MovieChat Forums > Suburbia (1984) Discussion > Suburbia - Chick in the pink prom dress ...

Suburbia - Chick in the pink prom dress ...

posted 20 years ago by sceej65
31 replies | jump to latest

I know this is going to come off nasty but when the chick in the pink prom dress is stripped, I remember me and the people I saw it with thought it was hysterically funny. Yeah, Skinner showed her no respect with his come on ("I think I'd like to f*ck your brains out.") but she was so damn cocky the way she got up in his face and blew him off! And can someone explain to me WTF she was doing at the show in that get-up. Probably overanalyzing the thing but later one of the guys said he thought she was meant to represent disco music in general (the way she was dressed - all glamor) and the scene showed that she and her kind were no longer relevant. When I saw the DVD, the writer/director Spheeris was kind of mockign that character and what happened to her. I remember one of the girls in our group said that she was lucky it was only the guys who got their hands on her, she and her friends would have humiliated her even worse.

[–] sociallydefunct_punk 20 years ago

The girl is a new waver who mistook the show for being one of her more watered down tastes fare. They reference her later at the concerned citizens meeting when they airing grievances toward the TR and punks in general. She was a poser in the scene who was humiliated for her attitude and her presence where she did not belong.

[–] sceej65 20 years ago

She was dressed a lot more glam than new wave to me but agree she was a total poser *beep* the sneer on her face. She definitely got what she deserved. She also looked pretty hot when most of the other girls didn't. Like I said, when I got the DVD, even the director was basically laughing about what happened to her. When I first saw it, I never made the connection that she was the same girl at the meeting. Now when I see the DVD it just illustrates the phoniness, she's dressed like some church girl with a long skirt and shirt buttoned up to her neck but in the club she was dressed like a hooker! My own experiences were that most people, including new people, were welcomed or at least left alone but don't come in with some attitude or like you're staring at some freak show. The director says it's based on a true incident by the way.

[–] Wilde_child 19 years ago

I see your points, but I think it may also illustrate the sexism and prejudice within the punk/hardcore scene.
Doesn't the punk lifestyle mean you shouldn't care about origin, clothes and appearance?
The way they behaved shows punks can be as close-minded and elitist as anyone.

What the guys did to the girl was cruel and immature, I don't find it funny at all.
It just adds to the notion that punks and rockers are brutal and ignorant (a notion which I don't agree with).

I think I must have one of those faces you can't help believing.

[–] bway242 19 years ago

I think a lot of it had to do with adding some sex to the movie to please producer Roger Corman, who is know for T&A flicks. Also, the stripping scene is based on an actual event but I agree it is not a fair depiction of punk generally. The little blonde who got stripped went on to have a career as a porn star in the 80s.

[–] LeaBlacks_Balls 16 years ago

At least someone shares my sentiment.

I couldn't believe we were asked to root for these guys after they humiliated that girl for no reason at all. I would have liked the movie so much more if that scene weren't included.

[–] wobbly33 19 years ago

The event she's referring to has nothing to do with a punk show. She's talking about a series of sexual batteries at a Puerto Rican Day parade in New York City, when a lot, like dozens, of young women and girls were groped and some had their clothes torn off. That's not anti-Puerto Rican, it just happens to be true. It happened not long before the DVD came out.

[–] floydthebarber 19 years ago

That's the only thing I didn't like about this film. It wouldn't happen in real life.

[–] sprocket99 19 years ago

Did you not just read the comment that said this scene was based on a REAL LIFE event? Penelope even says so in the commentary.

[–] BunnyXCore 18 years ago

Omg when was that? Is there like, a news article or somthing? I thought the parade was safe!

[–] thesmogmankills 13 years ago

ummmm wobbly...before you reply kindly gather up a tiny bit of info....the puerto rican day parade incident occured after the year 2000...and the movie came out 16 years before the parade incident.... you are sooo far off base with your comment I find it hysterical

[–] LeaBlacks_Balls 16 years ago

Well, if that doesn't scream Fascism, I don't know what does.

