In the first episode of Offspring, we are introduced to Cherie, one of the maternity nurses.
Cherie is pregnant.
Dr. Nina Proudman helps deliver the baby.
Then we learn that there's been a startling coincidence. It turns out Cherie met the father of the baby on a cruise ship. And guess what. That man happened to be Nina's father. Well, sort of (but that's a whole other story.)
Cherie had an affair with a man not knowing it was her coworker and friend's papa.
What a small world!
In an Aussie movie, I love, there are a ton of these coincidences. There's long lost fathers, long lost brothers, long lost mothers, etc.
Then last week I read my first Di Morrisey novel. The protagonist befriends a young pregnant woman. She later finds out this young woman is her ex-lovers lost child. That's a coincidence in itself. But then it turns out....
Well, the protagonist was mourning for her son killed in the war.
The new young female friend was mourning her boyfriend killed in the war.
One of them takes out a picture, and we learn they're both mourning the same man.
The protagonist learns that this new friend of hers is the mother of her granddaughter.
I'm not going to assume that this is a common factor in Aussie fiction, because I've encountered a lot of Aussie fiction that doesn't have this element.
It does make me wonder, though.
I wonder if there's a name for this type of fiction. Does anyone out there know?
Does anyone know of any other examples in Aussie fiction?
How about outside of Aussie fiction?
I guess the Star Wars series would kind of count. Luke I am your father....
I'm sure there's some fun real-life stories with these elements. As they say, truth is stranger than fiction.
One thing I thought of when writing this post is that all three Aussie examples involve Aboriginal Australians.
Cherie is Aboriginal.
The movie I'm thinking about involves Aborigines and people discovering that they have Aboriginal heritage. The same goes for The Di Morrisey novel.
I don't know if that's significant or not.
Cherie is pregnant.
Dr. Nina Proudman helps deliver the baby.
Then we learn that there's been a startling coincidence. It turns out Cherie met the father of the baby on a cruise ship. And guess what. That man happened to be Nina's father. Well, sort of (but that's a whole other story.)
Cherie had an affair with a man not knowing it was her coworker and friend's papa.
What a small world!
In an Aussie movie, I love, there are a ton of these coincidences. There's long lost fathers, long lost brothers, long lost mothers, etc.
Then last week I read my first Di Morrisey novel. The protagonist befriends a young pregnant woman. She later finds out this young woman is her ex-lovers lost child. That's a coincidence in itself. But then it turns out....
Well, the protagonist was mourning for her son killed in the war.
The new young female friend was mourning her boyfriend killed in the war.
One of them takes out a picture, and we learn they're both mourning the same man.
The protagonist learns that this new friend of hers is the mother of her granddaughter.
I'm not going to assume that this is a common factor in Aussie fiction, because I've encountered a lot of Aussie fiction that doesn't have this element.
It does make me wonder, though.
I wonder if there's a name for this type of fiction. Does anyone out there know?
Does anyone know of any other examples in Aussie fiction?
How about outside of Aussie fiction?
I guess the Star Wars series would kind of count. Luke I am your father....
I'm sure there's some fun real-life stories with these elements. As they say, truth is stranger than fiction.
One thing I thought of when writing this post is that all three Aussie examples involve Aboriginal Australians.
Cherie is Aboriginal.
The movie I'm thinking about involves Aborigines and people discovering that they have Aboriginal heritage. The same goes for The Di Morrisey novel.
I don't know if that's significant or not.
Hmm I can't really think of any stories where this happens.. But it's a cool concept.
ReplyDeleteIt happening more frequently inside the aboriginal community makes sense to a degree as they tend to be more insular..
In real life though I know of a handful of people at their parents funerals when a sibling they never knew about approaches them. My father honestly believes it will happen to him. I don't know if that's really in the same vain or not?
Kate,
ReplyDeleteI personally don't think it would count unless the siblings knew each other already. Let's say they were co-workers, but didn't know about each other's family backgrounds. Then they each go to the funeral. They ask each other how they knew the deceased and they learn that the deceased is the father to both of them.
I thought of another example in fiction. Lost. That had some big coincidences.... Jack and Claire. Sawyer's connection to Locke. There were others....I'm sure.