laudable;thosewhoare‘stuck’ are consigned to
beingcomedyfodder.
It’sa rarediscordantnotein anotherwisewell-
constructedwork.Co-creatorQueMinhLuuhasbeen
openabouthavingspentpartofherchildhoodin public
housing,^4 sowecansafelysaythatsheis,tosomede-
gree,writingfromherownexperience.But,whileThe
Heightsdemonstratesa greatdealofempathyforits
ethnicallyandsexuallydiversecast,it seemstohave
a blindspotwhenit comestocertainsocietalhierar-
chies.Attheveryleast,ourprotagonistsareunarguably
positionedononesideofsomekindofsocio-economic
line– onethatseeminglyassociatesaspirationandmo-
bilitywithscreen-worthiness– andanyoneontheother
side,likeWattoortheunnamed homeless contingent,
remainstronglyOthered.
Thisinevitablygivesrisetoa whiffofinauthentic-
ity:theshowfeelslikea middle-classperson’sidea
ofwhateconomicallydisadvantagedlifemustbe
like.Thisauraofunrealityis nothelpedbytheseries’
fairly non-specificsetting.The Heightsis filmedin
WesternAustralia,mostlyin andaroundtheinner-city
enclaveofEastPerth;^5 however,asArcadiaHeights
is supposedtobea shorthandsketchofanypossible
gentrifyingurbanneighbourhood,referencestoactual
places,customs,businessesandsoonarealmost
universallyavoided.This approachmay sufficefor the
sun-bleached,largelyapoliticaldramasofSummer
Bayanditsilk,butthegritthatThe Heightsis clearly
reachingfor demandsspecificity.It is not enoughto
posita mythicalworking-classneighbourhood;the
themesandtoneadoptedbytheserieswouldhave
beenbetterservedbyanactualplace– or,atleast,
a place that feels firmly situatedin the real world.As
it stands,themostconcreteindicatorthatArcadia
Heightsis locatedwithintheactualmetropolitan
areaofPerthcomeswhenUncleMax(KeltonPell),
anIndigenouselder,performsa WelcometoCountry
ceremonyand specificallyinvokesthe Nyungarpeo-
ple of the Whadjuknation,of whomhe is a member.
In termsofvisualstyle,The Heightssetsitselfapart
fromthesoapypackbyemployingdevicesdrawnfrom
contemporaryprestigedramas.Underthedirection
ofJamesBogle,AndrewProwse,RenéeWebster
andDarleneJohnson,theseriesemploysanunusual
amountofhandheldcameraworkfora soap,andthis,
coupledwithextensiveuseoflocationshootingonthe
streetsofPerth,lendstheseriesa palpablefeelingof
immediacyandtactility.Theoveralleffectis somewhat
documentary-like,whilestillexistingwithintheaesthet-
ic frameworkoftheAustralianprime-timesoap.Scene
transitionsaretightandabrupt,movingthemultiple
plotlinesin anygivenepisodealongata rapidclip.
We’rerarelyleftwaitingforthenarrativetocometothe
boil;The Heightsroilsalongnicely,constantlydeploy-
ing conflict,catharsisand resolutionat the micro level
whilealsotendingtoitsmacrothemesofclass and
identity. It is a superbly constructed show.
Whichis whyitsmoreobviousfaultsareforgivable.
ThespeedandscaleofThe Heights’ storytellingmeans
thatitsshortcomings– not-always-polishedeconomic
and class representation,non-specificityof setting- canbedealtwitheasily,aswequicklymoveon
to the next plot point or portrayal.More importantly,
the seriesrepresentsan intriguingand welcomepos-
siblefutureidiomforAustraliantelevisiondrama,one
in whichdiversityandvisibilityarebakedintothe
dramaticfabric of the form. In order to do so, shows
likeThe Heightsneedtobemoremindfuloftheirown
potentialshortcomings,andensurethat,in enacting
whatLuuhascalled‘anexpressionofanunconscious
desiretobevisiblein a worldthatwouldn’tacknowl-
edge[her]existence’,^6 they’renotstillreinforcing
classiststereotypes.It’snotenoughtomovethe
barrierstorepresentation;theymustbedismantled.
Overall,though,The Heightsremainsa compelling
watch,anditscommitmenttodiversityandvisibility
offersupopportunitiesfordramaandpolitico-cultural
explorationthat no other recent series on Australian
television addresses.
https://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/heights/TravisJohnsonis a freelancecriticwhohaswrittenfor
The Guardian,Empire,FilmInk,Flicks.com.au, SBS and
many more. mEndnotes(^1) See, for example,SarahAttfield,‘TheHeights– at
Last,a CredibleAustralianWorking-classSoap’,The
Conversation, 6 March2019,https://theconversation.
com/the-heights-at-last-a-credible-australian-working
-class-soap-112961, accessed17 May 2019.
(^2) See Heidi Pett & Colin Cosier,‘We’reAll TalkingAbout
the CentrelinkDebt Controversy,but What Is “Robodebt”
Anyway?’,ABCNews, 3 March2017,https://www.
abc.net.au/news/2017-03-03/centrelink-debt-controversy
-what-is-robodebt/8317764, accessed27 May 2019.
(^3) As co-creatorQue Minh Luu put it prior to the series’
release,‘Our goal wasn’tjustto do diversity,but to do
it well. The secretsauceto that, of course,is to always
interrogaterepresentationat everystage’;see Luu,
‘Your NewNeighbours: Why Australia’sLatestSoap
TheHeightsTells a DifferentStory’,TheGuardian,
20 February2019,<https://www.theguardian.com/
tv-and-radio/2019/feb/20/your-new-neighbours-why
-australias-latest-soap-the-heights-tells-a-different
-story >, accessed 17 May 2019.
(^4) ibid.
(^5) ‘NewHeights: ABCDramaSeriesStartsProductionin
EastPerth’,WAToday, 1 June 2018,https://www.
watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/new
-heights-abc-drama-series-starts-production-in-east
-perth-20180601-p4ziwn.html, accessed 17 May
2019.
(^6) Luu, op. cit.
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