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Story: Country towns

Reaction to a massage parlour

In Geoff Steven’s 1978 film Skin deep, a masseuse arrives in a small North Island town and establishes the Spa Health Clinic. As this clip suggests, some people in the community were not pleased by this invasion of urban values. The conformism and social repression of small-town New Zealand became a common stereotype of life in country towns.

Film clip courtesy of Geoff Steven.

About this item

New Zealand Film Commission

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How to cite this page:

Jock Phillips. 'Country towns', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 27-Sep-11
URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/country-towns/5/5