What is it with this film? Back in the day when I realised how much of an impact it had had, particularly on Australian women’s lives, I called it a cult surf classic. But maybe its day has finally come? It played to a packed Drill Hall in Mullumbimby last week and I did a Q&A afterwards. Yes, I’m proud of my 17 year old performance but watching the last scene, I decided I’d been exploited. I would’ve never worn such a tiny bikini. I always wore one piece swimming costumes. A woman in the audience asked me if I’d been made to wear the bikini because the director was threatened by me and wanted to make me vulnerable? It was something I’d never thought about since I was i9n awe of Bruce Beresford. But maybe…. I was also exploited because since my initial payment of $7k (in 1981), I haven’t seen a cent and yet have been the face and figurehead of this iconic story. People recognise me, 40 years on. As I said to the Drill Hall Film Society, when you fuck someone in the back of a panel van in front of the entire nation and beyond, it’s hard to live it down. You will always be that person.
In 2004 I wrote a book about my experience and the impact of the book and then the film for Screensound Australia ‘s Australian Screen Classics series. I recently discovered a box of them that I would love to distribute to interested parties. Contact me for details.
Meanwhile I thought I’d share the poster that the Society used to promote the film. It’s Cheryl (one of the hot chicks in the Greenhills Gang) revealing the cheat notes on her thigh for the exam. The lead characters don’t feature. Maybe we weren’t pretty enough?