Bits of feedback I received:

• A: They want to know more about the rules and world of Kookaburra Green College. Is it cool to go to class? Is it cool to study? What is the social fabric/culture of the school?
• B: Move it somewhere richer to really apmlify the level of luxury they live in.

I wasn’t surprised about Feedback A. I struggled with deciding whether I wanted to set it in a boarding high school or a university college house. Looking back, of COURSE I should set it at a high school but was just hesitant to set it somewhere in which I would have to write characters with possibly regressive perceptions of the world. I’ve decided to embrace that though – embrace those parts of ourselves that, when distilled, can be just as puzzled by the world as my characters.

I found their very specific question of “Is it cool to study?” extremely helpful in developing the world. The expectations of them are suddenly brought to light – expectations from their families, teachers, and friends – and how they decide to fulfil them.

I think intellect and intelligence is highly valued by the culture of the school. People want to get high grades, ace debating competitions, and read as much as they can. It IS cool to study. Academics are a social activity at KGC with cute lunchtime study sessions, academic luaus, and academic prowess as the ultimate goal. It gets super nerdy. And when you’re THAT nerdy, just how cool can you actually be? It’s also more fun and satisfying to laugh at characters who are passionate about learning instead of characters who play it cool/detached.

When high grades are lusted after – how does that affect the school’s social hierarchy? Status plays a LARGE role in the show and status within the Rich Asian group is something I’m still struggling with as well as the Rich Asians’ status within the school. I haven’t quite solidified why people might legitimately want to be like them. Films like HEATHERS and MEAN GIRLS don’t really explain it but I’d like to deconstruct the social structures for myself. Because of its serial formatting as well, there is a lot of time to explore those aspects that films may be allowed to get away with.

I’m playing with the idea of  KGC as the students’ primary world from aged 12 and solidifying just how structured and sheltered that world would be. Whilst doing some boarding school research, I discovered that many boarders are designated a tutor and generally achieve higher grades than day boarders. Dominating that kind of world must surely include who has the best highlighters and who has developed the most effective note-taking skills, right?

 

 

With Feedback B – fair enough. It has now moved from Malvern East to South Yarra. I thought Malvern East was a funnier place because, whilst affluent, was not the cliched Toorak. But they were right, these people need to be somewhere even more flashably wealthy. Moving it also forced me to rethink how the architecture of the place looked. Now I can very clearly see KGC inside an old mansion and it will affect, in some way or another, how I see the drama unfold.

Aesthetic + Mood board

I’ve found that developing ideas aesthetically and tonally has been really important for me in order to progress. It’s like a hazy vision where you can see the characters, hear the jokes – like a blurry mess that somehow encourages clarity. Developing that sensibility towards the show has been a challenge. Nailing the show’s exact tone is hard but so neccessary to get right.

This particular style of writing and comedy was quite of its time – HEATHERS from the late 80s to MEAN GIRLS: a girl power era prior to intersectional feminism entering mainstream consciousness. A contemporary example like SCREAM QUEENS still divides with its portrayal of racial stereotypes – harder to get away with today without a shroud of nostalgia around it.

 

Developing the humour 

The world of QUEEN A is still very much our world, only skewed by the perceptions of the sheltered, privileged characters – and the humour comes from the audience’s awareness of the characters’ foibles. I initially started with something quite ironic and harsh like HEATHERS but found, as I wrote bits of script and characters, that it become a lot more like CLUELESS. The humour and characters warmed and sweetened, turning more pitiful/loveable/foolish instead of sardonic/bitter/cold.

The below excerpt is based off a real conversation I had with a friend, and really just based off our general experiences with racism in the public space and the politics of talking about it in private. There’s no right or wrong way of talking about, I think, and a lot of the humour is drawn from the ridiculous way Asia correlates racism and privilege.

Writing the scene gave me an insight into how Asia and Lily see the world. Asia is a lot more calm about it as the president of the Social Affairs Society – she has attempted to rationalise her privilege with the pain of the encounters and this is the end product. She’s venomous (and rightly, delightfully so) but also acknowledges that those incidences are ultimately nothing to them.

Script Excerpt # 1

INT. AROUND 8 PM, IN ASIA’S BEDROOM.

LILY: Oh. My. God. You will not believe what happened on the tram when I got off at South Yarra!

ASIA: I’m tired, this better be good.

LILY: Okay. I got off the train, right? And this gross homeless white dude called me…a Chink. 

ASIA: Well, you are a Chink.

LILY: I still fucking hate him. 

ASIA: Think of it this way: For every Dior bag you buy, imagine it’s worth one uncomfortable incident of a racist nature towards yourself from the less fortunate. Maybe two uncomfortable events if it’s really cute. It’s like the yin and yang of privilege! That homeless guy is on the gutter freezing in the rain right now—-

LILY: —-and I’m unboxing my latest Net-A-Porter order!

ASIA: Exactly. Order is restored.

I’m doing a lot of work and thinking about the Asian-Australian diaspora at the moment (oops I live in it) and part of what inspired me to pursue this idea was that awkward space of punching up and down as a privileged Asian person in the country. I really want to play and explore that murky space of where race, class, and gender intersect.

A key issue for me to figure out is how the Rich Asian/Kook Green world exists alongside the rest of society. The politics of the world does need to be dramaturgically sound in order for the humour to land. Shows like SCREAM QUEENS and J’AIME PRIVATE SCHOOL GIRL both employ “ironic racism” but is lazy in its construction of the set up. They depend too much on the audience “just knowing” that they’re joking but a less engaged audience member could totally misconstrue it for blatant racism whilst an actual racist audience member can get away with thinking that the show agrees with their beliefs. As the creator, a way I can keep on top of it is by ensuring that characters do get called out in-world by other characters whose opinions are respected by the audience. Honestly, I still haven’t figured out how to balance that aspect – lots of work to do yet.

~

The below excerpt offers insight into the workings of the Social Affairs Society. It gave me an idea of what exactly could be happening in those meetings for well-meaning but privileged do-gooders. It’s very CLUELESS in its approach to helping others and writing this helped me understand how the more overt feminist consciousness of the show could work. I also tried to touch on subverting the trope of the Popular Girl who constantly insult their female peers.

Script Excerpt # 2
INT. MIDDAY, SCHOOL HALLWAY OF KOOK GREEN COLLEGE.

ASIA: Bitch, what are you wearing?

KAREENA: Bitch, it’s Isabel Marant and I look so good in it.

ASIA: Bitch I know and I agree, but we made a pact two meetings ago that this month is going to be Only Buy Ethically Sourced and Manufactured Pieces From Independent Designers In Third World Countries Month!

KAREENA: What! Awww I was in Tokyo that week, why didn’t I see any minutes?

ASIA: Because you’re supposed to be the scribe, oh my god!

KAREENA: Oh crap, I’m sorry!

ASIA: Don’t apologise to me. Apologise to the skilled craftswomen of the third world whose businesses are already undermined by an industry who favour overblown European designers worshipping white, wafer-thin ideals of Eurocentric femininity. This is on your conscience.

KAREENA: I know, you’re right. I’ll re-read Roxane Gay before bed tonight and think about what I’ve done.

ASIA: Here’s my copy. I’ve already highlighted passages for you.

It’s still a bit shaky the way I balance bitchiness and the subversion of it but I think it reads semi-okay. It’s a lot of myself trying to balance all of my favourite pop culture inspirations and possibly being overwhelmed by it. Again, getting the intial aesthetic and tone established is so important but a challenge.