'Cleverman' is a dystopian race analogy, but we may already be living it
It might be clichéd to say that a particular television series is unlike any other, but you can really say that about ABC's Cleverman. Sci-fi, super heroes, social commentary -- you name it, this series has it.
The show draws so much of its story from the culture of Aboriginal Australia -- from its spiritualities, languages, and the challenges that face Indigenous people because of European settlement.
Cleverman is set in a dystopian Australia of the near future, where hairypeople a.k.a "hairies" are creatures endowed with superhuman strength and abilities -- and are considered a sub-human underclass by the ruling elite.
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It's a world that may seem fantastical, but just take into account the recent Don Dale revelations and the long disparity between Indigenous peoples and other Australians, in terms of education, incarceration and social stereotypes.
Are we are living in a Cleverman world already? Hip hop artist and actor Adam Briggs thinks so, and he's hardly the only one.
Better known as simply Briggs, the Yorta-Yorta man plays the militant Maliyan in Cleverman.
"I think it's already there," Briggs told Mashable Australia. "It's such a weird thing with the scripts and with everything that's coming through now, and the thing of -- does art imitate life, and vice-versa."
"That's a testament to the story, and [it reflects] things that are undone ... a lot of policies and ideas that aren't spoken about. I feel like Cleverman does that pretty effortlessly," he said.
In Cleverman, hairypeople are forced to reside in fenced off camps and are hunted down by authorities if they dare tread outside of them. If you know a little bit about Australia's historical relationship with its Indigenous people, representations like these cut very close to the bone.
"There's definitely a correlation between Indigenous relationships with Australia," Briggs said. "These are very much stories entrenched in our culture. I think Cleverman did really well over six episodes to touch on that."
"These are very much stories entrenched in our culture. I think Cleverman did really well over six episodes to touch on that."
With the population of Indigenous Australians set to increase by a third in 2026, a future where Indigenous cultures and stories are acknowledged and respected is something that Briggs would like to see more of.
"There's so much acknowledgement that needs to happen, and I think it's eminent in the Cleverman stories, which are so ancient but so relevant," he said.
"The fact they have been accepted on an international level, I think that says a lot about our stories. I feel like that's one of the best parts of Cleverman. Not only do we get to share our stories nationally, we get to share our stories internationally and we get to validate the stories with our own families, with ourselves."
With casting and writing of the second series of Cleverman already well under way, Briggs hopes that the writers go deeper into the history of the hairypeople.
"I'd love to see more elements of the hairy story, and get behind the history of that," he said. "Every nation has their own dialect, there's definite history there to draw on. How they work that into a bigger picture will be interesting to see. It'll be exciting to see."
Cleverman Season 1 is out now on Digital and available on Blu-Ray & DVD from Aug. 24. In the U.S. you can watch Cleverman via SundanceTV.
