Australia: Images of the Male Journey

Recently, I saw the movie Australia, with Hugh Jackman (of the X-men films) and the ever beautiful Nicole Kidman as the central characters. I enjoyed it completely and highly recommend it. It is an epic movie, and at least three hours long, but you don’t really feel it. It is a romantic, mystical and action-adventure movie, with World War II in the background, serving as a dark cloud, threatening all of the characters.

For me, as a movie Australia functions on an almost mythological level. In it, we are shown the journey of two males, that of Hugh Jackman’s character, Drover, and that of the young orphaned aborigine boy, Nullah. Both are at a stage in their development as males where they are at a standstill and their growth can only be achieved in partnership with the feminine.

Drover’s Journey

Drover, while presented at first as a heroic, strong, lone male, adventurer, is, nevertheless, also portrayed with an undeniable quality of vulnerability, longing for emotional connection. We see this in his struggle to enter into a relationship with Nicole Kidman and his fighting the desire to become a nurturing male to the young Nullah. This void in his manhood, furthermore, is pointed out to him by two males at opposite ends of the male journey, one younger (preparing to enter the rite of passage himself) the other, a mature elder. In a poignant scene, Drover’s transformation comes when he is faced with the fear of having lost true intimacy with self and other, and is shown crying in front of men, in a bar!

For Drover, therefore, full development of his male spirit comes only when he partners with the feminine, allowing to be nurtured by both Kidman’s love and being a protective, nurturing male to Nullah.

Nullah’s Journey

The other male journey is represented by that of Nullah’s character as a young aborigine orphaned boy. In Australia, Nullah is a 12 year-old boy, the age for the rite of passage (Walkabout) into manhood. His passage into manhood, however, is kept at bay by the feminine as represented by Nicole Kidman, as a maternal protective figure of Nullah. His journey into manhood cannot begin without her permission, without her letting go. Here, again, at the other end of the male journey, we see how our journey as men cannot begin without partnership with the feminine.

In writing my thoughts about the movie, Australia, I am reminded of Richard Rohr’s book, The Wild Man’s Journey. In it, he, too, like the movie alludes to, describes how achieving our full development as men is a lifelong task; a task that involves integration of the feminine in order to achieve a deeper and richer development of our male spirit.

What do you think? I’d like to know.