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?

A comedy 🤣

I babysat as a teenager and frequently the husbands tried it on in the car going home.
I never thought anything about it. It's fabulous that girls now know to value themselves and call these creeps out. That film merely reflected life for some girls back then, it was superb.

At the time I thought it was ok as I was 15 seeing a 32 year old man
now our daughter is 34 and I’m 51 I think the way it was made light of is bad.
As the song says
it was acceptable in the 80s

If that's what you think the plot is, you've missed the point of the film.

Right! I just watched it the other day after seeing this thread and he used the same condom for both girls, it was vile. They also get in the car with him late at night and instead of taking them home he's like "do you want to go driving on the moors?" My first reaction was "Ummm no thanks? I don't want to be murdered"

It was controversial when it was released.

It's not a comedy.
As a dark piece of film it portrayed the characters and their situations with realistic accuracy.
Are we not to watch themes that are dark and awful?

Maybe it was about realising that whilst life is bleak. The majority of film goers wouldn’t pay money to watch a bleak film.
They want to be entertained.

Films cost money to make and no producer is going to back a film which is so bleak no one would watch it.

Shameless is a comedy. It is bleak the same way as this film but it has that uplift that makes people keep watching.
If it was all bleak and tragedy it wouldn’t have got a second series.

As someone who had a career in tv script writing I think Paul Abbot realised what sold and what didn’t.

Since this discussion thread came up I'm seeing the character of Sue in a new light. She is a really hard-done-to character but manages to keep her spirit. She has her own moral lights and her own dignity which, within the strict limits of a very confined life, speak volumes about her integrity as a character.

From that position, the liaison with the higher-status Bob would have given the girls some much-needed escapism. After Michelle leaves, how would it feel for Sue to be told he's chosen her mate over her, that she's been seeing him on the sly without her and is now pregnant, and she is the one being left behind?

Sue is understandably pissed with Rita, but reacts with admirable dignity and restraint when Bob confronts her. All he is seemingly perturbed by is the fact that Sue appears so-unbothered, only professing concern for her friend. And when he asks her to continue meeting him, she refuses to do the dirty on Rita and forcefully tells him to get lost.

The thanks she gets for her troubles is even more depressing. She tries to put Bob and Rita behind her and move on, only to be confronted by her father's ugly racism toward her new Asian boyfriend, then to face equally ugly misogyny at the hands of Aslam and his family, who in more ways than one don't speak her language. To cap it all, her continuing loyalty to Rita only results in her being accused of fucking Bob anyway. The repercussions are that she becomes the victim of domestic violence at the hands of her boyfriend and it all ends up in the undesirable ending we see.

The ending is depressing but probably inevitable. Sue is stuck. She's faced violence and abuse at home, violence and abuse at Aslam's where she'd thought she had found a sanctuary, and has absolutely nowhere else to go.

Her fighting spirit is bloody inspirational, given the awful setbacks and privations suffered by this character. I'm now a newly-formed Sue fan.

The ending is depressing but probably inevitable. Sue is stuck. She's faced violence and abuse at home, violence and abuse at Aslam's where she'd thought she had found a sanctuary, and has absolutely nowhere else to go.

The fact is that the menage with Bob is by leaps and bounds the best option for Sue by the end of the film - her alternatives are a return to the awful flat with her alcoholic father shambling round with his flies undone; or life as Aslam's domestic abuse victim.

One would like to think that, living in tolerable surroundings with Bob and Rita who are both, at different levels, her friends; financially supported by Bob, Sue might be able to take steps towards independence - getting a job, eventually building her own life on her own terms. She is a spirited, intelligent woman and it's amazing that she isn't completely broken.

I'm so tired of people pearl clutching at any art. If you can't handle adult issues, go watch Cocomelon.

Never seen or heard of it.

It wasn't a comedy!

But it was sold as such. Why do people deny this?

The poster tags lines ‘Thatcher’s Britain with her Knickers Down’. ‘Raucous, Randy and Utterly Captivating’. Sounds like a serious drama to me.

@PriamFarrl - "Thatcher's Britain with her knickers down" means a story of despair not comedy.

I am amazed (and pleasantly surprised) it’s still shown on tv. It is exactly like pockets of around here (West Yorkshire) and true to life. I don’t like the sanitizing of everything on television at all. Nobody looks at Sue’s dad in the film and thinks ‘here is my role model’. He’s meant to be a sad, racist gross old man.

Haven’t read the full thread, so don’t know if it’s been mentioned but for those talking about the author Andrea Dunbar, there was a good BBC radio 4 drama about her last year called Rita, Sue and Andrea Too. Another of her semi-autobiographical plays is The Arbour. She had a really horrible, sad life, and was a very astute and talented writer.

"Following an acclaimed career in hard-hitting TV drama, director Alan Clarke achieved a cinema hit with his much-loved comedy"

Tag line ^^

It was pitched as a comedy.

I can't imagine (now) anyone making a film about 15 year olds being groomed and pitching it as a comedy.

Have you seen the picture?

Yes. It's black comedy. Or tragi-comedy. Not unlike its predecessor, the kitchen sink drama.

Hell, even Beckett is dark comedy.

None are intended to be a glorification of abuse. They are important social commentaries and stories that deserve to be heard.

This was real life for some people.

This really should be 'Rita, Sue, and Bob Too Two!'

I like your interpretation of a more optimistic future for Sue. By the end of this movie they are still all of sixteen, and most romantic relationships forged at this stage of life are not fated to last.

Sue already had a part-time job as a telephonist for the taxi company. Wouldn't it be good if Rita also saw the light and did some form of job training to forge a life of her own? Then both women could return Bob's favour of using him to their own advantage, and move on to (if not a high-flying career as brain surgeons) at least a better, more independent future for themselves.

Rita doesn't seem to have Sue's gumption, and perhaps I'm an idealist but it's good to dream ...

Yes, Rita comes across as a much more passive character and I think she could be led either way - Sue might prod her into greater autonomy, or she might settle for having Bob's children and life as a housewife. Rita might be the sort of person who is stirred into action as a mum, particularly from the point of view of wanting better for her children than herself.

I could see Sue working in hospitality - perhaps starting off as a hotel receptionist and ascending to a managerial role. In the little bit we see of her job on the cabs, she's good at working quickly and multi-tasking and comes across as polite and professional on the phone, she'd also be great at dealing with troublesome customers and be straight-talking but compassionate with anyone she line-managed.

For the record (as l have been asked), yes l have seen it, no l don’t think it’s a comedy. I also don’t think it’s a lifestyle guide any more than Shakespeare’s Macbeth,

For goodness sake this nanny state.!

I always remember the bit where he says I thought I were great.