 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Hot Bubblegum
|
 |
|
(notes from a radio review)
What
a genre! Porky’s (1981), The Last American Virgin (1982), Puberty Blues (1981), American Graffiti (1973) …
What
do they mean? There’s a problem with citing their so-called hidden values, as
if someone else (not me or you, of course) – a target audience
– is affected, influenced or reconfirmed in their ideology by them.
But
this is not the path to take.
More
interesting are the uses of nostalgia on display here. A male race going back
to its days of uncomplicated innocence … The active/reactive relation of kids
and parents around sexuality.
Its
structure of stereotypes: the norm and deviations from it, and points of identification
woven into that spread.
So
there’s the interplay of Fat Boy, Smart Boy and Stud … as well the opposition
of plain and cold.
Structure
of the plot: switches, repetitions.
Style
and setting: a weird split between Jewishness and Americanness in this
‘international release version’ for Australia and elsewhere – in the dubbing,
and the music selections.
© Adrian Martin 1982 |
