Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Quilting and 'Gone With the Boomerang'

When times were tough in the 1930s Depression, movie theaters in the U.S. rarely closed their doors. People needed entertainment and it only cost a nickle to see a show. I was reminded of that when I saw the movie Australia recently. Starring Nichole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, Australia is a sprawling epic and you need to see it on the big screen. My friend Ernie calls it 'Gone With the Boomerang.'

Maybe the movie Australia is a metaphor for our times. The story starts in 1939 and takes the viewer up through the Japanese bombing of Australia in 1941. Not to give too much away, but the classic Wizard of Oz and its most famous song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" feature as underlying themes to the action onscreen. It got me thinking...

The Obama logo (the road over the hill) was a media tour-de-force and reminded me of the yellow brick road to Oz. And his campaign associated itself with the lyrics of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." If you want proof of that, go to YouTube and type in 'Quilters for Obama.' Or click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HlZ75aDzDI . Once I watched that video and listened to the song, I knew who'd be elected.

Is it coincidental that the youngest cast member of Australia is a half-Aboriginal boy who seems to have magical powers and unites Kidman and Jackman? And the Japanese bombing the city of Darwin was totally unforeseen--maybe echoes of 9/11? Any symbolism here? I think so.