Girls, not since "Valley Of The Dolls," have I encountered such a group of messed up people as those in "The Slap." But where 'Valley' is just camp fun for all us girls, "The Slap," which was written by an Australian, takes place there, and the original series filmed there, is actually a brilliant dissection of 21st Century manners and mores.
It is rather hard to write this. Oh, I liked the book, it is to be read, rest assured. But, stuck halfway now between the American TV series, and needing to watch the Australian original, I wonder how things, if things, will turn out, as in the book, or will things be different? The American version already differs by deviating from the order of the viewpoints in the book.
If you want to be surprised, then I would advise not reading any further. If you don't care, or are just curious, read on. But I did give fair warning.
Poor Rosie. I am with her all the way, but there is no escaping, from her back story, that she is a mess, and will most likely remain one. Her mother was a puritanical narcissist--and Rosie has a bit of that narcissism in her!---and her father was a loser alcoholic. And Rosie marries just such a man. So, given the gene pool here, Hugo's prospects do not look good. I was sad when Rosie's friend, cut off her association with he and his wife, but, on some level, I understand it. I thought Rosie was horrible in saying what she did to Aisha at the end. And, with she, and Gary and Hugo, moving to another part of the country to begin a new life and job, I have to wonder how long this marriage will last, or will it end, and what will become of Rosie and Hugo. Their future does not look bright.
Harry still seems to be the sexist bastard he was in the beginning, and while Sandi is happy and pregnant, we never hear of that outcome, and I had to wonder if Harry
impregnating Sandi was another way of him controlling her. "The Slap" almost demands a sequel, or a continuation, but I think Christos Tsiolkas will leave it up to the reader to create their own, individual scenarios.
The only sure ones are the youngsters--Richie, Connie and Nick--who are going off to college and start their lives, which will hopefully be an improvement on the adults around them.
"The Slap" comes full circle, but there is real conclusion--and that is not a criticism. Everything and everyone's life just kind of splinters into fragments, and they go their separate ways at the end. Which leaves me to question was it the slap that did this, or would it have happened, anyway? And how really close were these group of people????????????
It's a question many of us could ask about our own lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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