Bro

by Helen Chebatte

[Kelly]

4.5 Stars
In the nineties when I was a teen, the Northern suburbs of Melbourne were a diverse and cultural blend, where your street may have resembled members of the United Nations. I attended a same sex school, much as the same as the connecting school of Saint Adele College and Christian Boys where the storyline takes place. Bro could have been my teen experience. It could have been the same stereotypical cultural groups that continued the trend of segregation. If you were an Aussie meaning Caucasian Anglo Saxon, you were friends with other Caucasian Anglo Saxon teens, the same if you were Maori, Asian and Lebanese as seen in Bro. My high school had a large Lebanese community and we experienced the same segregation and even being a girls college, there were physical fights and weapons used. Back then, we didn't question why, that's how it worked. You stayed within your own group and it took a strong individual to stray from their own group and befriend others. It didn't happen often.

Anyone reading Bro that sees the issue of the us verses them mentality as being unrealistic, has never lived in working class and diverse suburbs. It even happens as adults. We may not involve ourselves in physical conflict, but even our close social circles tend to be formed from the same basis. Like attracts like and I find that incredibly sad that as Australians, we still find ourselves drawn to the same friendships with those who share our cultural beliefs and backgrounds, rather than expanding our circles. In Bro, Romeo finds himself torn. He was born in Australia to a Lebanese father, an Caucasian Anglo Saxon Australian mother, but lives what he sees as the Lebanese culture. Even as he identifies as being Australian, society still sees him as being Lebanese due to his heritage and the colour of his skin.

Apart from the islander teens or Fresh Off the Boat as they're known, the basis of Bro is Australian teen boys and those with a Lebanese background facing off in bouts of physical violence. A Fight Club is established where boys are pitted against one another for sport or entertainment. It's barbaric, but realistic. Less than a week ago in Melbourne, this happened. Teen violence is alive and thriving and the police aren't listening, nor are these mostly young men heeding the warning from authorities. Bro drives home the message of how we can't all grow up being raised in ivory towers. We share different cultural beliefs, socioeconomic backgrounds, skin colour, language, sex, race, ability and the cycle never ends.

But through tragedy, Bro breaks the cycle of violence and rivalry and although the solution to violence in our communities isn't that simple, it does highlight the need for change in our attitudes and mentality.

Bro is such an important read not only for teens, but for Australians to understand the issue of teen violence within society and to discuss at a national level. Bro should be part of our schools curriculum, in every school library and addressed within youth groups nationwide. As Australians we need to openly discuss not only violence but diversity, our religious and cultural differences, grief, gender roles and the role they play in our history. But more importantly, how we can change and educate ourselves and Bro is a brilliantly written insight into diverse teen life of our suburbs.
http://www.divabooknerd.com/2016/03/bro.html