TV Movie Review: Mabo (2012)

The ABC has given us a wonderful gift in biopic MABO.  This is the story of Australian hero and Aboriginal icon Eddie Mabo portrayed with grace and strength by the beautifully talented Jim Bani. Not just a story about Native Title and the legal battle that he faced but also a heartwarming love story about Eddie and his devoted wife Bonita played with courage, feistiness and clearly crafted acting skill by the to-die-for Deborah Mailman in her best performance to date.

Beginning in 1956 in Eddie’s twenties, writer and genius Sue Smith has created full back story for a man most Australians know little about.

He is tough and determined to make a difference for his people and sadly passed away only five months before the 1992 High Court finding in his favor.

Here is a true Australian story about what facing adversity is really about and it should be studied in high schools across the country to show the next generation what makes a real hero.

Scrap the Ned Kelly bullshit and make MABO compulsory viewing.

Never have two Australians shone so bright as Eddie and his beloved Bonita.

We travel through time and see the disgraceful and shameful way the aboriginal people were treated from not being served in a pub to being made to enter a cinema through a different door.  I have never felt so ashamed to be a white Australian and felt overwhelmed by such an immense sadness of our nation’s despicable history.

Eddie Mabo was a visionary of his time and should be recognized as such, as it is only when we look back through films such as MABO that we can appreciate his struggle and fully see the important difference he made to our Australia.

This is a touching, uplifting and true story that will stay within your heart for years to come.  It celebrates all that was good and bad about Eddie Mabo and takes us on a journey to victory that after a decade of legalities and a lifetime of struggle feels so damn justified.

You and your children must watch this together and use it as a platform to discuss why the issue of Native Title still remains one of the most important and moral issues in this nation today.

Absolutely stunning from beginning to end MABO is a television event that will change your mind and definition of the word ‘hero’.

MABO will be screened on ABC TV on Sunday June 10th at 8:30pm.


 

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