SHUT UP, MOLL

MOLL: self-deprecating term for a woman of loose sexual morals, a bitch, a slut or a prostitute.  The term is also used for a girlfriend of a thief, gangster, bikie or surfie.

I love the term moll.  It brings back so many memories of my teen years… I just love it.  Don’t think it has enough of a presence in today’s vocabulary, which is why I think I’ll start using it more.

I just love it, and it’s also why I’m excited about the start of Puberty Blues.  It would appear that this new series is littered with it.

Now, I’ve never read Kathy Lette’s and Gabrielle Carey’s original book, nor did I see the original 1981 film, but I vaguely remember it at the time.

From what I understand, the book itself is about the journey of two best friends, as they aim to crack into the popular crowd; a surfie gang.  It’s all about social standing amongst teen peers, and doing anything to be accepted as a part of the ‘in crowd’.

At the time, the book was quite controversial, as it openly discussed gang rape, abortion, drug use and loose morals.  Sounds like an awesome read to me.  Possibly better than the 50 Shades of Crap that I’m trying to force myself through at the moment *runs off to see if she can purchase a digital version of Puberty Blues*.

So, the new Channel 10 series premiered last night, and I went on a nostalgic trip through my early childhood of splices (so nice, I could eat it twice), chicko rolls, eating cheezels off the end of your fingers, and being able to walk five miles to the beach without your parents worrying if you were going to be kidnapped, raped and murdered.

A point in time where beige was the rage, some idiot dictated that anything crotched was a fashion must, bell-bottomed jeans and thongs were somehow acceptable, and driving without seatbelts whilst intoxicated was the norm.

Yes my friends, it was the 1970’s, and they were horrifically awesome.

Whilst watching this show, I had more flashbacks to my childhood than Holden sold panel vans.

Dead set.

Forget Twilight and its pretty vampires.  Forget Harry Potter and his magical world. 

Puberty Blues is a reality so shocking that you would think it fiction.  However, this was life for some teens in the seventies, and I’ll be really interested to see what evolves over the next eight weeks (it’s only an eight week series, apparently) for the main characters, Deb and Sue.

I, for one, am already hooked.  Though admittedly, I was so blown away by the spectacular recreation of 1970’s life, that the storyline came a distant second.

The Sandman panel vans; the blonde, long-haired surfies; the molls that hung around with them; the boys that asked ‘so, you wanna go ‘round with me?’;the girls and boys that liked to ‘pash on’; the teachers that were allowed to smack with a ruler for mucking up; the tight t-shirts with different coloured sleeves and neck trims; the brown/beige horror; the long, loose hair; big, boxy televisions; fake timber wall panelling; Kingswood station wagons with no air conditioning; sprinklers (OMG! remember them?); maxi dresses and simplistic innocence.

Let’s not forget the language: moll, dead set, far out, nick off, dud root (oh dear), put out, chicko rolls (my fave next to moll), brandavino and scrubba.  Just to mention a few.

Then of course, there’s the music.  *runs off to download Dragon’s ‘Are You Old Enough?’*

Though, I suppose that’s really what the first episode in a series like this does, yeah?  It permits you to enjoy the memories, get lost in the history, and settle in for some good old fashioned entertainment.  Right?

You know when the show is produced by the people behind shows like Offspring and Tangled that it’s gonna be good.  It’s just got that beautiful, clean, real feel about it, and you can completely relate to and connect with the characters and their swirling, hormonal emotions and desperation for acceptance.  The simple humanity comes across perfectly, which is why I think this show’s gonna be a ripper.

Jade sat there watching the first episode with me in a state of complete horror.  She was so shocked with the way the characters spoke to one another, and the ‘loose’ ideals some of them had, that it took her a while to recover.  Having a guy say ‘you wanna go ‘round with me’ was laughable to her, and the way one of the characters simply said ‘you’re dropped’ to a guy on behalf of her bestie, was astonishing.

Naturally, I’m like ‘Open your fucken eyes, you dork.  That shit happens now, but it’s filtered through social media.’ 

Kid needs to get out more.

I was more concerned that she liked the high-waisted bell-bottoms, just quietly.

Wednesday night viewing will now involve The Shire and Puberty Blues for me.  Hopefully these two shows will fill the gaping void left by Being Lara Bingle.  God how I loved that show.

Peace, love and green shag carpet out. *tucks into a chicko roll, followed by an eskimo pie*