Rita, Sue and Bob too

[BeachBlondey]

As a Happy Valley fan, I was surprised to find out that the actors who played Nev and Clare in Happy Valley, were actually in two main roles of the Rita, Sue and Bob too film from the 80s.

It's made me think about that old film again, and I'm actually shocked that it was made at all.

There is some discussion online today about the film, and most comments are along the lines of "great film", "a British Classic", and so forth.

The plot (for those who haven't seen it), is centered around a fully grown married man, who seduces grooms two 15 year old school girls and engages in lots of sex with them, mainly in his car (iirc).

How the hell was this okay, to put this out as a comedy, even back then? And how can the majority of people who remember the film, still think it's a great British classic?

Cynthia Payne? Don't you mean Personal Services? That's a good film.

Cynthia Payne? Don't you mean Personal Services? That's a good film.

It is based loosely on her childhood and teenage years. It's a great film, one of my favourites and so well acted.

They didn't dress like grannies ,I was a teen in the 80.e and don't disagree there were some questionable fashions ,and most girls and women tbf,s some lads had at least one had perm
but come,on at least,our lips looked normal., all.generations will look back and cringe at fashions of the time .

I've never heard of this book, so thank you because I've just bought it!

Kind of makes me glad I was a goth. 🤣

Our local bus depot had its own, on site, working men's staff club, the drivers would finish work and go to their club for a few pints.
Once a week they had an under 18s disco.
The drivers would all volunteer to help out and would sit on 2 long tables near the dance floor, guzzling beer and leering at the girls.
They didn't let lads in, so it was always just girls.
I can remember some drunken bloke trying to force himself on me and me pushing him away. He told his mates I was frigid and the bus drivers used to say "have you warmed up love" or "do you need warming up" whenever I caught the school bus.
At 14 my best friend was having sex with 2 of them. At 25 she was dead from a heroin overdose.
This was in a northern town in the 80s. Those men are still out there.

I watched that film and it made a big impression on me (probably mid to late 80s when I was in my late teens) and its interesting because while it obviously wasn't a comedy, there was a certain deliberate levity about the way the sex/grooming scenes were portrayed.

It was clearly designed to be uncomfortable viewing but for a teenager it did feel as if there was something in the eyes of the two girls which was a bit "aspirational" about a shag with an older man who had his own car. Even at the time I was unsettled by the way it was being treated. It clearly wasn't exactly what Andrea Dunbar intended.

I do think its quite instructive as to how attitudes have changed. If a film like this were to be made now it would be much more honest about the impact that kind of abuse and grooming has a child's life. And that's a good thing.

It was acceptable because it was a reflection of real life. This type of thing was very common back then. My friend started going out with a 30 year old man when she was 14 - they actually got married had 3 kids - she did not have the first until she was 21 - and stayed together happily until he died.

I must have known of a couple of dozen teens under 16 who dated men over 20.

However i did find it a difficult watch when i saw it a few years ago but it does remain a very realistic portrayal of its time.

It was normal back then. Where I lived, girls always went out with older boys / men, preferably with a car, and even better, a job.

Age 15 was the average age in my circle for having sex, although one of my friends had a baby at 13. And big age gaps weren't frowned upon then, at 16, my boyfriend was 12 years older than me. This wasn't unusual with 14 year old girls often dating 28 year old men.

Teachers occasionally had affairs with female students, and sometimes got married. There was 2 cases that I remember particularly as they were in and around my year group.

It was a different world and probably incomprehensible to younger people today.

I still think the fashion then was better than the slug eyebrow let it all hang out look that seems to be in today though.

There will be no convincing me that there was a worse era for hairstyles than the mid 80's to early 90's. A supermodel would look terrible with a permed mullet. I've found that the inflated and poorly done lip filler trend is very specific to England for some reason (probably because you don't need medical qualifications to perform injections here so any old person can set up shop) but the 80s hair was widespread.

“No, I'm not saying that at all. I'm shocked that this was seen as ok, and normal in 1987 - for a married man to be having sex with 15 year old's.“

It wasn’t seen as ok. I was born in the early 60s. It was shining a light.

