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Robin Klein's novel, Hating Alison Ashley (1984), is about the complexities of growing up. It focuses on Erica Yurken (Saskia Burmeister), a confused and insecure teenager who is obsessed by a sense of inadequacy, and her relationship with Alison Ashley (Delta Goodrem), her pretty, talented and seemingly perfect antagonist.
Hating Alison Ashley sold a quarter of a million copies in Australia. Working on the screen adaptation of Klein's novel, director Geoff Bennett and scriptwriters, Christine Madafferi and Chris Anastassiades, followed the core emotional threads of the story, remaining faithful to its audience. At the same time, they introduced some changes that made the film more relevant to the youth of today. The setting of the novel was changed from late 1970s-early 1980s to the present day. Computers and mobile telephones feature heavily and the present-day setting is accentuated by a strong contemporary soundtrack. In order to appeal to a larger audience, the age of the central characters in Klein's book was upped from twelve to early teens. However, in tracing the familial, social, and psychological aspects of the characters' coming of age, the filmmakers have remained remarkably faithful to the central themes and issues of the novel.
Family life is a major source of frustration for Erica. Her father has ceased contact with the family and her mother has started a new relationship with an outwardly brutish, but gentle and caring truck driver, Lennie. Erica's eccentric brother, Harley, communicates with aliens, but seems distant speaking to family members. Her younger sister, Jedda, pretends to be a horse, and her older sister Valjoy dresses in outrageous clothes and constantly bullies Erica into submission. It is not surprising that Erica, escaping to the solitude of her bedroom, dreams of success and grandeur.
A rowdy bunch from 9C presents...