spoilers are within

I watched this film when I was in secondary school. We weren’t learning about Australia but I feel like we were learning about something relevant to the film. I remember watching it and it leaving a profound imprint on my mind.

It’s about sisters Molly and Daisy and their cousin Grace. They’re mixed race, white and Aboriginal, and they’re taken away from their home to live in Moore River Native Settlement. In the movie the move isn’t what they wanted and it’s like they’re being striped of their culture and forced to assimilate to white culture (White Australian culture). The movie is set in 1931 and in West Australia and addresses The Stolen Generation. The girls decide to escape and to walk back home following the rabbit proof fence.

So in the movie you’re mostly following their journey along the rabbit proof fence as they make their way home.

It was emotional and I remember we all got way into the movie. We were sad that they were taken away from their home in the first place. If they didn’t want to be there why keep taking them only for them to walk back for nine weeks?

At the end you meet the real Molly and Daisy and they’re the ones who tell you what happened to Grace. The story is based on true events however only loosely, some things were changed in the film but if you’re curious about all the facts Molly’s daughter wrote the book: Follow The Rabbit Proof Fence.

There was backlash against the film as some people felt that it wasn’t historically accurate.

Whatever, it was a movie and I could go on about how Troy is historically inaccurate but I won’t as it got me interested in ancient history and the real story or myth and Homer. In the same way Rabbit Proof Fence opened my eyes to what the Aboriginals went through in Australia. To think that something like the Stolen Generation exists was beyond upsetting. Thus it got me interested and I became more aware.

It’s a good movie and if you’re looking for something more serious and emotional feel free to watch it.