Rafters not so nice. Deal with it.
Packed to the Rafters creator Bevan Lee doesn't apologise for sometimes peppering the show with themes that may provoke reactions.
- Published by David Knox
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Packed to the Rafters creator Bevan Lee has responded to recent viewer criticism that the show had racy storylines following complaints about a recent episode.
But he says fans will have to get used to the fact that Rafters isn’t always so light and that shying away from more adult plots shuts down their story choices.
“If we responded to those feelings of ‘we don’t want anything nasty to happen to the Rafters‘ it would be such a boring show,” he told the Herald Sun.
“I think we’ve created a family and everyone has so identified with that family, that they’ve said to themselves ‘they’re us’ but that family is not them. It is a fictional construct that represents Australian family life in its multiple dimensions.”
The recent episode included fantasy scenes for three of the male characters, plus an interrupted masturbation scene.
But the show has frequently tackled trickier subjects including domestic violence in its first episode, drug use, HIV, infidelity and trust issues.
“I have never been as surprised in my 30-year career as the reaction to the episode about male fantasy.
“I thought we’d done something charming and cheeky and risque but suddenly the press erupted as though we’d been doing porn.”
Shocked viewers will have to brace themselves for more adult subjects to come.
‘”We are dealing with a family where happiness and problems sit together,” Lee says. “Reality is sometimes distressing and we have committed to the reality of the Rafters.”
Source: Herald Sun
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12 Responses
Be thankful for shows of this type for without it we would be subjected to a bunch of American Teen Dramas
Packed to the rafters is the jewl in the crown when it comes to aussie tv. I see the show as something that holds together our fragile idustry. Australia loves the show and needs it. Without PTTR we would just have crime dramas and soaps- how boring!
Packed to the rafters is brillient the way it delves into the characters and the emotions they feel over what happens to them. It is a show I can identify with and love watching, its warm but at times edgyness gives good balance and makes interesting veiwing. Besides all of australia’s top shows have created controversy- eg. underbelly, Hey hey ect…
This is a top show and we should all be extremly thankful we have it!! Thank you Bevan for providing me and many others with a reason to be proud of Australian TV!
oh yeah he wouldnt be saying that if he wasnt the number 1 show of the week get 2 mil everywekk watch your rating go down if u keep these rude things up or move the show to 9.30 and put all saint at 8.30 cos i hate packed and i like staints better
In the first few episodes, weren’t they using crystal meth, i dont remember anyone complaining about that.
Good on ya Bevan for stating the obvious – I am so over Australia’s version of the Taliban i.e. Australian Family Association
People should get used to this in the 8:30pm timeslot.
If you want to see Happy Families in the same timeslot then stick to your overdosed 2.5 men over at Nine.
Think about PTTR’s target audience most of them are the people who used to watch the OC and other Similar Style Programming on a Tuesday Night when we used to have that.
Good on you Bevan …
@Jed: you mean Some fans … I am a fan and have watched every episode … I thought it was brilliant and all the better for the different style they used … an honest representation of real life … very courageous …
What about all the slutty teens that we see on Home and Away and Neighbours that continue to present the worst possible example to other teens … sex on the beach, fantasy naked scenes … if that goes at 7pm then anything goes at 8.30pm!!!
Jack!
God thats life. If you dont want to watch what life is then why watch the show. These things happen in real life and that is what the show is trying to portray. Its a great show and these more interesting plots are good for the show i recon. I agree with Bevan it would be boring as sh!t if all they did were happy family lovey dovey stuff.
Lee seems to be missing the point of what the true fans of the show were angry about. Yes, the Christian do-gooders and moral police complained about the sex and racy episode, but my main complaint about that episode was that it was utterly crap. The fantasy sequences didn’t work, were tacky and idiotic. I think that’s what the majority of fans of the show ere complaining about. I got no problems with sex being part of the show. The first episode had Dave with a 24hr erection. The holy than thou people who don’t watch the show complained about the sex, the rest of the fans complained that the episode was crap. But it’s back to its best so alls good.
people, get over it
Thank you Bevan Lee for being so honest and not giving in to audience protests. And now for the over-reaction to continue…
Bevan, the press erupted as they usually do – in an attempt to garner outrage from conservatives and the lamentable christian right, ‘cos they’re a little self-powered publicity machine for trash newspapers.