Women who eat donuts.

                                           Photo: Jess Husband
Talayna

by Carissa Pritchard

Producer, Peter Furst, confirms insurance is no longer an issue and all that remains is the question of catering. I have a friend who works at Woolworths and suggest he might be able to provide some supplies. Peter requests salad sandwich provisions, but since it’s an all female cast, I say, “Don’t you mean cold meat and salad?”

Back at Garnet’s, it’s the last day of rehearsals and I arrive at the tail end of lunch. The cast are seated around his dining table preparing a read through of the famous “Like a Virgin” opening scene. Talayna Moana Nikora is playing “Brown.” How does she feel about reprising Tarantino’s role?

“It’s a bit scary, because it’s his film and it’s his role. I’m not trying to bring anything of him into it. She’s female, so she’s completely different. The kind of women that would say these things is very different to the kind of man that would.”

What kind of women would?

“Quentin’s character is geeky, insecure, fighting for attention; hers has to come from a different place.” It seems everyone is convinced that replacing a male actor with a female will somehow challenge our gender assumptions. Sure, it’ll be fun to see a bunch of women mouthing off Tarantino style, but post reality television, what could we possibly find challenging these days?

That said, as I take a seat at the table, I witness something I’ve never seen before on a set:

1. The actresses are eating. 
2. They’re eating carbs.
3. The carbs are donuts. 

I’m too ashamed to pull out my Atkins bar.

Talayna proceeds to deliver exactly what she promised: a mouthy confidence and overt sexuality. I, on the other hand, am shocked. I can’t believe I’m hearing a woman describing another woman as a “f**k machine”, her “pus*y” like “bubblegum.” I flip open my laptop to capture my thoughts, yet I’m dumbfounded.

Peter Furst, right again – along with actresses eating sandwiches, he did say, “We have a belief that all people are equal, until you see a woman doing something a man does.” On the home front, my daughter won’t eat salad, or anything that’s not branded by The Wiggles. This means, even if we eat together, it’s always different. Tonight I wonder whether I want my daughter growing up with a mother who’s always on a diet. Although I draw the line at Wiggly spaghetti, I find something we both love – party pies. For once in her life, we eat together. I hope she grows up knowing women can eat donuts too.