Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 17, 2000, Page 135
texture and integrity we might expect from ―the best.‖ The dialog is choppy leaving too
much to the viewer to fill in. Campion tentatively affords Waters clever lines to help flesh
out his two-dimensional personality. He succumbs, for example, to the sexy wiles of Ruth‘s
sister-in-law when she arrives at the cabin one night to deliver food, coffee, and oral sex.
The sister-in-law, Yvonne, played by Sophie Lee, comes off as a star struck P.J. fan from the
moment they meet at the airport. She readily spills out her problems with sexual fantasies
to the superficially interested Waters. The moment they embrace, Yvonne asks, ―Do you
have a website‖? Funny, insider humor, as many exit counselors, me included, have
websites.
Thus, we learn in Campion style that Waters is a lecher. Despite the deprogrammer‘s effort
to end her devotion to Baba, Ruth appears to work out her Baba obsession in her own
mysterious way. We see her white devotee dress burning in one dramatic image in the night
outside the cabin. By what appears to be the second or third day at the cabin, she senses
that Waters is a pathetic, ―dirty old man,‖ and she even gets him to admit it after they
engage in clumsy passion and intercourse. The turning point for this first sexual encounter
occurs after Ruth wanders outside nude (sari now burned), confused and broken in spirit.
She walks on smooth white rocks strewn in sharp ―bull dust‖ (Aussie-speak for that harsh
terrain). Waters had taken her shoes to keep her from running. He approaches her with
compassion at first. She faces him and listlessly offers sexual contact. He states he never
had sex with a client, and he will not break his rule. Ruth then urinates down her legs. She
is emotionally lost and vulnerable, in need of comfort, and moves to embrace her nemesis.
He succumbs.
After intercourse, Waters is a changed man, hardly keeping to his intended task, now
entranced with his potential lover. But Ruth sees past him, and her tryst with him soon
turns into a cruel psychological game to break him down.
In what passes for a climactic scene in this film, Waters lies down and asks Ruth to do her
―worst‖ to him. She chooses to make him wear an ill-fitting, red dress that hardly covers his
groin, and she paints his lips red. Then she guides him onto his knees, drops her nickers for
him, and directs him to slowly --well, you get the image. More of the oral thing. Later,
while the used-up exit counselor sleeps in the red dress, we see Ruth wrapping books with
plastic bags around her feet so she can walk on the sharp, reddish sand. Campion
mischievously has Ruth use the exit counselor‘s reference books. Waters wakes in time to
see Ruth leave. Still in the red dress, he manages to put on one boot to begin his pursuit.
He catches her and they begin to scuffle. A frustrated Waters finally unleashes his macho by
knocking Ruth unconscious to the ground with a hard punch to the face.
By this time the security crew, in another location, sort out that Waters is having sex with
his client, so they go in a truck to confront him. Yvonne is with them when they pull up to
Waters, who now drives a large sedan with huge, decorative antlers on top. Waters tells
them that Ruth escaped into the desert. Yvonne, yet attracted to Waters, proceeds to get
into the car with him despite his mild protests. She is only slightly amazed at his disheveled
appearance in a red dress. As they drive away she hears pounding from the ―boot‖ (trunk)
of the car. She demands they stop. Yvonne discovers Ruth inside. It is unclear if Waters
thought he had killed her.
They leave a beaten Waters to fend for himself in the desert. In another scene we see
Waters fallen face down, exhausted. He stares deliriously into the distance and ―sees‖ Ruth
transformed into a six-armed, Hindu deity. Later, Ruth and companions find him by the road
and toss him into the back of the open truck. As they drive along, Ruth glances back at their
quarry. She has a change of heart. Perhaps she recalls the message, which he wrote in
reverse on her forehead earlier: She read, ―be kind,‖ in the mirror. She joins him in the
back and holds him.
texture and integrity we might expect from ―the best.‖ The dialog is choppy leaving too
much to the viewer to fill in. Campion tentatively affords Waters clever lines to help flesh
out his two-dimensional personality. He succumbs, for example, to the sexy wiles of Ruth‘s
sister-in-law when she arrives at the cabin one night to deliver food, coffee, and oral sex.
The sister-in-law, Yvonne, played by Sophie Lee, comes off as a star struck P.J. fan from the
moment they meet at the airport. She readily spills out her problems with sexual fantasies
to the superficially interested Waters. The moment they embrace, Yvonne asks, ―Do you
have a website‖? Funny, insider humor, as many exit counselors, me included, have
websites.
Thus, we learn in Campion style that Waters is a lecher. Despite the deprogrammer‘s effort
to end her devotion to Baba, Ruth appears to work out her Baba obsession in her own
mysterious way. We see her white devotee dress burning in one dramatic image in the night
outside the cabin. By what appears to be the second or third day at the cabin, she senses
that Waters is a pathetic, ―dirty old man,‖ and she even gets him to admit it after they
engage in clumsy passion and intercourse. The turning point for this first sexual encounter
occurs after Ruth wanders outside nude (sari now burned), confused and broken in spirit.
She walks on smooth white rocks strewn in sharp ―bull dust‖ (Aussie-speak for that harsh
terrain). Waters had taken her shoes to keep her from running. He approaches her with
compassion at first. She faces him and listlessly offers sexual contact. He states he never
had sex with a client, and he will not break his rule. Ruth then urinates down her legs. She
is emotionally lost and vulnerable, in need of comfort, and moves to embrace her nemesis.
He succumbs.
After intercourse, Waters is a changed man, hardly keeping to his intended task, now
entranced with his potential lover. But Ruth sees past him, and her tryst with him soon
turns into a cruel psychological game to break him down.
In what passes for a climactic scene in this film, Waters lies down and asks Ruth to do her
―worst‖ to him. She chooses to make him wear an ill-fitting, red dress that hardly covers his
groin, and she paints his lips red. Then she guides him onto his knees, drops her nickers for
him, and directs him to slowly --well, you get the image. More of the oral thing. Later,
while the used-up exit counselor sleeps in the red dress, we see Ruth wrapping books with
plastic bags around her feet so she can walk on the sharp, reddish sand. Campion
mischievously has Ruth use the exit counselor‘s reference books. Waters wakes in time to
see Ruth leave. Still in the red dress, he manages to put on one boot to begin his pursuit.
He catches her and they begin to scuffle. A frustrated Waters finally unleashes his macho by
knocking Ruth unconscious to the ground with a hard punch to the face.
By this time the security crew, in another location, sort out that Waters is having sex with
his client, so they go in a truck to confront him. Yvonne is with them when they pull up to
Waters, who now drives a large sedan with huge, decorative antlers on top. Waters tells
them that Ruth escaped into the desert. Yvonne, yet attracted to Waters, proceeds to get
into the car with him despite his mild protests. She is only slightly amazed at his disheveled
appearance in a red dress. As they drive away she hears pounding from the ―boot‖ (trunk)
of the car. She demands they stop. Yvonne discovers Ruth inside. It is unclear if Waters
thought he had killed her.
They leave a beaten Waters to fend for himself in the desert. In another scene we see
Waters fallen face down, exhausted. He stares deliriously into the distance and ―sees‖ Ruth
transformed into a six-armed, Hindu deity. Later, Ruth and companions find him by the road
and toss him into the back of the open truck. As they drive along, Ruth glances back at their
quarry. She has a change of heart. Perhaps she recalls the message, which he wrote in
reverse on her forehead earlier: She read, ―be kind,‖ in the mirror. She joins him in the
back and holds him.
