Avatar and that tree
Tue, 19 Jan 2010, 05:41 pmJohn Grim11 posts in thread
Avatar and that tree
Tue, 19 Jan 2010, 05:41 pmAnd so it was that I took my son to see the most talked about film in ages, and yes, he loved it, and yes, we both marvelled at the special effects which very cleverly masked the most routine of Hollywood scripts...and lo and behold, when the sacred tree was brutally felled by the bad guys, I found my mind a wandering to a man perched up a tree in suburban Gosnells. Here it was, the most expensive movie ever made, with the bad guys, (the Gosnells council, who make no mistake, will have their way in the end), and the good guy, our lone man in his very own sacred gum tree. Avatar raised my awareness of this man's courage, ridiculed by some, he has proved himself a hero in real life. I doubt he'll get his just reward, and the tree will go, for let's face it, this gum tree will only spoil the streetscape, and we can't have non-uniformity now can we? Sadly, real life is far less colourful and infinitely more predictable than fantasy. So to the man in the tree, who like the warriors of Avatar is fighting a powerful army with nought but a bow and arrow, I offer a salute to your courage. Hopefully, there's more lesson in your real life action, than in the fantasy world that is Avatar.
Actually, that man in his
Tue, 19 Jan 2010, 10:16 pmActually, that man in his gum tree is not situated in suburban Gosnells, but Hume Road in Thornlie. I can remember back to before the High School was built down there, when there were no houses at all...just lots and LOTS of gum trees and kangaroos and bandicoots and goannas and...but what's the use of recalling all of this? Suburbia is there now, well established and irremovable, and my memories, sad though they are, are worthless.
Still, I, too, salute this man for trying to save the last of the gum trees that I remember so fondly. That area was once unspoiled bushland. It was my playground.
Per Ardua Ad Astra