AustLit

The ABC adaptation of Christos Tsiolkas' Barracuda may have downplayed some of the novel's explicit queerness, but in its place is an astringent subversion of Australia's glorification of sporting heroism and the white, hetero-masculine ideals tied to it. Moreover, writes Dion Kagan, the narrative's focus on swimming encapsulates the country's deep investment in individualistic social mobility, with the series interrogating societal inequities rooted in class, race, gender and sexuality.