray Island?
The wind
Malo
The paintings that Eddie keeps looking at?

THE EXAM

TYPES OF QUESTIONS
Over the last few years they have fallen into 3 types

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1--The propositional questioni.e. a question that puts forward a view, idea about the text and asks
you to explore its validity
Eg Mabo is more about Australia than the man himself Do you agree

2--The quotation question-i.e. a question that presents a quotation from the text and asks about the
relevance of the quotation.
how my wife has stuck to mesomehow we made it. Without Bonita Eddie would never have
succeeded.

3--Direct questionson the surface these seem the easiest but beware!!
How does Perkins create a sense of time and place?


THINGS TO REMEMBER

Quotes
Dont start In Rachel Perkins Mabo
Dont retell the story
Answer the questionknow the difference between discuss, how etc.
Beware absolutese.g. only , ever, always
Know the difference between more and most
Dont play what if.. use only the text
Dont turn the essay into a history lesson.
Be consistent Netta or Bonita, Aborigine or Indigenous.

1.
2.

3.
4.

5.

6.

7.

Mabo
Practice Essay questions
The use of cinematic technique enhances the narrative in Mabo. Discuss

A Placard in one of the archival protest scenes claims Unity is strength. How does
Mabo illustrate the importance of unity?

Mabo is as much a work of fiction as it is a story of the facts. Discuss

Mabo focuses closely on Edie; we are only interested in the other characters in
terms of how they relate to Edies story. Discuss

Benny Mabo says to Edie, Young men go to the mainland, they forget everything.
To what extent does Edies life reflect this statement?

Because we do not see much of Edies early life, it is difficult for us to sympathise
with his apparent connection to his homeland. Discuss

Events are more important than characters in Mabo. Do you agree?

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8. Edie could not have succeeded without Netta. Discuss

9. Koikis the one. Is Edie Mabo a hero?

10. Several scenes feature Edies sketches or paintings of his island home. How does
Mabo illustrate the old adage that home is where the heart is?

11. Mabos fight for native title is a fight to find his home. Discuss

12. The more Mabo fights for his home, the more he becomes obsessed by it. Do you
agree?

13. Edie is a strong but flawed hero. Do you agree?

14. Racism is only one of many things that Edie must struggle against in Mabo.
Discuss

15. Bonita makes Edie a better person. Discuss

16. How does Rachel Perkins use dramatized and archival footage to more effectively tell
the story of Mabo?

17. Its pride, just as much as native land rights, that is at stake in the story of Mabo.
Discuss

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