CMNF / embarrassed and/or exposed girl scenes in films

[Nospeedo]

Fortress (1985, Australia)

The film is about a group of schoolchildren and their teacher fleeing from gunmen who want to hold them hostage for ransom.

Toward the middle of the film the group has fled into a cave and the schoolteacher, played by Rachel Ward, swims through an underground tunnel where she finds a way out on the other side. Before doing so, in the presence of her oldest male student, she takes off everything except her underwear including her bra. The look on the kid's face is like like wtf is happening right now and he turns away out of respect. When she re-emerges he gets a quick look at her breasts as she dries off, although no nudity is filmed so it's unclear what the actor got to see if anything.

When they return with the rest of the kids she tells them that they all have to take off their clothes, and all of the kids do so down to their underwear. There is a point where the eldest girl Narelle, played by Rebecca Rigg aged 17 during filming, is about to take off her undershirt but realizes this will leave her topless, and she is the only girl in the group with fully developed breasts. The schoolteacher notices the situation as she's about to take off her own bra, as Narelle looks to the teacher with eyes silently pleading for mercy. She realizes if she takes off her bra then Narelle would have to bare her breasts to the eyes of the boys, and decides to leave her bra on out of concern for the girl's modesty. This is visibly to the relief of Narelle, who is clearly shy enough to be seen in the undershirt, and probably to the disappointment of the boys, at least the bigger ones... although in their skimpy underwear any erections would have been very noticeable, and in their scantily clad state I'm almost surprised nobody became aroused, just on pure hormones in the presence of a girl in her underwear at that age.

It's a cute scene, although what I find interesting is what it doesn't acknlowledge, namely the three younger girls of the group who are the true subject of this post. The actresses are Anna Crawford (age 7-8), Asher Keddie (age 10-11), and Beth Buchanan (age 12-13). Particularly the two older tween girls were put in a very awkward situation for this scene: they not only had to take off their clothes, but they had to be shirtless in front of the other boys. While watching the scene it seems like Anna Crawford is too young to think this is a big deal (she is one of the first of all the kids to be ready for the swim), but if you focus your attention on the two older girls they take their time undressing and position themselves toward the back of the group.

In fact, as this scene goes by you start to see less and less of Beth Buchanan to the point that when the montage of them all swimming begins, she is the only kid not filmed as a part of it and the only kid not filmed as part of the group on the other side, before she reappears with the group again fully clothed when they exit the cave. It's easiest to spot in the 720p/1080p quality of the film obviously, but at 40:05 of the film you can see her in the center background on her knees behind a supply bag the group has been using. It appears she is shirtless at this point but again, she's behind a bag and you only fully see her face.

At 41:07 when the teacher returns to the schoolchildren, Asher Keddie is now shirtless and standing in her underwear, nipples full view of the camera. Even though her chest is still flat, at her age you would think she must have felt discomfort with this. Beth Buchanan is still where she was before, on her knees behind the bag. At 41:10 the bag is moved which briefly reveals her left breast bud, confirming that she had to take off her shirt and bare her developing breasts to everyone present, including the man directing the film Arch Nicholson.

I almost feel gaslit by this scene. It directly points out that there's a girl who doesn't want to be topless around boys her age, but outright ignores that there are girls who aren't old enough to wear anything under their shirts, so when they had to take them off they must have felt half naked. Just because a girl doesn't have breast buds yet doesn't mean her being shirtless around other boys inconsequential. It's admittedly weird that it's not the same, but it's just not the same as a boy being shirtless. It was almost certainly uncomfortable for Asher Keddie, but the thing that blows my mind is that Beth Buchanan had to be shirtless despite the fact her breasts had begun developing. When Beth Buchanon (and I mean the actress, not her character) was about to take her shirt off in front of those boys was there anyone she could look to and silently plead for mercy, so she wouldn't have to expose her growing breasts in front of a bunch of boys who no doubt were excited to have a look? Couldn't anyone have found her an undershirt? Were people reluctant to acknowledge what was happening and advocate on behalf of the poor girl? It's almost because her breasts are merely bumps then no regard should be given for Beth Buchanan's modesty, and I think the same is true for Asher Keddie even though her breasts hadn't yet started growing. The only girl in the group whose modesty was appropriately acknowledged was the 17 year old with fully developed breasts, as if that's the requirement to have your feelings considered regarding who you're comfortable with seeing your bare chest as a girl. More or less I think the same for boys, but obviously it's different for boys. Seems like it's about what other people are comfortable with seeing, or what's 'decent', rather than what the child actors were comfortable with other people seeing of their own bodies. It's different if a younger girl like Anna Crawford is comfortable with the whole thing, but I get the feeling that the tween girls were not allowed to advocate for their own modesty because, whatever about their own feelings, other people determined on their behalf that they had nothing to hide.

I am curious about why Beth Buchanan disappeared from this scene, and how much it had to do with the fact that filming her shirtless would mean her budding breasts would be clearly visible. Was it more from her objections, or objections from the production team who realized that she was not as much of a little girl as was being portrayed. Perhaps it was both. It's unbelievable enough that a girl Asher Keddie's age would have been comfortable doing this scene shirtless around boys her age, and her chest was as flat as the boys standing next to her. Just imagine all these kids at the beach together. As I understand it it's actually legal for women and girls to be topless on Australian beaches, but I would confidently guess that even a girl Anna Crawford's age would not have her chest exposed in most cases.

The link to a 1080p version of the film is below:

https://ok.ru/video/9731677751897

Beth Buchanan had a long acting career before settling into a career as a social worker, and Asher Keddie remained a successful actress in Australia on stage, on television, and in film. This appears to have been the only film Anna Crawford ever appeared in.

I remember watching this on HBO back in the 80’s. It’s pretty good thriller.
Thanks for the link.