"On The Beach Starred Ava Gardner And Gregory Peck. The Remake Stars Us."
Last edited Thu Jan 2, 2020, 08:27 AM - Edit history (1)
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Were used to seeing the bush growing back quickly, green shoots appearing within days on burnt trunks. Eucalypt forests have amazing regenerative powers. But these fires are tearing through ancient forests that have never burnt before. They are done for. And the burnt gums are waiting for rain.
Were taught not to look at the sun. Every child on earth is given the same warning. But in Australia these days you can stare all you like. Take a good long look at that pink disc sinking in the murk. It cant do you much harm. Its been tamed by smoke. The smoke is new too: cities suffocating. Were used to a day or two in town when theres a bit of smoke about and the light turns a horrible yellow. Thats every summer. But this is different. Deep in cities, miles from the fire front, the smoke is so thick you cant see to the end of the street.
Yet weve never seen so much before. Everyone is a photographer now. And until the transmission towers burn and batteries flatten extraordinary images are making their way to the media. Were seeing these horrors in all their detail. On the beach at Mallacoota, families sat in the smoke under a sky of flame. Its all on camera. The scene was repeated up and down the coast. At Malua Bay in New South Wales, children, their parents and grandparents were trapped for a day and night between fires and the sea. Theyre safe now but it was a close call.
Already, these scenes are part of the national imagination. Among Australians of a certain age, they stir memories of a Hollywood potboiler about the end of the world filmed 60 years ago in Melbourne. On the Beach starred Ava Gardener, Gregory Peck and Fred Astaire. The remake stars us.
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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/01/australia-is-becoming-a-nation-of-dread-and-the-world-looks-on-with-pity-and-scorn