oooh The SLap anyone watching?

[grumpypants]

Bbc 4 - I'm already not liking it! And I did like the book

I cant understand why people were so vocal about disliking it, even in the papers. Im loving it so far. Agree that Anouk is gorgeous but, dont you think she looked more that twelve years older than him? I didnt think it was a typical ending at all. I felt really sorry for her.

Where is it filmed? I want to live there.

I think because it was on the Booker list people expected the book to be of great literary merit - which IMO it I sn't.

However now we are not expecting. As much the tv adaptation seems quite good.?

I didnt read anything to Rosie's reaction to the pregnancy news. She was right telling her to go with her heart. I dont like Rosie so much but, she knows her friend betterthan we do!

The weird thing was that when Anouk first mentioned the pregnancy Rosie had tears in her eyes. That's why I thought there was an issue with her wanting another child but not able to.
Her reaction afterwards was quite supportive IMO. She basically told her to go with her gut instinct which made a lot of sense.

Re Anouk and the guy, wasn't there a 17 year age gap? She mentioned she was 20 in the pictures (when BF finds her diary/manuscript) and he says he was 3 back then.

really? I thought she said twelve years at one point. 17 would make more sense then.

I was just watching ep 2 as a recording and it cut off when Anouk was looking at pictures

Did i miss much after that?

Stupid recordy box

(I'm feeling that it's suiting being on TV more than being a book, with the book I couldn't help feeling that the author was a man who felt the need to repeatedly inform everyone how 'macho' he was though his depiction of males and submission of women in the book )

Not sure. I seem to remember that was the v end. She was sitting at her desk looking through old pictures. She keeps 1 of the three of them as youngsters, picks up an paper, says 'well f*ing write then!' then starts writing.

Having not read the book I think the show works really well on TV. Ironically (considering what you said about the 'macho' writing style) I thought Anouk's episode was a lot more interesting and insightful than Hugo's.
Next week will be the 'baddie' Harry. We'll see how that one pans out.

There was a page feature about the show in the Sunday Times culture supplement. It was acknowledging the fact that most of the book characters were awful and said the writers ended up sympathesising some characters. They used Rosie as an example- apparently her son is just spoilt in the book but in the show they'll explore why and ultimately make her more likeable.

I did find the Anouk episode very moving - it was not an easy resolution.

Hector's wife was of Indian background in the book but (apparently) they could not find the right actor to play her. So they chose the one they are using and rewrote the back story - I heard the director on the radio saying that the most important aspect was that she was very different and detached from the Greek culture.
The scene in the first episode with the inlaws and the tickets to Greece was brilliant!

Has she actually got an Australian accent in it? I remember thinking she sounded English the other night.

I did too. It came and went I thought. Maybe she was meant to be a Pom?

Saffronwblue - I thought the whole thing about the tickets to Greece was great too, the way Aisha was outraged at the clash with their anniversary trip being so close, him saying she should be grateful, then agreeing to speak to his mother, followed by Aisha saying maybe she'll see if she can get time off work - just the way it went back and forth with both sides alternately being outraged then backing down.

Accent definitely came and went though.

Glad I'm coming to it fresh, without having read the book.

Moln - the ending with Anouk - she'd picked up one of her journals and I think she'd written something about Sylvia Plath and being a great writer, and there were references elsewhere to her having wanted to write a novel based on the three girls. Boyfriend had mocked her by reading some notes out earlier. So as anonacfr said the end was just her sitting down to start it. I think it was her realising that if she didn't write it now she probably never would. And having quit her job and decided against having the baby, what was stopping her. All identity crisis stuff, and she was going back to the thing she originally wanted to do.

Yes, the accent is very dodgy, Im glad its not just me. You'd think if she was originally English she wouldve lost it by now, given how long they are supposed to be friends.

Nice acting job, eh? getting to spend afew months in Melbourne.

kitya - did you mean Aisha or Anouk? Aisha is played by an English actor so her accents sneaks in a bit.

accent!

yes, I know she is. Thats why I thought they might have referenced it by now.

Im assuming all the cast are Australian? they must have employed Sophie for a reason as Im sure they couldve found someone in the whole of Australia!! I dont think Madge from Neighbours does much these days.....

Yeah, bring back Madge! The rest of the cast are Australian - although the girl who plays Connie came to Oz from the UK when she was 12 or so. Maybe they employed Sophie to appeal to a wider/international market. I'm not sure why they need to do that though. It's not like I watch things from other countries and think "I'd really relate to this if it had an Australian actor in it".
No criticism on Sophie btw.

ive just watxhed the 2nd episode on i player and i did love it.I havent read the book but i wanted to. I cant believe Anouk didnt speak to him first,i was interested as i have just had a baby with dh who is 11 yrs younger than me

Did anyone think this was good? I did and I seem to have a completely different reading than most of you. Why are you talking about the sex when this is called 'The Slap', only had one and a half sex scenes in it and was primarily about CULTURAL DIFFERENCE.

Sorry if I'm being overly direct here, but would anyone agree that the primary theme in this is the cultural difference applied to family life?

Character wise, within the family (and extended) we have
Anouk, powerful Alpha female, but flawed in that she's prepared to give host cocaine at his family home
Rhys, Anouk's toyboy, has similar youthful confidence of Anouk but demands respect (a say in Anouk's abortion)
Rosie, attachment theorist and late breastfeeder, nice but dim (IMO) and through her strong beliefs that she has a right to bring her son up 'freely' is prepared to disregard status quo in her host's home
Rosie's husband who is modern man, self-righteous and disrespectful (IMO)
Their son, who
Hector, Alpha male trying to be modern man through devoted love but feeling pushed out by cultural difference
Social worker activist sister
Traditional Greek mama who thinks she rules her son's life
Traditional Greek papa who wants to instill macho values and keep the peace
Traditional Greek cousin who tries to uphold both mamas and papas values and is prepared to slap someone else's kid because he thinks that's right.
The home-wrecker bit of skirt (can't remember her name) - innocent but dangerous - a misogynist's dream.
And last but by no means least, the Aisha, a long-suffering, overly forgiving of his false promises and commitments and yet very demanding in that she's prepared to whisk away Mama's gifts (culturally disrespectful) and force hubby to refuse a generous gift which, even if it appears a controlling gesture (the flights), is still a gift that one would grin and bear and deal with later. Lovely wife is prepared to ruin hubby's 40th birthday to make a point (of course neither matriarch is morally justified because both were prepared to disrespect each other).

To me this screams out 'cultural,class,age difference' - as clangermum says, about identity crisis within the family context. Brilliant, I loved this. Having this difference within my partnership and other members of my family, is close-to-the-bone accurate and exactly what would happen if we were so foolish as to bring all the family together for my partner's birthday and wanted to make a drama out of it.

In episode 2, it seems Anouk's mum is another strong character, emotionally abusive (nothing pleases her, pits children against each other) and controlling, self-pitying etc etc. Looking forward to episode 3.

Rosie's son - forgot to mention the children - most are a very clear result of the parents relationships. Aisha's over-indulged by Mum but not Dad, Rosie's son - the kind I find it very hard to deal with when they come over to my house! Obnoxious but it's not his fault so you can't actually blame him.

Nice to see a drama series where children are an important part of the narrative and have their own very strong personalities.

Only one and a half sex scenes? The book has far more than that.

Will they make any reference to her being of English origin though? Or else the accent will really drive me mad

There's another thread about the book juney.
Kitya. Accent. I hope we do find she's actually an English immigrant, it grates on my ears to hear bad accents.

They have to mention it or else what was the point in paying all that money to hire an English actress?

Good point. Cynical but good.