Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Anna Quindlen once said, Every story has already been told. And yet, we continue to read books, watch movies and turn on the television in the hope that we will find a new story. Occasionally, we are rewarded for our efforts. That is the case with the Australian television series, Total Control.
At its core, the story has a familiar dynamic. An ordinary person, Alex (Alexandra) Irving, is lifted from obscurity and asked to perform extraordinary feats. Though essentially the same story has been told with different characters in different places, over and over again, in this instance it seems fresh. Why?
As a back story, we learn the history of Alex's mother. She was forcibly removed from her family when she was very young and sent to live in a mission. This was a common occurrence with Indigenous children at one time in Australia's history. The Australian government hoped that, by doing this, the children would forget their own culture and become assimilated into mainstream culture. However, as Alex's mother explains, the result was usually that the children grew to be strangers in both environments.
One of the secrets to the success of Total Control is its cast. Outstanding performances by Deborah Mailman as Alex and Rachel Griffiths as the Prime Minister go a long way to insuring the quality of this series.
The Prime Minister has a notion that her sinking popularity will be bolstered if she can recruit Alex to be in her cabinet. Alex has come to the PM's attention through an act of courage that gained national headlines. The PM is hoping to capitalize on Alex' s fleeting fame.
When Alex joins the the Prime Minister's cabinet, she finds what might be expected: scheming and duplicitous politicians. Alex, however, has only one agenda: to improve the standard of living in her Indigenous community.
Neither the Prime Minister, nor Alex, who is now a senator, has many allies in Canberra. The conflict between the two women becomes personal as both believe they are fighting for something greater than themselves.
A series of laws were passed, starting in the late 19th century, which segregated the Indigenous people of Australia on 'reserves', and restricted their movements. These laws also gave the government complete control over Indigenous children, up to the age of sixteen. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, movement toward reform of these human rights abuses gained momentum.
Running parallel to the conflict between Alex and the Canberra government is a drama that begins in a juvenile detention center. An Indigenous teenager dies through misadventure. The sole witness to this death, Jess Clark, another Indigenous teenager, escapes from the detention center. She begins a cross-country journey, on foot, to seek justice.
In the end, viewers realize that Jess' quest and Alex's will come together in a climactic resolution. This, the viewer hopes, will be a resolution toward justice. Does justice prevail? You'll have to watch the series, which tells an age-old story from a fresh perspective, to find out.
Image credit: CSIRO. Used under a CC 3.0 license.
Besides the excellent acting and convincing plot, Total Control has something else to offer: Australia. For those of us who probably never will visit this continent, the background against which the drama takes place is a reward by itself.
I highly recommend this series, which I watched on Sundance (Amazon Prime Video).
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The image for the GIF came from Felipeblasco on Pixabay