The primitive, the sacred and the stoned in Richard J. Frankland's Stone Bros

This article reads Richard J. Frankland's Stone Bros. (2009) as a critique of romanticized notions of primitive Aboriginal spirituality. Through the unlikely arena of popular cinema, this irreverent stoner comedy draws viewer attention to the persistence of notions of repressive authenticity, with particular reference to elements of Aboriginal spirituality. I examine the film's parodic treatment of two central motifs: the 'important' stones belonging to the two main characters - Aboriginal cousins Eddie (Luke Carroll) and Charlie (Leon Burchill) - and Eddie's light skin colour. Stone Bros. insists that anachronistic ideals of Aboriginality continue to hold currency for both indigenous and non-indigenous people in contemporary Australia. In raising potentially uncomfortable issues for black and white Australians through popular cinema Stone Bros. draws to viewers' attention the potentially negative impacts of misplaced romanticisms on the nation's reconciliation process. At the launch of Stone Bros. in 2009 director Richard J. Frankland overheard an audience member say that the film 'will do more for reconciliation than any "bloody politician"' (Frankland 2009a). A stoner comedy and road movie combined, Stone Bros. is a celebration of unsophisticated adolescent, slapstick and drug-crazed humour. Two young Aboriginal men, Eddie (Luke Carroll).