Winners – Room to Move: Fulfilling her father's dream

This clip explores the dilemma many talented children and their parents face, Carol’s father is trying to achieve success through his daughter’s achievements, while we can see that perhaps this is not what Carol really wants. Identifying the differences between Carol and her father is also important to the story.

Winners - Room to Move synopsis

This is the story about the unlikely friendship between two girls – one a sporting champion, the other a dancer and an outsider. Carol (Nicole Kidman) is a top runner with great potential and her father runs her training program day and night. Then she meets Angie (Alyssa Cook), the punk new girl, and the two become friends, eating hamburgers at ‘The Armpit’ where Angie has to work after school. They give each other lots of support and do things together that Carol had always dreamed of. Carol sneaks off to learn dancing with Angie and loves it. She begins to rebel and plans a new life for herself. But the all-important race is coming up – and Carol has to make some decisions. Is she able to give this race all she’s got?

Winners - Room to Move curator's notes

Starring a young Nicole Kidman sporting her trademark curls, this is a story about family relationships and (minor) teenage rebellion. Kidman’s co-star Alyssa Cook plays a punky outsider. Both young actors are terrific in their roles and it is fun to see the 1980s school uniforms, particularly the boy’s 'Warrick Capper’ school shorts. (Footballer Capper was infamous for the tight shorts he wore in the 1980s).The script was criticised by some at the time for undermining parental authority but it is very tame and politely done.

First broadcast in 1985 on Network Ten.

Notes by Annemaree O'Brien

Education Notes

This clip shows Carol (Nicole Kidman) arguing with her father (Terence Donovan) over the family dinner table because she does not want to attend an athletics training program. Carol says that she wants to complete homework instead but her father is disappointed and wants to make sure that her athletic talents are not wasted. Carol’s younger sister (Emma Lyle) and their mother join in the discussion.

Educational value points

• The clip reveals that Carol’s father’s insistence that she must attend the training session and succeed as an athlete arises in part from his own unfulfilled dream of athletic success. The father recalls that while he had the attitude and the application, ingredients for success that his daughter Carol seems to lack, he did not have her talent. He pushes his daughter to train hard at the expense of her other activities.

• The clip shows what could be a typical scenario, a middle-class family arguing at the dinner table. Carol is portrayed as a teenage girl wanting to spend time with her friends and rebelling against her father’s dominating attitude, while her mother quietly supports her and her younger sister mocks her.

• The clip raises questions about parental expectations and the pressures they can place on children and young people. In the 2003 Ethics in Sport report prepared for the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), too much and undue parental pressure placed on children is identified as one of the ethical issues considered most problematic.

• The enthusiasm shown by some parents for their children’s sporting success has been known to border on obsession to the point where they have received warnings from referees and judges, while others have been banned from matches for their abusive language and behaviour. In the 2003 Ethics in Sport report, inappropriate parental behaviour is included as one of the ethical issues most commonly experienced as being problematic. The ASC has developed a Code of Behaviour for parents and guardians.

• Nicole Kidman’s first film appearances were in Bush Christmas (1983) and BMX Bandits (1983) and her US acting debut was in Dead Calm (1989). Kidman (1967–) received a Golden Globe for her role in To Die For (1995), an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in Moulin Rouge (2001) and an Academy Award for Best Actress in The Hours (2003).

• Terence Donovan (1942–) began his acting career in 1966 and Australian drama series in which he has appeared include Cop Shop, Prisoner, Sons and Daughters and Neighbours.

• John Duigan (1949–) is a writer–director of films and miniseries that include Mouth to Mouth (1978), Winter of Our Dreams (1981), Vietnam (1987), The Year My Voice Broke (1987) and Sirens (1994). The Year My Voice Broke won Australian Film Institute (AFI) awards in 1987 for Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor.

• The Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF), which produced the film from which this clip is taken, is a non-profit organisation that develops television programs for children. The Australian Government and the governments of each of Australia’s states and territories fund the ACTF.

Education notes provided by The Learning Federation and Education Services Australia