Waking in Fright to Suzi’s Story

“Wake in Fright” is not only a title of a 1971 Australian film, but it is a call to arms for people who want to stir themselves from the sleep of complacency or inaction, and commence the journey from awareness to action – the difference from being awake to being woke. But a generation ago, this film touched upon a number of themes that were becoming relevant during its time, and it can still speak to us today as part of Australian culture – challenging the “She’ll be right, mate” dismissal of injustice and suffering.

And perhaps not surprisingly, women led one particular movement for related social activism, and one early advocate effectively used her life (and death) to call for calm compassion.

US film critic Roger Ebert reviewed the film under the headline “An Outback horror story” – which it certainly is, with its depiction of outback isolation and alcohol-fuelled violence, its toxic masculinity (including sexual assault and virulent homophobia), and its repulsive documentation of kangaroo slaughter (a scene which reportedly caused a walkout of some audience members during a 2009 screening at Cannes).

Given that “Wake in Fright” is a no-nonsense expose about living on the geographically and culturally violent fringe of Outback Australia – and I have seen it referred to as being one of a wave of “Ozploitation” films that might also including “Mad Max” and “Wolf Creek” – it is perhaps not surprising that the film was “lost” for about forty years, and rediscovered a generation later. James Guida in The New Yorker suggested that:

“…When it was released it was so angrily denounced by the filmgoing public in Sydney that it disappeared forever — well, nearly. They were so aghast at the world of violence, aggression, ritualistic drinking, brutality toward nature and warped homoerotic sexuality masquerading as macho masculinity and bogus male bonding, that [the film] was a box-office flop.”

Somehow during my tender teenage years, I watched this film on television (before it disappeared) and its scenes of boganism were later recalled when, like the film’s protagonist (a school teacher), I was also assigned a job in the school of a dusty country town. For me, the isolation and culturally desolate landscapes were very real, and the film’s kangaroo killings were revisited when I joined some local “mates” on what I thought was a social night, but which became (for them) a night of “bunny bonking” (hunting rabbits by guns and spotlight). The film’s underside of Australian culture was very evocative of real life.

But for me, the film’s most frightening depictions of violence were its cultural hatred and repulsion towards homosexuality. Created during the same era in which Hollywood was churning out films like, “The Boys in the Band:” and “Midnight Cowboy”, inferred depictions of LGBT+ characters in films were generally self loathing or aberrant, adding an undercurrent of seediness or villainy to characters who were destined to either die or lead lives of loneliness (later revisited in “Brokeback Mountain”). Aussie films during this era, such as “The Everlasting Secret Family” and “The Adventures of Barry Mackenzie” followed suit, with LGBT+ characters either queer coded as part of their inferred displays of deviance, or were subjected to larrikin slurs of being comedic “poofters”. Such stereotypes were later examined by film historian Vito Russo as part of the western culture of queer invisibility or oppression. It would be some time before our culture would feel the impact of the US Stonewall Riots, or the publication of the gay liberation tome, “Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation” by Australian activist Dennis Altman.

Meanwhile, “Wake in Fright” disappeared and was presumed effectively lost. I recalled the film with probable confusion caused by my having seen it at such a young age and being probably unable to fully absorb and process its nuances and multilayered meanings. I vaguely recalled its homophobic depictions of male bonding and homophobic male self-loathing, reinterpreting these through the lens of a fellow teacher, a woman who once casually commented about teenage schoolboys fighting in our schoolyard: “I wonder if boys like to fight and wrestle because it’s the only way that they can touch and have emotional closeness to other males without being accused of being gay”. I saw the deep-seated threat of homophobic, toxic male violence first-hand in that country town one day, when the local radio station had declared the day to be “Blue Jeans Day” and had jokingly called for people to wear blue jeans as a way of “coming out” as gay. I had coincidentally worn blue jeans to school that day, and my students joked about it while I tried to have a mature (but age appropriate) conversation with them about human rights and equality – in the days before Anti Discrimination laws. One of the other young male teachers (a known womaniser), when also jokingly questioned by his students about his blue jeans, became loudly and physically aggressive, literally threatening to assault the nearest student if anything more was said on the matter. It seemed that the visceral violence of the outback country town from the film could also be found in real-life locations elsewhere in Australia. And there I lived: in an isolated, threatening, cultural desert.