Most hairstyles were not that extreme tb f
but all.era,s will.have examples of extreme hairstyles
I mean yeah fashions were questionable but so what it's all part of being young and experimenting.

Another one from a deprived Northern town council estate where this kind of stuff was seen as 'normal', A friends dad was also similar and letchy and leery with us in the early 2000's he was older than most of the other dad's too, in his late 50's when we were all 14/15ish.

My mum recalls in 1980 (she was 15) being hit on most days by the school bus driver, who was a friend of the family and was 19 years older than her - he would always tell her to shorten her skirt when she sat down so he could see, and grab her backside as she got off. She wouldn't tell her parents about it as it would have been all her leading him on, not his fault at all.

We grew up in an estate like the one in the film, and basically if you didn't get out then yes this happened - everyone knew it was happening, and it was always the girls faults. The men were just seen as men and having 'urges and needs'

My experience wasn't the 80's either, but the late 90's and early 2000's. (but then Where I'm from has always been quite 'behind the times' for most things) Glad to say this side of things has changed a lot there now but DV in younger relationships seems to be the more commonplace.

It's very interesting that the author didn't like the film version, and that the original ending wasn't meant to be the happy clappy version that we were given. I think I would have appreciated Dunbar's version much more, because it would have highlighted how wrong the whole situation was, and how the girls were being exploited by Bob (even if they didn't know it at the time, because they were only 15). The Director of the film has made the situation seem upbeat and okay. I bet Dunbar was bloody livid!

You have completely misunderstood me. I'm not saying it shouldn't be written about. The film should have stayed closer to the original script, which was darker and more gritty. How does that make me fragile or lame?

There's no need to be so rude, surely?

I like it, but then I fancied Bob.

I always felt that the ending didn't ring true and it is infuriating that Andrea Dunbar's vision was overridden.
The film highlights the bleakness of poverty and aspiration for me and rang true from what I observed when working as a social worker in similar areas in the 80s. And there was humour and friendship and hope, both in the film and in life.

She wouldn't tell her parents about it as it would have been all her leading him on, not his fault at all.

That is awful and so sad.

I'm a couple of years older than your Mum & no way would my parents have blamed me.

Just shows how this attitude can be & influenced by peers.

To me it's sad that Andrea Dunbar didn't manage to move away.

Although I remember seeing The Arbor & I'm not sure that she really wanted to.

Friends/family/familiarity can be a big pull.

That was about her later life.
Wish You We’re Here was about her childhood and teens.

I’m going to watch again today

having a lazy tv binging day

In Eastenders when Michelle became pregnant (think it was 86) though shocked it was Den she was still seen as leading him on poor guy couldn’t help it 🙄

attidudes have thankfully progressed but many still hold the belief men can help themselves

It serves as a timely reminder how normal & acceptable that kind of behaviour was & if anything should be used to show unacceptable it is. And how easy it is for younger women to be groomed. I mean what is now considered grooming was seen pretty much as courting back then. Grim.

Those film posters upthread calling the film 'raucous and randy' are shocking and wouldn't happen now I don't think.

I just rewatched it, having not seen it for decades. I am exactly Rita and Sue's age. It felt very strange seeing the haircuts, pastel coloured clothing, silly little shoes, the pale white legs, skirts with the little slit at the back. It's so exactly how it was.

The film seems jarring now exactly because of the ending. The girls are victims, but don't realise it, because their lives are so dismal. If Dunbar's original ending had been in place, Bob would have got his moral comeuppance. As it is, there is no moral heart to the film.

It's not uncommon for theatrical posters to miss the point of the film. It's largely thought that one reason why The Princess Bride didn't do very well at the box office, despite going on to become a much loved classic, was because the marketing team didn't really get it and marketed it badly. The posters for it really don't show its heart at all. They make it look boring and not about very much.

Posters are there to sell the film. I don't think a poster showing RS&BT as a depressing kitchen sink drama would have sold more tickets than depicting it as a raucous sex comedy.