Puberty Blues [M]

On the shores of Cronulla beach if you’re not a surfer chick, you’re a nobody. Desperate to get in with the popular crowd, Debbie and Sue forsake the pleasantries with their ‘mole’ and ‘prude’ friends and brown-nose hard and big-time up to the surfer chicks of their class. When most attempts fail, the two are suddenly sworn in when they help two of the coolest boys in class cheat on an exam. Suddenly, Debbie and Sue are smack bang in the world of puberty blues; a world filled with drinks, drugs, and loveless sex where it’s not lady-like for girls to eat in front of boys, piss, or surf. For a while it’s all dim sims and coca cola, but soon Debbie begins to see the emptiness of it all and desires more. 

Australia in the early 80s: such strange and yet oh so familiar times. This iconic Aussie classic was screening at the Golden Age Cinema and Bar last night, a tiny little 40-seat cinema down up to look how it did back in its heyday of the 1940s when it was the Paramount Studios building in Sydney. I’m in the process of writing a nostalgia piece for a final assignment and looking at how the past influences the present (sometimes more than we realise), and my boyfriend made the comment that it’s sort of scary to look at a film that’s thirty years old, depicting Australian culture, and realising that people still look very similar to those characters today. Puberty Blues, which was made into a TV series recently (either last year or the year before) is a nothing sort of film, but it still characterises an era and a culture and sits in Australian cinematic history as a cult classic; possibly the Aussie answer to Heathers or Rebel Without a Cause (just not as classy). 

On the shores of Cronulla beach if you’re not a surfer chick, you’re a nobody. Desperate to get in with the popular crowd, Debbie and Sue forsake the pleasantries with their ‘mole’ and ‘prude’ friends and brown-nose hard and big-time up to the surfer chicks of their class. When most attempts fail, the two are suddenly sworn in when they help two of the coolest boys in class cheat on an exam. Suddenly, Debbie and Sue are smack bang in the world of puberty blues; a world filled with drinks, drugs, and loveless sex where it’s not lady-like for girls to eat in front of boys, piss, or surf. For a while it’s all dim sims and coca cola, but soon Debbie begins to see the emptiness of it all and desires more. 

I think the real appeal of this movie is the iconic status of it as an Australian cult classic. When you really think about it, the Aussies don’t have a lot of teen movies in their cinematic repertoire, so it’s no surprise that this one stands out. Whilst there’s not much going on the ways of plot, familiar actor faces, or indeed performances in general, Puberty Blues still holds a certain power of captivation and fills in quite a few generational gaps. Older audience members from the time watch and reminisce; people like my mum who was actually up for the lead role! Then there are the younger audience members who watch it for a glimpse into the past, relishing in the use of outdated (and in need of resurrection) words and phrases such as ‘grouse’, ‘go ‘round with me’, and ‘rootable’. You see? A variety of generational appeal. 

I think also too that it’s so down to earth in terms of depictions of puberty. At some stage or other we’re all like that during that most annoying of gear changes and growth spurts, so it’s fun to see depictions of that on the big screen! 

Starring Nell Schofield, Jad Capeljah, Geoff Rhoe, Tony Hughes, Sandy Paul, Leander Brett, Jay Hackett, Ned Lander, Joanna Olsen, Michael Shearman, Dean Dunstone, Tina Robinson Hansen, Nerida Clark, Kirrily Norton, Alan Cassell, Rowena Wallace, and Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell, Puberty Blues is a classic despite the fact that it doesn’t really offer much in the ways of story, characters, performances, or other textbook phenomena that make up a movie. Filled with drugs, booze, sex, drama, gender inequality, and comedy, it’s a film that sits in prominence in Australia’s cinematic repertoire for its cultural depiction and nostalgia factor. Not to mention the soundtrack is done by Tim Finn and that’s just cool!