But the most frightening correlation between the film and real life happened in 1995 when its star, Gary Bond, died of AIDS. His gay life – and his death – remained largely hidden from polite Australian society. Perhaps his homosexuality was another reason why the film had largely disappeared.

This was the era of AIDS, when public toilets frequently boasted graffiti that read “GAY = Got AIDS Yet?” or “AIDS = Anally Inserted Death Sentence” and became one focal point for roaming gangs of “poofter bashers” (I even recall reading in the newspaper about a young father who was bashed to death on a nearby train just for allegedly looking gay). Despite a number of prominent Australians speaking up for tolerance, acceptance, and in opposition to homophobia and AIDSphobia, other prominent Australians spoke of gay men (and other disempowered cohorts) as being ‘radical deviants’ (Simper, 1986) or purveyors of ‘brazen indulgences… to spread AIDS in Australia” (Nile, 1986).

The gay community had rallied and successfully conducted “safe sex” campaigns to reduce the spread of HIV, but this had remained largely within their own or related affected communities – all of them stigmatised and marginalised. They needed someone to speak up on their behalf. One early such advocate was a young woman who, along with her husband, became a mouthpiece for AIDS activism that had the potential to heighten and spread fear – but their loving, gentle voices gave testimony to a more compassionate, loving approach.

Suzi’s Story – Be Awake and Be Woke

“Forgive.”
– Vince Lovegrove explains Suzi’s advice to him about life in Suzi’s Story
(Lovegrove, 1987a).

The television documentary Suzi’s Story focussed on the family of Vince and Suzi Lovegrove, a young couple in Sydney who had met in the 1983 and had married shortly after the birth of their son Troy. Before long, the tragedy of AIDS would strike this family.

Vince Lovegrove later recalled their early days together in New York City and the ignorance that pervaded communities that were already affected:

“During my time in New York I lived in Christopher Street, Greenwich Village and the homosexual community would demonstrate in the streets, handing out information pamphlets and collecting fighting funds for this new disease that was confined to the gay community. We thought.

“This was 1983, and we had nothing against gays. But even so, just to ensure our safety, when we descended the three flights of stairs in our small apartment block and walked onto the street, we scanned the sidewalks. We wanted to be doubly sure we wouldn’t catch AIDS by accidentally brushing past someone who was infected. We talked about it often, sometimes seriously, but mostly jokingly, congratulating ourselves on how lucky we were not to be at risk.”(Lovegrove, 1993. p. 2.)

But even back then, warning signs were present:

“Ironically, Suzi was constantly ill from the moment we met. She often suffered from tiredness, lethargy; on a few occasions there were skin rashes, vomiting…. Maybe a cold, a change of weather, a hangover, stressed-out Manhattan living. Always a plausible explanation for the simplest of symptoms.” (ibid)

On 10 March 1986, now living in Australia, their worst fears were confirmed. Blood tests revealed that Suzi had HIV antibodies, indicating that she had been exposed to HIV some years earlier (ibid, p. 4), and both she and her son Troy were eventually diagnosed with AIDS.

The documentary Suzi’s Story was filmed in early 1987, chronicling their family’s life in the weeks leading up to Suzi’s death. The love and support they received from relatives was contrasted against the mixed response from friends – some supportive, others fearful and rejecting. The program was sensitive but also blunt: Vince shared how he and Suzi had enjoyed sex together for years without his becoming infected; his daughter from a previous marriage discussed whether her school friends (or their parents) would be supportive.

It was also a time of great testing – and not simply from their battle with AIDS. Vince reported that he had to battle four court cases over his and Suzi’s right simply to film their documentary at all, as many people evidently disagreed with the wisdom of filming the last months of a dying woman’s life (ibid, p. 66). It seemed that the societal taboo against death was another hurdle that people with AIDS would have to overcome if they wanted to have their problem dealt with openly and honestly.

Suzi’s Story aired on Channel 10 on 23 June 1987, only nine days after Suzi Lovegrove’s death from AIDS. The viewer response was “unprecedented” (Johnstone, 1987) and led to a repeat screening on 9 July 1987, preceded by newsman David Johnstone reading aloud extracts from three sample letters which had been written by viewers responding to the first screening. He also stated at the end of the second screening that the viewer response led Channel 10 to believe that the documentary had contributed to breaking down the stigma associated with AIDS (ibid).

