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Baz Luhrmann: 'Obama's Lucky He Wasn't Born An Aussie'
30 November 2008
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Aussie moviemaker Baz Luhrmann is urging President-elect Barack Obama to thank his lucky stars he wasn't born Down Under - because he would never have got the chance to become a world leader.The Moulin Rouge! director is using Obama's historic election victory and his new movie Australia to raise awareness about his homeland's shameful past, during which mixed race children were removed from their families and raised to be servants to white industry leaders and politicians.And Luhrmann is keen to remind the world that he's not talking about something that was outlawed hundreds of years ago - the practice of separating half-Aboriginal, half-white children from their families was still common in the early 1970s.Luhrmann says, "To give context, the President-elect of the United States is 47. If he was living in Australia, it is absolutely credible that the government, because he had one white parent and one black parent, could have taken him forcibly from his family."They would have put him in an institution, probably lied to him that his parents were dead, changed his name and reprogrammed him to be European, so he could have some sort of function doing something of service in white society.That would possibly have been Obama's journey".Meanwhile the moviemaker Baz Luhrmann has defended his right to blow a huge budget on shooting his new epic Australia - insisting the movie will cheer up people affected by the global credit crisis.The Moulin Rouge! filmmaker has promised to dazzle audiences with his World War II romance - starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman - set in his beloved homeland when it hits cinemas worldwide next month (Dec08).And Luhrmann believes he was right to spend $130 million on the four-year project in a time when people are struggling to make ends meet - as he is adamant film fans will come away feeling uplifted.
He says, "In a world where there's a lot of fear, I hope you can come out of the cinema after a few hours and feel like its been an enriching experience.
If you get a little bit of that and you have been entertained, then that is enough for me
"If you get a little bit of that and you have been entertained, then that is enough for me".
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