Puberty blues, which opens today at the cinema studio, is based on a novel of the same name by kathy lette and gabrielle carey, which purported to tell all about the mores of surfer teenagers in the sydney vicinity. Based on the iconic novel puberty blues by kathy lette and gabrielle carey, the series will move beyond the original pages and explore the mis adventures of these young girls, their families and. The introduction of the internet, mobile phones and social networking, in my eyes, has changed everything. On the one hand it was modern and part of the wider world. Truth masquerades as fiction as kathy lette and gabrielle carey portray themselves, at thirteen years of age, as deb and sue in a tell all account of being a teenager in. Prior to puberty blues, bruce beresford was better known for his ocker barry mckenzie films and david williamson adaptations. The recent puberty blues 2012 tv series reminds nfsa television curator frances baldwin of watching the 1981 film version and receiving material from the film as an archivist in 1986. It had lived through the whitlam dismissal, the vietnam war had ended and multiculturalism was now not just an idea, but a practical reality. In this article i examine one film, puberty blues, directed by bruce beresford in. So based on this fact and the box office figures presented in the beginning, puberty blues did well. It also importantly shows a shift in the members of the greenhills surfie gangs attitudes to female. Jun 29, 20 puberty blues the tv show i have chosen to talk to you about today is puberty blues. Released in 1981, bruce beresfords iconic australian film remains an unsentimental summer treat, a girlpowered trip to the beach without rosecoloured sunglasses. Following the crew of the patrol boat hmas hammersley, as they patrol the northern sea border of australia.
This paper attempts a diffractive analysis that reads bruce beresfords australian populist film puberty blues 1981 through the more recent 2012 channel 10 eightpart series television of the same title. Mar 19, 2014 puberty blues is an australian book, film and tv show set in the 70s. It was adapted into film in 1981 by bruce beresford and was made into a tv series in 2012 the novel and film focus on the two main characters, teenagers debbie vickers and sue knight, as they try and get in with the cool crowd, the green hills gang. Set during the late 1970s, the series revolves around the family and friends of debbie and sue, two inseparable teenage friends who are progressing through the coming. Though it has been stated that puberty blues is a very lowbudget australian film. May 11, 2011 puberty blues is surely one those early 80s films with its own theme song that makes you just want to throw things at the tv screen, cringing at almost everything the film portrays. Puberty blues was aimed at white suburban australian teenagers upon release it hit cinemas in the summer holidays of 198182. The view put here is that this film throws light on the history of the comprehensive coeducational high school at a. Claudia karvan, susie porter, jeremy lindsay taylor, ashleigh cummings, ed oxenbould, dan wyllie, brenna harding, rodger corser, susan prior, sean keenan, emma freeman, glendyn ivin, puberty blues 2disc set, puberty blues 2disc set, emma freeman, claudia karvan, susie porter, jeremy lindsay taylor, ashleigh cummings, puberty blues 2disc set. When puberty blues came out in 1979, australia was a country inbetween. Puberty blues is the biography which launched kathy lettes writing career and made her famous. Written twenty years ago, puberty blues is the bestselling account of growing up in the 1970s that took australia by storm and spawned an eponymous cult movie. In this article i examine one film, puberty blues, directed by bruce beresford in 1981. Puberty blues, which opens today at the cinema studio, is based on a novel of the same name by kathy lette and gabrielle carey, which purported to tell.
Puberty blues is a story about a nation growing up. The penultimate scene in puberty blues is for most viewers including this writer, the defining moment in the film. Puberty blues was adapted from the novel of the same name by kathy lette and gabrielle carey. It has long been controversial with adults but much sought out by teenagers for its depictions of adolescent sex. It also marked the starting point of kathy lettes writing career, which sees her now as an author at the forefront of her. Puberty blues is an australian comingofage comedydrama television series broadcast on network ten.
