Hello!
Today I'm going to be learning about the actress Linda Cropper. She played Geraldine Proudman on Offspring.
Geraldine is the mother of Nina, Billie, and Jimmy. I kind of saw her as being part of the comic relief of the show. Although I feel weird saying that since Offspring is partly a comedy. Isn't comic relief something that's more applicable in a drama? It seems, though, that other characters such as Nina, Billie, and Jimmy have both funny scenes and heartbreaking scenes, Geraldine scenes and storylines are mostly lighthearted. Am I right?
I might not be.
I might be forgetting something.
I'm also thinking it might be less about what happens to Geraldine, on the show, and more about her personality.
Some intense things do happen to Geraldine. For example, it's discovered that one of her daughters (Nina) has a different father than everyone previously believed. I forget if Geraldine already knew this, or if it was a surprise to her as well.
Anyway...but yeah. I think there is something comedic in Geraldine's overall personality.
I can't really explain it, so I think I'll just move on.
I'll start learning about Linda Cropper.
Her IMDb bio doesn't provide any personal information. I'll jump to the
filmography.
Usual Disclaimer: I skip over most one time appearances in TV shows I don't watch; and I skip movies if I can't find enough information about them.
The first item on the filmography is an
episode of
Five Mile Creek that aired in 1984. It's a one time appearance, but I'm mentioning it because it's the first thing on the filmography. Cropper played someone named Tillie.
The next thing we have on the filmography is
A Country Practice. Cropper appeared in two
episodes in season 4. She played Jo Walker.
That was weird. I just went to my favorite
Australian Television website, and it tried to get me to download something called iLivid. Stupidly, I almost did but then changed my mind. I mean it might be something good, but it's probably a bad idea to just jump into it without doing more research first.
Well, now I'm looking at
Yahoo Answers, and most people are saying iLivid is a bad thing. I'm glad I didn't download it especially because I wasn't seeking to download it. The reason I was about to download it, without hesitation, is I had this idea that I wouldn't be able to look at the Australian Television site otherwise. I thought maybe they had changed something, and you needed iLivid to view it. But then I had good sense to pause and take a closer look. I realized I could still see the Australian Television site.
And now I'm using the site to find out about Jo Walker.
Jo is the daughter of Dixie Walker, and she's involved (romantically, I presume) with Dixie's boss who is married. The boss (Alan) fires Dixie for health reasons. Yikes.
Then Dixie dies and that causes some extra drama.
Jo eventually breaks things off with Alan. That's good. He sounds like a bit of a jerk.
The
Australian Screen website has
a section about it. It's about a young man from rural Australia who travels to Sydney to pursue his writing career. He ends up befriending some Jewish people who own a pub. The story takes place during the Great Depression.
Maybe Cropper played one of the Jews.
Well, her character was named Miriam. I think that's a Jewish name. Probably?
There are two clips here on the site. I'll see if either of them feature Cropper.
No...I didn't see her.
In 1986, Cropper was in a miniseries called
Cyclone Tracy, about the disaster in Darwin.
The
Australian Screen website has
a section about this program as well. I'll watch the clips and see if I see Cropper. If I don't see her, at least I'll see Kate Ritchie. She's listed as being in one of the clips. Oh! And this is when she was very young...BEFORE her
Home and Away days.
In the
first clip, some men are having cockroach races. That's interesting. I never heard of people doing that.
The s
econd clip is terrifying—kids being carried away in a storm. Kate Ritchie is one of the kids. Though I couldn't see much of her face.
I'm not seeing Cropper. The movie, though, does a good job of showing how huge storms can be so destructive and depressing.
YouTube has
another clip from the movie. I'm going to see if Cropper is in that. I'm feeling like a bit of a failure in terms of finding images of Cropper's early career.
I think I see her! At :15.
Is that her?
I'm pretty sure it is.
Okay. It is. Someone called her by the right character name (Joycie).
In 1987 Linda Cropper was in a movie with John Waters, her Offspring co-star. And I see that IMDb has finally put up the right photo of Waters. They used to illustrate his filmography with John Waters, the American director.
The Cropper and Waters movie is called
Going Sane. It's about a man who leaves his wife and family after finding out he doesn't have long to live.
