You didn't think I would let this one get away, did you, girls????????????
"The Slap" is extremely well cast and acted, though Peter Sarsgaard looks about as Greek as Blythe Danner looked Jewish in the film version of "Brighton Beach Memoirs." It ought to be well acted, what with the pilot episode being directed by Lisa Cholodenko ("The Kids Are All Right!!!!!!!!"). The titular act does not take place until the end, but plenty has been established beforehand, leading up to it. The inevitability of tensions at this gathering erupting, slap, or something else, was unavoidable.
But the most surprising thing I found is that, although this is a class clash between families, the family of the child slapped is not related to the family giving the party. They are friends of its guest of honor, the oldest son of this Greek family, played well, if miscast, by Sarsgaard.
That would be Thomas Sadoski and Melissa George, as Gary and Rosie, and let me tell you, I was with them all the way! I hope they sue the bastard, Harry, played by Zachary Quinto, for every cent he has got!
Sadoski's character, Gary, is a trendy, hipster, Williamburg --the show takes place in Brooklyn--type artist, and it was smart of the writers to make him straight. This bunch has enough issues to deal with, without bringing homophobia--which I am sure exists within this clan--into the mix.
And how about Maria Tucci, as Grandma?????????? Great to see her back, and she is totally convincing as a Greek matriarch!!!!!!!!!!!! But, where was Olympia Dukakais????????????
Anyway, back to Gary and Rosie, and why I am with them. First, YOU DO NOT STRIKE ANOTHER PERSON'S CHILD! AND, SHORT OF VISIBLE ABUSE, YOU DO NOT TELL ANOTHER CHILD'S PARENTS HOW TO RAISE THAT KID!!!!!!!!!!! GOT THAT?????????????????
Which is a common mistake made in many families, and certainly in mine. "The Slap" may not be as remarkable as it wants to be, but its great advantage is its visceral impact; this show will press everyone's buttons, and it has pressed mine!
Every child has his Hugo moments, and, believe me, I had mine! "The Slap" had me on the raw edge of anger, because this was like a dramatization of the worst aspects of my childhood, and especially the clash between my family and our White Trash relatives, The Liddys. But let me go further.
Maybe because I was a vulnerable kid, I was always being struck inappropriately by other people. Like that sixth grade patrol guard, Katina Mataras, when I was in first grade, who grabbed at the sleeve of my shirt, and I hauled back, and hit her, but not hurting her, as it was not a strong enough hit, with my briefcase. Or Mrs. Beinhower, who, on the very first day of second grade, dragged me out of line, digging her nails hard into my arm, pulling at me, and frightening me, simply because I talked to a classmate. You two are NOT forgiven! As for my mother, I never told her about Mrs. Beinhower, because I felt she would defend her, just like she did with Katina. Guess I wasn't the kid she wanted!
The Liddy thing began around the same time, subtly, with resentment. We were better than them, and I knew it! So, did they, but while I ignored them, they put us down! And this erupted, like "The Slap," at a family picnic there, when I was in sixth grade. It was Memorial Day, 1967--I remember because I had to go to school the next day--and we were getting ready to leave. I was out on the back lawn, waiting for my parents, when my younger cousin, Billy, calls out my name, and, before I can duck, I see a hubcap off a lawn mower whizzing at me, hitting me square in the right eye! It is a wonder he did not put it out! Score one, against the Liddys, because, as God is my witness, my rotten Uncle Bill Liddy (who Quinto's character is a stand in for--and he is a wife beater, too!!!!!!!) probably told the kid to do it! And my father did nothing about it! I know, because he and my mother argued about it, all the way home!!!!!!!!
That's right! I charge that this child was coerced into doing this to me by The Liddys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then, as adolescence set in, things got worse, as puberty and my burgeoning gayness came into play. The Liddys took every opportunity to disdain me and my interests in anything cultural, when they didn't even know shit! Of course, once Billy and Peggy, had their third child Michael, who was gifted in the arts (but he was straight!!!!!!!!!!) the arts were embraced! Without so much as a by-the-by to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The crowning jewel in all this, came in 1978, when my Uncle Bill set up what I thought to be a job interview at Personal Products, (where he did blue collar work!!!!!!!!) but which turned out to be a belittlement of who I was, including, though the word was never mentioned, my homosexuality.
That led to a behind-the-scenes confrontation with my father and uncle, leading to a falling out that lasted for years! Well, good riddance.
The worst came the following year, when my mother was terminally ill from cancer, and he sent that despicably cruel, anonymous letter, sticking it to my mother that she is terminal, and impugning my manhood!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe it? And that has never been dealt with! But, mark my words, darlings, the time is close at hand, when it will! Those bastard Liddys are going to sink and stew into the same vat of shit they have been slinging at us, for years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Which they still are, because, in 1998, following the death of my Aunt Mary,(whom I hold no grudge against, as she was an abused wife!!!!!!!!) to compensate for their own flaws, and their father being such a bastard, (by then, he was deceased!!!!!!!!!) they appropriated mine, and continue to do so, because they feel he has no so-called "normal" children; my sister not being his biological child, and me being well, gay, even though I suspect one of the Liddy girls is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But chicks finally come home to roost, and believe me, these will. I hope this post goes viral, so The Liddys can watch all the world see me expose them for what they actually are! So, you can see why I am interested in following "The Slap," to see what outcome develops. As for my outcome with the Liddys, to paraphrase Tennessee Williams, the future is mapped out for them!
The sins of the father are visited on the children, their children, and their children's children!
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