Puberty Blues Essay

The TV show I have chosen to talk to you about today is Puberty Blues. It is aired at 8:30pm, Wednesday on channel 10. It doesn’t have a specific genre, but more like a mixture. I would classify it as a teen drama. Puberty Blues doesnt work in plot twists but offers a suprising reality. The best part about the TV drama for me is how we get a glimpse into the life of a 1970’s teenager. Puberty Blues is set in Cronulla, Sydney, in the late 1970’s. Majority of the time, Debbie and Sue’s houses are used, but the ‘greenhill gang’ are also featured hanging around by the beach. Puberty Blues tells the story Debbie Vickers and Sue Knights. They are both very clever but somewhat unpopular high school girls who wants to raise their social standings in order to go out with boys. Through out the episodes we get to know the girls’ parents- Judy and Martin who are closed off and don’t interact with each other much and Pam and Roger who have a far more open relationship. The sixth episode was directed by Glendyn Ivin and written by Fiona Seresis. The main plot is when the ‘greenhill gang’ including Debbie and Sue, get wasted, go driving and flip the car, killing the driver. Any other show would have sent the characters into an instant panic but the writers of Puberty Blues understand that the shock combined with drugs would have caused everyone to burst into disbelieving laughter. The car crash wasn’t the only plot in the episode though. Debbies parents, Judy and Martin, got to couples councilling because Martin has strong feelings for a women at his work. Cheryl, a member of the ‘green hills’ gang, is flirting with her mum’s boyfriend to prove she is more desirable than her mother, who resents. The social issue pressented in the show was definitely driving under the influence. This message is easily interpreted in the car crash scene were the driver and passengers are drunk and stoned. This wasn’t my favourite episode from Puberty Blues but it was still solid like we have come to expect from this series. I would recommend the show to high school students and older as there are some mature themes and sexual references. I love this show because it takes awkward and serious situations and brings out their bright side.