form y separately published work icon The Slap : Hector single work   film/TV  
Issue Details: First known date: 2011... 2011 The Slap : Hector
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'It's the eve of Hector's 40th birthday and his wife Aisha has organised a barbecue with their friends and family. Hector is ambivalent about celebrating the milestone and longs for the carefree days of his youth. He loves his wife, but her controlling nature and singular focus on the party only serve to heighten these feelings. Nonetheless, Hector is a genial host. The party begins, and tensions arise almost immediately between Hector's mother Koula and Aisha. Koula has catered, despite Aisha's protestations, and she and Manolis have bought Hector a birthday present - a family trip to Greece - which clashes with Aisha and Hector's planned trip to Bali. When Hector refuses to confront his parents about it, Aisha is infuriated by what she sees as his loyalty to family over her. Hector escapes by taking drugs and flirting with 17-year-old Connie, the teenager he's having an affair with.

'As the day progresses and guests arrive, frictions between the adults and children emerge. Hugo, the four- year-old son of Rosie and Gary, persistently creates havoc amongst the other kids, picking fights, breaking other kids' games, and refusing to play by the rules. However rather than disciplining him, Rosie dotes on him, refusing to acknowledge his problematic behaviour. There are clear familial and social divisions within the group, and differences in race, culture, wealth, and morality, shape the way people interact. When another fight amongst the kids breaks out, Hector tries to remedy it with a game of backyard cricket. But things quickly turn ugly when Hugo throws a tantrum after Hector's nephew Rocco, bowls him out. Swinging the cricket bat in fury, Hugo refuses to sit out of the game. When Harry spies this and fears that his son Rocco might be in danger, he slaps Hugo. Rosie and Gary are outraged. This event and what follows divides the group as each person at the barbecue is forced to take a side.'

Source: ABC website, http://www.abc.net.au/tv/theslap/
Sighted: 18/10/2011

Notes

  • First screened on on ABC1 on Thursday, 6 October 2011.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • c
      Australia,
      c
      :
      ABC Television ; Matchbox Pictures ,
      2011 .
      Extent: 55 minsp.
      Series: form y separately published work icon The Slap Tony Ayres , Australia : ABC Television Matchbox Pictures , 2011 Z1699408 2011 series - publisher film/TV 'The series starts at an Australian backyard BBQ. Amongst alcohol, friendship and a children's cricket game a man slaps a child who is not his son. The party comes to a sudden halt. The child's parents are so affronted they vow to take the man to court. As the series unfolds the police become involved and friends and family are forced to take sides. One cousin is forced to testify against another. Couples are caught in the crossfire. Beliefs are tested and relationships strained.

      'The story is told through the points of view of eight characters as the court case proceeds, as affairs begin and end, as a pregnancy is decided and marriages morph and change. Each character's life is profoundly affected by "the slap", and each of the main character is metaphorically slapped as they are forced to face up to fundamental truths about themselves.'

      Source: The Slap website http://www.abc.net.au/tv/theslap/about/ (Sighted 11/10/2011)
      Number in series: 1

Works about this Work

Gender and Sexual Diversity and Suicide on Australian Screens : Culture, Representation, and Health Pedagogies Rob Cover , 2021 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Popular Culture , April vol. 54 no. 2 2021; (p. 365-387)

'Despite an often‐repeated cliché that gender and sexually diverse characters are relatively absent from film and television, Australian screen production has a very rich history of representing sexual and gender diversity: greater than nineteen wide‐release films since 1993, including internationally recognized films such as Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), The Sum of Us (1994), Head On (1998), and The Monkey’s Mask (2000), portray gender and sexual diversity. Nine Australian films with LGBTQ, gender, and sexually diverse themes were released between 2013 and 2018, indicating an entrenchment of LGBTQ representation on Australian screens. Characters in major Australian television dramas and soap operas, such as Home and Away and Neighbours, have increased in regularity and complexity over the past two decades. Sexual stories, including narratives of minority sexual lives, have never, of course, been repressed or invisible, but according to Ken Plummer, they have long been central to contemporary Western culture (4). Stories representing gender and sexually diverse subjects depicting identity struggles and articulating minority health outcomes are a major and ongoing part of Australian creative production. What is significant in cultural analysis is not questions of visibility or invisibility but how the continuities and disruptions of depictions of gender and sexual minorities play a significant, pedagogical role in social participation, social harmony, acceptance, individual health and wellbeing, and community belonging (Cover, Queer Youth SuicideEmergent Identities).' (Introduction) 

Untitled Lucy Mangan , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Guardian , 28 October 2011; (p. 21)

— Review of The Slap : Hector Kris Mrksa , 2011 single work film/TV
Prime Suspect : He's Getting Warm Phil Hogan , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Observer , 30 October 2011; (p. 25)

— Review of The Slap : Hector Kris Mrksa , 2011 single work film/TV
Plan A, All the Way Paul Kalina , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 20 October 2011; (p. 13)
Free to Air Nicole Brady , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 9 October 2011; (p. 19)

— Review of The Slap : Hector Kris Mrksa , 2011 single work film/TV
Pick of the Week : The Slap Darren Devlyn , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 5 October 2011; (p. 8)

— Review of The Slap : Hector Kris Mrksa , 2011 single work film/TV
Show of the Week Larissa Dubecki , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 2 October 2011; (p. 19)

— Review of The Slap : Hector Kris Mrksa , 2011 single work film/TV
Angels and Demons Ruth Ritchie , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 1-2 October 2011; (p. 18-19)

— Review of The Slap : Hector Kris Mrksa , 2011 single work film/TV
Confronting Characters Paul Kalina , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 6 October 2011; (p. 10-11)

— Review of The Slap : Hector Kris Mrksa , 2011 single work film/TV
Free to Air Nicole Brady , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 9 October 2011; (p. 19)

— Review of The Slap : Hector Kris Mrksa , 2011 single work film/TV
Plan A, All the Way Paul Kalina , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 20 October 2011; (p. 13)
Gender and Sexual Diversity and Suicide on Australian Screens : Culture, Representation, and Health Pedagogies Rob Cover , 2021 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Popular Culture , April vol. 54 no. 2 2021; (p. 365-387)

'Despite an often‐repeated cliché that gender and sexually diverse characters are relatively absent from film and television, Australian screen production has a very rich history of representing sexual and gender diversity: greater than nineteen wide‐release films since 1993, including internationally recognized films such as Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), The Sum of Us (1994), Head On (1998), and The Monkey’s Mask (2000), portray gender and sexual diversity. Nine Australian films with LGBTQ, gender, and sexually diverse themes were released between 2013 and 2018, indicating an entrenchment of LGBTQ representation on Australian screens. Characters in major Australian television dramas and soap operas, such as Home and Away and Neighbours, have increased in regularity and complexity over the past two decades. Sexual stories, including narratives of minority sexual lives, have never, of course, been repressed or invisible, but according to Ken Plummer, they have long been central to contemporary Western culture (4). Stories representing gender and sexually diverse subjects depicting identity struggles and articulating minority health outcomes are a major and ongoing part of Australian creative production. What is significant in cultural analysis is not questions of visibility or invisibility but how the continuities and disruptions of depictions of gender and sexual minorities play a significant, pedagogical role in social participation, social harmony, acceptance, individual health and wellbeing, and community belonging (Cover, Queer Youth SuicideEmergent Identities).' (Introduction) 

Last amended 18 Oct 2011 11:59:37
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