I guess he didn't love his family very much.
Lord Wiki says that Waters wasn't too proud of the movie.
Cropper did another 1987 movie with Waters. Maybe Waters liked this one better. It's called
The Perfectionist. And with this, we have Cropper in another movie with
Home and Away alumni—Adam Willits, this time.
I probably wrote about this movie when I wrote about Willits. The plot seems vaguely familiar to me. John Water's wife decides to quit being a full time housewife and go back to school. She hires a male babysitter to take care of her kids.
Cropper doesn't play the wife. That job went to Jackie Weaver.
Cropper plays Margaret Bridges. A neighbor perhaps? Maybe a classmate of Weavers?
I'm skipping some projects here, because I can't find much information about them.
In 1989, Cropper appeared in a miniseries called
Body Surfer. There's
a clip on YouTube. I'll see if she's in it.
As far as I know...I didn't see her.
I feel with this post I keep breaking my rule about not mentioning films in which I can't find much information. I guess the thing is, I start writing about it, because I EXPECT to find more information. Plus, I feel compelled to write about this particular movie since Cropper played the title character.
Here's yet another thing in which I might not find a good amount of information, but I think I, at least, found
a clip from YouTube. It's a 1991 TV movie called
The Ring of Scorpio.
The clip says it's from BBC. Is it the wrong movie. Or did BBC show the movie?
It's the right movie!
I see Cropper. She appears at :49.
Cropper is in prison with Caroline Goodall and another woman. Goodall and Cropper sing a pretty little song.
Also, in 1991 Cropper was in a movie called
Edens lost.
I Googled, and that led me to this site called Daily Motion. I think it's a video site. Anyway...someone has a Linda Cropper page on it. Maybe Linda Cropper herself? Or it could be a fan.
There's
a clip from
Edens Lost.
There's also some clips of Cropper playing Melba. I skipped over
that project because it looked like a once time appearance in a TV show. But now I'm thinking this role might have been important to Cropper's career. So I'll watch the clips.
The first video has Cropper doing Melba's opera singing. I wonder if she's really singing. Since she sang in The Ring of Scorpio, I'm thinking maybe she really has singing talent.
I'm leaving Daily Motion, though. I don't think it's a good website. Before watching the video, I had to watch an advertisement. Of course, that's fine. A lot of video websites have ads before the desired programming. But then WHILE I was watching, more ads played at the bottom of the screen while I was trying to watch the movie. That's incredibly annoying.
In 1994, Cropper was in a thriller movie with Brooke Shields called
The Seventh Floor. Since it has an American star, I wondered if it was an American movie. But no. It looks like it was Australian.
Cropper can be seen at :27. She looks quite elegant...but in a Cinderella's stepmother type way.
That trailer gives me no help in understanding what the plot of the movie is. It's very vague. I feel like someone said, let's make a movie with random thrilling scenes and hope people find it exciting.
Well, here we go. Lord Wiki has a description of the plot. He says it's about a woman who moves into an apartment that's controlled by a high tech computer system. Then a psychotic man terrorizes her. I guess he finds a way to control the system?
In 1995, Cropper was in a miniseries with Cate Blanchett. That's kind of funny since I just mentioned Cinderella's stepmother.
The miniseries was called
Bordertown. It sounds somewhat familiar to me. I wrote about Blanchett years ago, so maybe I came across it then.
Okay...yes! I just glanced at some info on IMDb and it mentions Blanchett playing an Albino. That's jogging my memory a bit.
I'm not finding as much information about this film as I'd expect.
Maybe I'm Googling the wrong thing.
I thought the Australian Screen website would at least have something, but I'm not seeing it.
Wait! I found a
trailer. Now I'm happy.
I think that's Cropper at :04. The narrator kind of sounds Southern American to me...at least at first. Then she starts sounding more Australian.
Actually, now I'm thinking it's Irish or Scottish.
I'm starting to think Cropper looks like a cross between Meryl Streep and Susan Sarandon.
In 1997, Cropper was in a drama about rape called
Blackrock. It sounded familiar to me; then I saw Justine Clark in the credits. I think I learned about the movie when I did a post about her.
Lord Wiki says the movie is also known as being Heath Ledger's first film appearance.
