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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Set in Sydney, The Sum of Us explores the relationship between Harry, a charming, beer-drinking, down-to-earth widower, and Jeff, his gay son. Harry is the caring 'mate' whose open-mindedness borders on being annoying. Jeff unsuccessfully searches for love with the unwanted guidance of his father.
Affiliation Notes
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Writing Disability in Australia
Type of disability Paralysis and wheelchair use after a stroke. Type of character Primary. Point of view Third person.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
- Uncomplicated, Honest and 'Right' single work criticism
- Write About What You Know single work criticism
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Gender and Sexual Diversity and Suicide on Australian Screens : Culture, Representation, and Health Pedagogies
2021
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Popular Culture , April vol. 54 no. 2 2021; (p. 365-387)'Despite an often‐repeated cliché that gender and sexually diverse characters are relatively absent from film and television, Australian screen production has a very rich history of representing sexual and gender diversity: greater than nineteen wide‐release films since 1993, including internationally recognized films such as Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), The Sum of Us (1994), Head On (1998), and The Monkey’s Mask (2000), portray gender and sexual diversity. Nine Australian films with LGBTQ, gender, and sexually diverse themes were released between 2013 and 2018, indicating an entrenchment of LGBTQ representation on Australian screens. Characters in major Australian television dramas and soap operas, such as Home and Away and Neighbours, have increased in regularity and complexity over the past two decades. Sexual stories, including narratives of minority sexual lives, have never, of course, been repressed or invisible, but according to Ken Plummer, they have long been central to contemporary Western culture (4). Stories representing gender and sexually diverse subjects depicting identity struggles and articulating minority health outcomes are a major and ongoing part of Australian creative production. What is significant in cultural analysis is not questions of visibility or invisibility but how the continuities and disruptions of depictions of gender and sexual minorities play a significant, pedagogical role in social participation, social harmony, acceptance, individual health and wellbeing, and community belonging (Cover, Queer Youth Suicide; Emergent Identities).' (Introduction)
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More Than Just a Gay Pun : the Changing Nature of Australian Queer Film Criticism
2019
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Australasian Cinema , vol. 13 no. 2-3 2019; (p. 51-66)'This essay looks at the critical reception of Australian queer cinema demonstrating the difference in reviews of queer Australian films. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Elliot, Stephan. 1994. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Sydney: Roadshow Distribution) and The Sum of Us (Dowling, Kevin, and Geoff Burton. 1994. The Sum of Us. Sydney: Southern Star) will be compared to films that came later in the 1990s, notably Love and Other Catastrophes (Croghan, Emma-Kate. 1996. Love and Other Catastrophes. Sydney: Fox Searchlight), The Well (Lang, Samantha. 1997. The Well. Sydney: Southern Star) and Head On (Kokkinos, Ana. 1998. Head On. Melbourne: Umbrella Entertainment). These later films managed to generate buzz on the queer film festival circuit as well as at general international film festivals. Their queerness attracts international LGBTQ audiences while, secondly, genre-related elements have the potential to attract a wider cinephile audience. I will utilise paratextual elements, particularly reviews during their film festival and theatrical runs, to demonstrate how they cross-over to wider audiences. In investigating their framing and reception, these films increasingly engage audiences through their genre signifiers. This essay demonstrates that the discourse around Australian queer cinema has matured to offer multi-faceted perspectives.' (Publication abstract)
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Not Your Typical Father & Son Story : The Making Of The Sum Of Us
2018
single work
column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 23 August 2018;
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A Look at Ourselves
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 24 July 1994; (p. 6)
— Review of The Sum of Us 1994 single work film/TV ; Bad Boy Bubby 1995 single work film/TV -
True Love's Ways in Balmain Blokeland
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 21 July 1994; (p. 18)
— Review of The Sum of Us 1994 single work film/TV -
Aussie Icons Deliver in Comedy-Drama
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 23 July 1994; (p. wkd 8)
— Review of The Sum of Us 1994 single work film/TV -
Untitled
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: Cinema Papers , August no. 100 1994; (p. 72-73)
— Review of The Sum of Us 1994 single work film/TV -
Gay Relationship Handled with Skill
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 29 July 1994; (p. 8)
— Review of The Sum of Us 1994 single work film/TV -
The Emerald City of Oz : The City of Sydney as a Gay Space in Australian Feature Films
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Australasian Cinema , March vol. 5 no. 3 2012; (p. 307-319) 'Australian feature films featuring gay male characters have consistently defined the inner-city - and particularly the inner-city of Sydney - as a gay space. This article examines a range of such films within the historical context of the emergence of gay male community and culture in Sydney. While this history reveals the complex and contested nature of gay men's connections to the city, on-screen depictions have tended to mask such complexity in favour of a simplistic urban/gay versus rural/straight divide. By repeatedly exploring gay life in inner-city spaces through the eyes of heterosexual, rural visitors, Australian films have developed and replicated discourses that have seen Sydney defined as the 'true' home of gay male community and culture.' (Editor's abstract)
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When Boy Gets Boy
1994
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 16-17 July 1994; (p. 3) -
Work Takes Author Home
1994
single work
biography
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 28 July 1994; (p. 18) -
American to Thank for Australian Film
1994
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 7 August 1994; (p. 21) -
Never Give Up
1994
single work
biography
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 24 July 1994; (p. 6)
Awards
- 1995 winner Film Critics Circle of Australia — Best Screenplay - Adapted
- 1994 winner Montreal World Film Festival Awards — Best Screenplay
- 1994 winner AFI Awards Australian Film Institute Awards — Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Source
- Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,
- Balmain, Glebe - Leichhardt - Balmain area, Sydney Inner West, Sydney, New South Wales,