This movie is a biopic of alma mahler, the wife of composer gustav mahler as well as walter gropius and franz werfel, and the mistress of oskar kokoschka. The sequence analysed above is key to the film puberty blues as it shows debbie and sues defiance of and independence from the maledominated youth counterculture of surfing. The recent puberty blues 2012 tv series reminds nfsa television curator frances baldwin of watching the 1981 film version and receiving material from the. Gabrielle carey is often unfairly referred to as the other writer of puberty blues first published in 1979, overshadowed by the effusive kathy lette, who has written a series of laughoutloud best sellers. Memorable quotes and exchanges from movies, tv series and more. Melbourne academic lauren rosewarne sees the television adaptation of puberty blues as a timely reminder that female sexuality existed before lascivious retailers. Totes amaze teen tv shows full episodes 129,557 views. Though beresfords daughter was not keen to wade into the occasionally treacherous waters of puberty blues, the movie was reengineered for a new generation with the masterful tv series, puberty blues, which ran on channel 10 for two seasons from 2010, and expanded the narrative of the film outward, to deal more heavily with the larger world. The homeliness and candor of the moment prove to be the best qualities of a comingofage film that also has its familiar and even foolish sides. Aug 16, 2012 melbourne academic lauren rosewarne sees the television adaptation of puberty blues as a timely reminder that female sexuality existed before lascivious retailers. Puberty blues 1979 is a novel by the australian writers gabrielle carey and kathy lette. As narrated by debbie nell schofield, it tells of two schoolgirl pariahs and their attempts to ingratiate. Lette complained that the film sanitised the plot by omitting central references to miscarriage and abortion.
Australian tv comes of age puberty blues johnbrawley. The story of puberty blues is the adoption of an image in order to be accepted. Puberty blues by kathy lette and gabrielle carey gabrielle carey is often unfairly referred to as the other writer of puberty blues first published in 1979, overshadowed by the effusive kathy lette, who has written a series of laughoutloud best sellers. Curators notes puberty blues 1981 on aso australias audio and.
Although the issues faced by the characters in the film are similar to those faced by todays youth, they are not portrayed in a way the film makes. Dec, 2016 released in 1981, bruce beresfords iconic australian film remains an unsentimental summer treat, a girlpowered trip to the beach without rosecoloured sunglasses. I asked director bruce beresford why he originally. The school, students and teachers in puberty blues the action in puberty blues turns to the school immediately following the short three minute setup. The subject of the film is the journey that two young people go on. Over the course of the narrative, schoolgirls sue knight jad capelja and debbie vickers nell schofield have progressively ingratiated themselves into the cool cronulla beach surfie set. Puberty blues is one of those television series that looks set to be a rewarding drama full of life lessons, but should still be watched cautiously. Truth masquerades as fiction as kathy lette and gabrielle carey portray themselves, at thirteen years of age, as deb and sue in a tell all account of being a teenager in sydneys beachside suburbs during the 1970s.
Personal and social identitymedia analysis with reference to the film puberty blues, a recent film of your own choice concerning adolescent themes and your micro world experiences, explain continuities and changes in the adolescent experience through time. It is based on the 1979 book by kathy lette and gabrielle carey, which was also the inspiration for the 1981 film puberty blues. A slow, boring, semidocumentary of teenagers in australia. Puberty blues follows the lives of two sunburnt 16 yearold best friends, raised in the beach city of cronulla in the sutherland shire of south sydney. Oct 14, 2016 puberty blues was adapted from the novel of the same name by kathy lette and gabrielle carey. There will be language and sexual content reflective of teenagers growing up. When examining the 1980s film puberty blues, using techniques of content analysis and personal reflection, i have observed certain differences and similarities between the culture depicted in the film and my own society and culture. Reflections on puberty blues nfsa national film and sound. Released in 1981, bruce beresfords iconic australian film remains an unsentimental summer treat, a girlpowered trip to the beach without. The film is based on the 1979 novel puberty blues, by gabrielle carey and kathy lette, which is a protofeminist teen novel about two yearold girls from the lower middle class sutherland shire in sydney. Jan 30, 20 puberty blues is incredibly widely read and known, with most australians being familiar with either the film, the book or both. Puberty blues is an excellent film for youth that honestly and sensitively deals with some of the central trials and temptations of growing up. When examining the 1980s film puberty blues, using techniques of content analysis and personal reflection, i have observed certain differences and similarities between the culture depicted in.
Puberty blues, by film and my own society and culture bartleby. Thanks mainly to the consummate storytelling skills of bruce beresford, debbie and sues experiences convey a universal message. They long to be surfie chicks in the greenhills, the schools popular crowd. Puberty blues, which is set in contemporary australia, chronicles this quest through the adventures of two teenagers. Bestselling author kathy lettes debut novel is available in britain for the first time. While gabrielle might prefer a life with less publicity, she is no lesser a writer.