[–] crankenstyne 19 years ago

It was definitely based on a real life event. Actually more than one event. I was actually at two shows in 1980 where that exact same thing happened. One was at a Black Flag show at the Starwood where the girl who got stripped actually got a ride with us to the show. One of our friends asked if it OK for her neighbor to tag along with us to Black Flag. We had a van, so we said sure, why not. The neighbor was this 'hippie chick' who was way older than all of us. She was dressed kinda 'punky' and this was her very first punk show. She got beligerently drunk on the way there and whn Black Flag started playing she joined in the slam pit and pissed some people off and the next thing we knew she was stripped naked and getting molested by everyone in the pit. We all felt bad for her, but she really didn't seem to let it phase her much. I remember her saying "It's just a body." on the ride home.

Anyway, same thing happened a few nights later. (different club, different girl). And I'm pretty sure I remember that happening at least 2 or 3 times after that as well. I think it was like a trend for a few weeks there in 1980-81.

[–] bway242 18 years ago

She should have listened to Director Spheeris' comments in the DVD commentary, "I say, run girl!"

[–] dxmkrew 18 years ago

that's really disgusting. i love how a majority of the comments here about the girl in the movie are all, "oh that bitch had it coming she was just some 'poser'." screw that, it is uncalled for.

i'd expect that at a gg allin show, but not at a black flag show.

[–] therealdougsmith 9 years ago

I think it was THIS show...Dez was singing, Ron having left due to the violence and increased hostilities at the shows earlier in the year

http://www.moma.org/collection/works/191184?locale=en

[–] mollyhatesemo 18 years ago

Man, that part of the movie just made steretypes worse. How the *beep* is that funny? Punks are supposed to except other people (we want other people to leave us the *beep* alone, right?). "I'd like to *beep* your brains out." That's out of line and what the *beep* do you expect someone to do? A slut with and STD would rip off her own clothes but someone with a little bit of self-respect would do what she did. That was *beep* up and not funny at all. It gives us a bad name. We're already: bums, dirty, angry, abusive, and now we molest too?

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] discoblunto 18 years ago

evil.

listen closely to what Penelope Spheeris says in the commentary about this scene.

She says "you can blame all of this on me".. and she said she does not condone violence in any way and that goes for the dog shooting part... she said she wouldn't have done those scenes if she had to re-do the movie, and that there is already too much violence in the world for her to portray it that way in film.

Basically, it's wrong to *beep* do that *beep* to anybody... blah blah blah

"With this dick in charge, I'm not gonna find a girl all summer!"

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] bway242 17 years ago

Watched it again and, tonytshirt, you are right to a point. The girl did appear to be posing but not as a punk; to me, she looked like some disco extra from Saturday Night Fever (lol). Even though he dissed her, its true she was the first one to get physical, kind of shoving Skinner. He kind of grabbed at her and its not clear he meant to tear her dress. Its after her dress was torn that other guys started the feeding frenzy of stripping her.

P.S. - if you watch closely, FLEA is the one who gets her panties!

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] boforte1 17 years ago

i dont know about that scene- i was 17 in 1983 when this was made and went to a ton of shows in those years and i never saw anything like this happen-my friends and i would have never let something like that go down(even if she was dressed like a disco queen)i love this movie but that one scene seems fake to me.

[–] DingusStudley 17 years ago

I thought this scene went a long way to show just how out of control the kids were. They had no respect for anybody, they did whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, however the hell they wanted. That includes stealing, vandalising, borderline sexual assault, etc. It showed how screwed up and how far gone these kids were.

And to say that she deserved it is outrageous.

That said, I found the scene to be very arousing, and Skinners comments to her were hilarious.

[–] sea34450 16 years ago

When I saw that scene it occurred to me that maybe the girl in question wasn't there because she was slumming or a poseur but rather because she was there to meet someone or had a family member somewhere in the band and/or audience.

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I am a false prophet and God is a superstition!

[–] Fpau45 16 years ago

I just want to say that I liked how the club managers and the band waited until the song was over before doing anything to help the girl.