Each time this documentary is broadcast in Australia, I am reminded of how creepy it is. Disguised by the premise of a young women making a "diary video", the crew is granted access to film without any objections from the naturists in the picture. Using this footage relevantly is always going to be tricky for the footage editor.
The resulting pictures are of those few exhibitionists you find in naturist groups -- that minority who are all about "look at me" rather than just celebrating their personal liberty. There is even a man who tells his group that his "circumcised penis" is where their attention should be.
And then, much fuss is made of naturists who keep their bodies free of pubic hair. All this fuss even after we see an underwater camera shot steadfastly follow a teenager swimming naked, and then the same teenager sunbathing. We then see one of these "shaven naturists" in a full-screen close-up of genitals being shaved. No hair could possibly be seen before the shaving session, nevertheless a shaving demonstration is apparently warranted. No such need to show any evidence that this shaven person is actually part of a naturist social group, unsurprisingly their tall stories about their experiences appear to be fantasy.
Creepiest of all was the camera treatment given a pre-teen child playing paintbomb games with adults, all nude. As the child moves away from the group mid-play so it can launch another attack on the group, the camera leaves the group and focuses singularly on the child. This predatory manner contradicts and emphasises the words spoken much later by the titular "Teenage Nudist", when she describes the discomfort of children not allowed to choose who sees their bodies. (Where's Dexter when you need him?)
As expected, the footage turns out to be too tricky for the film-maker to make relevant to the premise of "diary video".
The resulting pictures are of those few exhibitionists you find in naturist groups -- that minority who are all about "look at me" rather than just celebrating their personal liberty. There is even a man who tells his group that his "circumcised penis" is where their attention should be.
And then, much fuss is made of naturists who keep their bodies free of pubic hair. All this fuss even after we see an underwater camera shot steadfastly follow a teenager swimming naked, and then the same teenager sunbathing. We then see one of these "shaven naturists" in a full-screen close-up of genitals being shaved. No hair could possibly be seen before the shaving session, nevertheless a shaving demonstration is apparently warranted. No such need to show any evidence that this shaven person is actually part of a naturist social group, unsurprisingly their tall stories about their experiences appear to be fantasy.
Creepiest of all was the camera treatment given a pre-teen child playing paintbomb games with adults, all nude. As the child moves away from the group mid-play so it can launch another attack on the group, the camera leaves the group and focuses singularly on the child. This predatory manner contradicts and emphasises the words spoken much later by the titular "Teenage Nudist", when she describes the discomfort of children not allowed to choose who sees their bodies. (Where's Dexter when you need him?)
As expected, the footage turns out to be too tricky for the film-maker to make relevant to the premise of "diary video".