This movie is about two teenage girls coming of age and growing up on the surfing beaches just outside sydney. Puberty blues 1981 bruce beresford and nell schofield in puberty blues 1981. It doesnt have a specific genre, but more like a mixture. From the hilarious, slangpacked dialogue and rich, honest characterization, through to its obvious savagery and uncompromising take on the darker phases of teenage life, puberty blues is a straight up aussie classic film. Puberty blues is pure fantasy and twenty years on is even more irrelevant than ever. Puberty blues nude scenes 6 images and 5 videos including appearances from charlotte best susie porter. Puberty blues 1981 was based on the book of the same name by kathy lette and gabrielle carey, a pair of reallife sydney teens who wrote newspaper articles under the pseudonym the salami. Puberty blues, by film and my own society and culture.
Curators notes puberty blues 1981 on aso australias. Puberty blues, by film and my own society and culture 1485 words 6 pages. Analyses of filmic representations then should amplify and, perhaps modify. Examines the quest of popularity by teenagers as proof of selfworth. I asked director bruce beresford why he originally took on the project to adapt this edgy book to a film. First published in 1979 in australia by two 18yearolds, it was a scandal, since it was about sex and drugs and if you count pat boone rock n roll. Puberty blues doesnt work in plot twists but offers a suprising reality. Episodes of season 2 are shot in and around cronulla, south of sydney. There will be language and sexual content reflective of teenagers growing up in an age just as promiscuous as our own. The notion of setting of a movie is a complex one, but it has been central to the art and artistry of the cinema. I wasnt able to find much on actual facts and figures of the production of puberty blues and the budget allowed. The lives of family and friends who go through a variety of ups and downs. The purpose of this experimental analysis is to notice ways both of these filmic artefacts reenact gendered semblances performatively, cocreating binary gender relations through.
According to the australian film commission, the film is number forty four of the top australian films at the australian box office from 1966 to 2005 having earned over three million dollars. With brenna harding, ashleigh cummings, sean keenan, charlotte best. Aug 30, 2012 puberty blues is a story about a nation growing up. Watch puberty blues online vimeo on demand on vimeo. Puberty blues is incredibly widely read and known, with most australians being familiar with either the film, the book or both.
Puberty blues is surely one those early 80s films with its own theme song that makes you just want to throw things at the tv screen, cringing at almost everything the film portrays. Unfortunately, i couldnt find any budget figures relating to the production costs of puberty blues. Aug, 2016 though beresfords daughter was not keen to wade into the occasionally treacherous waters of puberty blues, the movie was reengineered for a new generation with the masterful tv series, puberty blues, which ran on channel 10 for two seasons from 2010, and expanded the narrative of the film outward, to deal more heavily with the larger world. Puberty blues and the representation of an australian. In the late 1970s, debbie and sue are inseparable teenage girls. Puberty blues is a 1979 novel by gabrielle carey and kathy lette. Debbie nell schofield and sue jad capelja are bored with their suburban lifestyle. Puberty blues was a blast of fresh, if impolite, air when it came out in 1981. Jul 15, 1983 puberty blues, which opens today at the cinema studio, is based on a novel of the same name by kathy lette and gabrielle carey, which purported to tell all about the mores of surfer teenagers. Based on the bestselling book by kathy lette and gabrielle carey, the film version was released in december 1981. Puberty blues is a 1981 australian comingofage film directed by bruce beresford. Gabrielle carey and kathy lette had based the book on their own recent experiences growing up on the beach near cronulla, and young audiences could recognise a lot of their own experiences in the story of debbie and sue. Puberty blues the tv show i have chosen to talk to you about today is puberty blues.
Puberty blues follows the lives of two sunburnt 16 yearold best friends, raised in. A slow, boring, semi documentary of teenagers in australia. The film adds a comedy beach brawl between the surfers and the lifeguards not present in the novel. The way families communicate is one of the major differences i have noticed after watching puberty blues, a television series set in the 1970s, about a series of families and teenagers making their way through life, puberty and problems they might encounter on a daily basis. After a violent death in the family, a teenage girl struggles to reconnect with her increasingly distant mother before she loses her too. Puberty blues is an australian book, film and tv show set in the 70s.
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