There's some reason that we feel we understand Aussies that battle against the odds, whether it's against the government, the police or English bowlers, we're on their side. But why? Reporter Jeremy Poxon delves into a topic everyone recognizes.
'My old mate Barry Wirth. What's he worth? Not much if you ask me.' Detective Arnie deViers walks around the room circling the small table in the middle with ex-con turned clean Barry Wirth seated on a standard police interrogation room chair. Grabbing a fistful of ear and hair on Barry's head, deViers slams Barry's face down onto the table hard enough to send a clear message that there's no love loss between these two, he leans down to Barry's ear and threatens 'You're going back inside where you belong, only this time you're never getting out.'
The 2003 film, 'Gettin' Square', directed by Jonathan Teplitsky, echoes through Barry Wirth (Sam Worthington), a new vision of the typical Aussie, the battler, an image thousands of people around the world recognize as the Australian Identity.
View of beach at Surfers Paradise with skyline.
Gen. T.H. Barry, Mrs. Lindley Garrison, Mrs. Barry...
English: Sam Worthington on way to attend Late Sho...An old picture created by social legends, international films, paintings, advertisements, novels, newspapers and poetry. While the Aussie battler is seen widely as an Australian identity, it must also be recognized that there are many other personalities and figures that fill people's imagination when the think of the typical Australian.
The Identities
The Bush Battler
Successful films like the 1982 'The Man from Snowy River, the legend of the Eureka stockade, the television show Macleod's Daughters, the flying doctor and poems by Patterson and Lawson, bring to mind a picture of the Outback bushman as the Australian Identity. The image of a silhouette on horseback, a big akubra hat, R.M Williams boots and the classic Australian Driza-Bone. An image that promotes the idea of the Aussie that...