Compass: June 19

Sunday’s episode of Compass will be one for fans of Cleverman.

A “Moral Compass: Cleverman Special” will discuss the spiritual elements of the ABC drama with cast and creatives.

Joining Geraldine are Cleverman Series Concept Creator and Producer Ryan Griffen, writer, actor and Cleverman Director, Leah Purcell, broadcaster and journalist Stan Grant and academic Dr Frances Wyld to discuss what meaning these stories, drawn from Aboriginal spirituality, offer modern Australians.

The 6-part television series Cleverman takes the sci-fi genre and marries it with Aboriginal Dreaming, mythology and story-telling; a remarkable blend. Geraldine and her guests explore how a culture that is tens of thousands of years old can be adapted to a very 21st century TV series like Cleverman. And how each of her panellists adapts that ancient spirituality to fit in with their contemporary lives.

For Stan Grant, his Aboriginality is part of his part of who he is, yet: “Identity is not just what you express; it’s what other people see. The importance of mythology and story is that done well… it opens people up to seeing who you are.”

Leah Purcell says of her spirituality: “It’s my religion… It’s my being. It’s my foundation. I live by it.”

For Dr Frances Wyld it’s a moral code: “the principles for how you live your life; and in an Indigenous world view those principles for me are respect, reciprocity and relatedness… My three R’s. It’s the same as if you would follow Ten Commandments.”

The wide-ranging discussion covers creatures from the Bunyiip to the Yowi; explains the protocols around telling of these stories, and examines the partCleverman has to play in keeping this culture alive in a contemporary, post-colonial world.

Ryan Griffen says Cleverman was designed for a global audience: “This show should have a broader audience. If it was meant for just our people we wouldn’t have put it in a superhero setting. We would have told them in the traditional way and I think blending the two together is what allows not only our own people to connect but everyone else.”

6:30pm Sunday June 19 on ABC.