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Viewers Have Been Divided Over The Adam Goodes Documentary

Viewers Have Been Divided Over The Adam Goodes Documentary

Some have praised it for offering a confronting view of how Australia deals with and tolerates racism.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

There has been a hell of a lot of hype around two documentaries released this year that both focus on Adam Goodes and his complicated history with AFL fans.

Both deal with the racism he endured during his time as a player at the Sydney Swans, however one was made with his cooperation and involvement and one was not.

The latter, called The Final Quarter, premiered on Aussie TV last night and unsurprisingly, it has divided a lot of people.

There were plenty of viewers who found it confronting and difficult to watch at times because they believed it shined a light on how racist some people could be in Australia.

"Loved it, despite how difficult it was to watch. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all night, it's so upsetting. A 300+ game legend is forced into retirement because people boo him unrelentingly for two years. You could see his spirit break and his love for the game disappear in his eyes," said one person on Reddit.

Another added on Twitter: "The Last Quarter - what a great show. Confronting and powerful. I'm not a footy fan and I had no idea. Feeling ashamed to be Australian tonight."

Shark Island Productions

However, as per usual, there were others who thought that Goodes was still not the victim in this story.

"Rubbish. Plenty of other AFL players before Goodes never got booed. He put a lot of people offside & they grew not to like him," said one person.

Another viewer added: "Nobody, least of all Adam, wants to admit the public just didn't like him for the way he carried himself as a person.

"The fans want footy at a game, not politics and grandstanding. It's a team sport & Goodes was standing 'outside' the team instead of inside."

Shark Island Productions

While there were those that didn't think it hit the mark, there were plenty more people who thought it offered a unnerving view of how Australia deals with and tolerates racism.

Director of The Final Quarter, Ian Darling, has shopped the doco around the AFL and even in school classrooms and he says the reaction has been the same every time.

"Literally, every single person I've shown it to - from Gill McLachlan at the AFL through to schoolkids - have said 'Wow, I didn't understand the extent of the booing' or 'I didn't understand the enormity of the media conversation,'" he told Studio 10.

It can be streamed online via this link.

Featured Image Credit: Shark Island Productions

Topics: SPORT, Entertainment, TV and Film, Australia