Positive viewer response also led Vince Lovegrove to write a eulogy to his wife in Sydney’s Sun newspaper prior to the second screening of the documentary on 9 July:

“Well, you really did it this time, my love…Viewers fell in love with you and your dignity…You smashed all the myths of AIDS to smithereens…

“And they now know what is needed most by victims. Love. You should be damned proud. And Australians should be proud of their response…” (Lovegrove, 1987b).

The newspaper also reported that “a massive wave of sympathy and support” included money to support young Troy Lovegrove in his own battle against AIDS (ibid). The documentary even won a 1987 Human Rights Award as testimony to its widespread impact in fighting stigma.

The emotional and compassionate response of Australians to this young heterosexual couple and their family began a slow, glacial transformation to extend compassion to others at risk, who remained invisible: gay and bisexual men, injecting drug users, haemophiliacs, and their female sexual partners and infants. That stigma was still there – although Vince and Suzi Lovegrove (and their children) had challenged such fear, ignorance and stigma with their own brand of calm courage. Australia woke in fright – and began a journey forward into a new era of both effective HIV medications and a more compassionate society that was learning respect for diversity.

Other advocates – especially women – would come forward in those early days of a terrible double epidemic (one of a virus, and one of stigma and rejection). But young Suzi Lovegrove set the scene for change by appearing on televisions in living rooms around Australia, and making people weep for those lost to AIDS. Her husband Vince was tragically killed in a car accident on 24 March 2012, but Suzi and Vince should be remembered and honoured as people who were willing to stand up (at considerable cost to themselves) against a terrible plague and its terrible stigma. We can still learn from their example today.

References:

Author unknown, 1996. “Proud lives remembered: World AIDS Day 1996”, in Sydney Star Observer, 28 November, pp. 2 & 3.

Roger Ebert, 2012. An Outback horror story, RogerEbert.com, 31 October.

Gilda Golden, 2024. The Impact of Queer Invisibility: from Alienation to Inspirational Representation, Medium.com, 7 June.

James Guida, 2012. “Wake In Fright”: Prepare to Be Disturbed, Mate, The New Yorker, 4 October.

David Johnstone, 1987. Introduction to repeat screening of “Suzi’s Story”, Channel 10, 9 July.

Vince Lovegrove, 1987a. Interviewed in “Suzi’s Story”, A Carlyon-Gillespie Production, in association with Pro-image Productions for Network Ten Australia.

Vincent Lovegrove, 1987b. “My Dearest Suzi”, the Sun (Sydney), 9 July.

Vincent Lovegrove, 1993. A kid called Troy, ABC Books.

Andrew McCallum, 2014. The Hunt: Wake in Fright (Ted Kotcheff, 1971), Key Moments in Australian Cinema, Issue #70, March.

Fred Nile MLC, 1986. “Scrap Gay Mardi Gras”, The Australian, 21 February.

Errol Simper, 1986. “CEP funds wasted on ‘deviant radicals’,” The Australian, 12 March.

= = =

This was preparatory work for my PhD studies on, “A Social History of HIV/AIDS in Melbourne During the ‘Crisis Years’ 1981 to 1997”; this latter work was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship.

©2024 Geoff Allshorn.

5 thoughts on “Waking in Fright to Suzi’s Story”

  1. Glad you re-sent this, the email link did not work. Very intelligent blend of film discussion, personal recollections, and moving story of political activism. Sad that it took tragedies suffered by “innocent” heterosexuals to move and anger the mainstream communities.

  2. I often mention the recent, awful, violent history of homophobia in Australia when I’m talking to friends in Africa who lament the very real risk to their lives of homophobic hatred in their countries. Thanks for posting this, Geoff.

  3. Thank you for remembering and sharing Suzi’s story, she was indeed one very brave and smart woman who, along with her husband Vince and her son Troy, helped dispel some of the myths around HIV/AIDS. Up until then, women and those living with HIV/AIDS had been largely ignored other than to pillory certain types of women (and their occupation) as wanten vectors of disease. The double whammy of living with a deadly disease and the punishing stigma that ensued silenced many people and especially women.

    Putting a human face to her plight, telling her story no holds barred, helped bring a little humanity to the extreme fear and loathing, death threats, bashings, sackings and more that raged across the nation at the time, that HIV/AIDS could affect anyone. Did a hell of a lot more than the old Grim bowling people down with fear.

    Thank you Suzi, Vince and Troy you will be remembered as champions of life affirming humanity and courage in the face of a largely hostile world to people living and dying from AIDS.

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