Review of Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) by Joshua K — 30 Jan 2011

I watched "The Rabbit-Proof Fence" for my movie on the Indigenous Religions chapter in my World Religions class. The movie is about three aborigine's girls that were taken from their mothers and sent to a camp 1200 miles away as part of a new government taking over Western Australia in the attempt to try and civilize them. They lived along the rabbit-proof fence built by the white men in the Australian desert. They didn't live like normal people. They lived off the land and in a more primitive way.

Within days after arriving to the camp, the girls escaped in an attempt to get back home. They were going to walk the entire way back home along the rabbit-proof fence. The entire movie is about their journey back home and escaping the trackers that are trying to find them and bring them back to camp. Throughout the movie, there are several indications about the girl's religious beliefs. You knew right from the beginning that they believed the land they lived on and they felt they were guided by the spirits. The oldest daughter had a spirit bird that watched over her. She used the weather and the land to make it home. The rain helped in covering her tracks through the desert. The sun helped her with direction. In her hardest time, the spirit bird flew above her and her sister when they collapsed in the desert. The spirit bird called to her and gave her the strength that was needed to make it the last few miles she needed to go. It let her know that she was home. During their journey, her mother and grandmother found out they had escaped. They relied on chants and songs to the spirit world for a safe arrival. You can tell that their beliefs were with the spirit world. While the girls were at the camp, they were forced to go to a church and say a prayer every morning. You can tell they were not used to it because they were not even sure how, they had to be told to bow their heads and put their hands in their lap. These girls were bound and determined to get back to their way of life and with the help of their spirit world they made it back.