from the land down under ....

July 2008 

To be or Not to Be?

By Mia G

Australia! For the first half of the twentieth century nobody knew where the bloody hell we were. Our consul was regularly referred to as the Austrian consul and any actor of consequence was forced to go to London or Hollywood to earn a living.Then came a little picture about a bunch of giggling school girls disappearing on a picnic and we were discovered all over again (poor aborigines we keep discovering what they already knew was there?). It became trendy, Errol Flyn became Australian when truth be known he was nothing more than a ill timed American child born in Tasmania. His mum and dad were simply holidaying from Los Angeles and he came early. Why never let the truth get in the way of a good story I say.

The trouble as I see it is -- us Aussies have become a convenient race. My mate Mel Gibson was the tough guy from Downunder as long as it suited his publicist until in 1992 he made it quite clear he was no damn Aussie. Right Mel – we trained you at Nida (National Institute of Dramatic Arts), we discovered you in Tim (1972) we made you famous via Kennedy Miller Productions The Road Warrior a follow up to the cult classic Stone. Every Mad Max film was shot here in our Outback. Then you became the drunk of Malibu and reminded us of your American citizenship.

Then there were The Bee Gees a.k.a The Brothers Gibb (the song birds from Brisbane). They started off playing in Brissys pubs and RSL clubs, they caught the Saturday Night Fever, they owned the world & suddenly they were the four brothers from Manchester! When will it stop?

Of course you were born somewhere else. That’s what makes Australia great, it’s a country of second chances. Just one request--When you come from somewhere else that didn’t want you, that gave you no hope to our wide brown land, and you become the next great thing since sliced bread, for christsake stand up and give bloody credit where credits due.

Don’t get me wrong as I sit here in Flushing, Queens (NYC) writing about aussies who jump ship, I look at my school pic from Campbelltown High, Adelaide 1977 on the wall, the difference is ‘I proudly proclaim my heritage from the bush to all who listen. The fact that I made it financially in the Big Apple I only credit to my outback gene pool.

So, when the latest crop of Aussie idol winners and boy bands from Sydney decide to try their luck in America, remember when the first VJ from MTV asks you where your from it’s your chance to proudly say AUSTRALIA. The home of AC/DC, Little River Band, The Brothers Gibb, Jimmy Barnes, John Farnham, Peter Alan, Dame Joan Sutherland, David Gullpilil, and many more. Only when you can be honest & proud of your home does your name deserve to be in the same breath as our greatest talents. Anyway it’s Ooroo from me! It’s Friday night and time to play Khe Sahn on my IPod.

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