Share
Clip description
Mrs O’Keefe (Phyllis Freeman) dislikes Jack (Tony Ward) for being a hoodlum and a Protestant. Against her mother’s wishes, Gillian (Judy Leech) goes for a ride into the countryside on Jack’s motorcycle.
Curator’s notes
In 1960s Australia deep divisions remained between Catholics and Protestants. Being lower-class, a hoodlum and a Protestant, Jack is Mrs O’Keefe’s worst nightmare. The script aims many of its barbs at conservative middle-class Australians such as Mrs O’Keefe. She is derided for living in a ‘Hoovered, Ajaxed and Mr Sheened home’ (the references are to cleaning products), and Gillian’s decision to date Tony and ride to the countryside on his motorbike is a rejection of her mother’s narrow views. But the narrator’s brutally honest appraisal of Jack’s attitude to women indicates she is about to be confronted by unpleasant truths.