The rape victim in the movie is played by Bojana Novakovic from Satisfaction.
Hopper plays the mother of Jared, a guy who witnesses Novakovic being raped. The movie is mostly about Jared's struggling with what he saw and the decision of whether or not to turn in his friends to the police.
The storyline goes along very well with that Dumbeldore quote. It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends.
So true!
Someone has uploaded the whole movie. I'm going to try to find Cropper in one of the parts.
Cropper can be seen at 3:31. She's getting a breast biopsy.
I think that's Cropper again at 6:59.
In 1999, Cropper was in a movie with Mimi Rogers called
Little White Lies. It's another example of an Australian movie using an American as its star. I guess it's fair since many American movies star Australians. The difference, though, is that Australians usually play Americans in American films. In Australian films, Americans usually play Americans.
I can think of one exception, though. In Mental, the American played an Australian. I can't remember who the American was, though.
Let me go check....
Liev Schreiber. That's who it was.
Back to Little White Lies....
Here's some
clips from the movie. I see a lot of Mimi Rogers, but I don't see Cropper, unfortunately.
Also, in 1999, Cropper was in
a movie about Percy Grainger and his mother. Cropper didn't play the mother. That job went to another American—Barbara Hershey.
Oh! Awesome! Hershey is starring in a
new TV series about Damien the anti-christ boy. I wonder if that will be any good. I'm picturing the show maybe being like
Bates Motel. That's on my mind, at the moment, because Percy Grainger and his mother had a close relationship like Norman Bates and his mother. Was it close as in incest close? From what I remember learning, no one knows for sure. Lord Wiki reminds me, though, that the accusations drove Grainger's mother to suicide. I think that's very sad.
Next we have a movie called
Envy, which has the alternate title
The New Girlfriend.
Cropper appears at the beginning. She plays the mother of the main character—a young man who's abused by some people.
In 1999 and 2000, Cropper appeared in seven episodes of
Water Rats. She played Charlie Driscoll.
I really hope that some of these links continue to work in the future. Sometimes, via Statcounter, I look at the links people click on from my blog. Often, the videos are gone....and then I feel bad.
In the Water Rats video, Cropper appears at 1:13. I think she's pretty important to the episode, because the title of it is "Bye Bye Charlie".
Charlie is planning to be on trial for murder.
One of the police guys interviewing her is Andrew from Home and Away!
I feel haunted by Home and Away today.
Next on the filmography is Farscape. I just finished watching season One. I'm guessing Cropper appeared in season two.
Well, yes. She appeared in one episode of season two as Fento. Then she appeared in season three as Xhalax Sun. I guess she's a relative of Aeryn Sun? I don't want to read much about it, because of spoilers.
I've encountered unwanted spoilers twice in the past 24 hours thanks to Google News. They have this recommended for you thing, and I looked at it. Yesterday I got a spoiler about The Walking Dead and today I got a shocking spoiler about Neighbours. I'm not going to be clicking on that option again.
This website has
a page about Xhalax Sun...if anyone wants to read it. It also includes a photo of Cropper.
You know, I'm being a hypocrite complaining about spoilers, because my blog has probably provided unwanted spoilers to people. It's hard to avoid, because it's hard to talk about media without giving away certain things. These days with Netflix, Hulu, and other binge-watching tools, we're all in different places. We're often not caught up with a show, and it's hard not to run into spoilers. And it's hard to talk about a show online without giving certain things away.
Sometimes, though, spoilers aren't bad. If we know what's going to happen, it provides a different perspective.
Recently, Tim and I accidentally skipped an episode of The Walking Dead. Then we realized our mistake and went back to watch the episode. The suspense of the episode was provided by the question of whether a certain character was a threat or not. Because we saw the future, we already sort of knew the answer. But knowing the answer didn't ruin the episode for me. In a way, I think it might have made it more interesting.
In 2001, Cropper played true-life murder victim, Megan Kalajzich, in the TV movie
My Husband My Killer. As the title suggests, it's believed that Mr. Kalajzich was the murderer.
In 2002, Cropper appeared in season 5 of All Saints.
The Australian television website says Cropper played Anita Murphy who is the wife of Don Murphy. There's some kind of shame in their marriage, and that provides the title of the episode..."Shame".
