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caitlinjalexander 's review for:
Tall Man: The Death of Doomadgee
by Chloe Hooper
On page 3 of The Tall Man Hooper writes that she knows very little about Indigenous Australia and like 'most' middle class suburbanites grew up without ever meeting a black person. This statement renders itself redundant as one makes their way through this text. From descriptions of smoking ceremonies as 'Aboriginal exorcisms' and harvesting food for dinner alongside First Nations women as 'a job that was ridiculously primal' Hooper's descriptions of Aboriginal Australians are at best paternalistic and at worst dehumanising. It was a constant reminder of her bias as a white journalist in reporting the story of Cameron Doomadgee's death in custody. The book was worse for having multiple descriptions of the charged officer as 'Handsome like an old screen idol' and of Doomadgees family and supporters as 'filthy' and 'double chinned'. The Tall Man falls far short of the hyperbolic claims on the cover of being "The country's finest work of literature so far this century" leaving the bitter taste of white supremacy lingering in its wake.