PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK

This is something else I found dealing with the movie.

All this discussion about *Picnic*. Seems to happen every twelve months or so, so I'll add my 2 cents, again.

The events fictionalised in Joan Lindsay's book did occur despite claims on DL to the contrary. I have read original newspapers accounts of the disappearances. As do many writers, she embellished the story to make it an interesting mystery. Although I have not read the 'solution', the mystery,as Joan Lindsay intended, is certainly solvable in terms of sexual exploitation/obsession/oppression and the mysticism and power of the place. This has much to do with the Spirit of the Rock towards white intruders and invaders. It has also to do with Koori beliefs and culture and the impossibility of European Australians to come to terms with it. It is a metaphor, in its own way, for the European invasion of the entire country. The local indigenous population, at the time, believed that the Spirit, from their Dreaming, exacted its brooding revenge. Because of this, I think it a tad harsh for some to comment that the ending is 'bathetic'. No doubt Black Australia feels much the same way about European religious belief and its claims for frightening magical powers.

Most people that I know have not read the 'solution'. It was originally excised for good and sufficient reasons - it compromised the artistic integrity of the book - and the publisher was ill-advised to publish it later. Most Australians, for whom the book was written, if they have an interest in or knowledge of Koori culture have no difficulty at all in comprehending the work in the manner in which Joan Lindsay intended: I heard her speak on this topic a few years before her death.

And it *is* a beautiful, mystical, awe-inspiring place. It's easy to see and indeed feel why it became a cultural and religious icon: it's quite overwhelming and mesmerising, and I, for one, totally believe .

Waif Wander aka Anne Coulthurst who is going to the Harvest Gourmet Picnic at Hanging Rock this Sunday. Adieu.