Who is Don Murphy? Is he one of the doctors? A nurse? A friend of one of the doctors or nurses. From the description, it seems like he's a known character. But then Lord Wiki describes season 5 and who's in it. I don't see any mention of Murphy.
I'm confused.
I'm going to move on.
Cropper was in a 2002 drama called
Teesh and Trude. Lord Wiki says it's about two women living together, and not having a happy life. Cropper plays Trude. She's a woman who misses her kids, because they're living with their father.
Lord Wiki says a critic described the movie as being very depressing.
I'm not a big fan of depressing movies.
The movie is very low budget.
The women spend all day watching soap operas and smoking. That kind of sounds like me, except I don't smoke. I do, though, spend a lot of my day watching soap operas. Yesterday, I did some major Neighbours binge-watching.
The movie talks place on one day in which a lot of bad things happen. This includes one women having her period and the toilet not flushing.
I'm glad they mention stuff like that. They may sound like trivial things, but they can really lower the quality of a day...especially the toilet thing. Periods are pretty awful, but most women are probably used to it.
I think I'm going to add Variety to another website I dislike. It's very slow and therefore hard to scroll and read. Plus, out of nowhere, a video ad came on. And then I couldn't scroll fast enough to find the ad to shut it up.
Anyway, the period and toilet aren't the only problems. The women are also dealing with problems with the men in their life and their children.
I'm thinking, though, that you could go either way with problems like that—in terms of the tone of a piece. I can picture a comedy about two women who watch soap operas all day and are menstruating at a time that their toilet isn't working.
Then you can go middle of the road. The plot description reminds me of storylines I see on Coronation Street, which isn't a comedy. But it's also not a a depressing drama.
We could also take storylines from something like Modern Family and turn it into a depressing melodrama. Like Teesh and Trude, the comedy has storylines about parents struggling to deal with their relationships to their children.
I guess it all kind of fits with what I said in the beginning of this post. Drama or comedy isn't always determined by what happens in a story, but by how it's portrayed—the general tone.
In 2002, Cropper also appeared in seven episodes of a TV series with Don Hany, another one of her
Offspring co-stars. This was
White Collar Blue, a police show.
AND that year, Cropper was in a comedy called
The Nugget, starring Eric Bana. Cropper played a roadside waitress. The character wasn't named, but since Cropper, already had an established career by this point, I'm guessing it was still an important character. I'm picturing a small, but memorable role.
I didn't really expect to see Cropper, but she's there at 1:34. That was a pleasant surprise.
In 2005, Cropper was in the movie Little Fish. This is the movie with the cute little kids singing "Flame Trees".
Cropper played Denise.
Who is Denise?
I don't know. Lord Wiki doesn't talk about her in his description of the movie; nor does he list Cropper as one of the main stars.
Still...just in case. I'm going to watch a
trailer of the movie.
The trailer includes the singing bit at the end. It provides a different view of Little Fish than I'm used to. I thought the movie was more of a character drama, but this trailer makes it look more like an action thriller.
Either way...I didn't see Cropper.
Here's
another trailer. I'm not watching it because I expect to see Cropper, but I want to see if this one better matches my idea of the movie.
Yeah. That trailer does a much better job of fulfilling my expectations.
In 2006, Cropper was in a miniseries about East Timor called
Answered by Fire. Here's
a trailer. Cropper wasn't one of the main stars, so she might not be in this trailer either.
I think that MIGHT be Cropper at :28.
Also, in 2006, Cropper appeared in two episodes of season six of McLeod's Daughters. She didn't play a McLeod. She played Trudi Webb.
The Australian television
website says Trudi is the mother of Fiona. Who is Fiona? I don't know, but she's getting married...maybe to Alex. I thought Alex ended up with Stevie. But of course, there always has to be characters who get in the way of the two love birds. Like Emily with Ross and Rachel, or Rex with Alex and Evan.
I actually watched part of this episode before. It's the one where Charlotte goes missing.
I haven't found Cropper yet.
Oops! I was totally watching the wrong episode just now. I was watching an episode from season 5 instead of 6.
Let me try to find the right episode.....
Well, I don't see it on YouTube. I'll provide t
he link to Hulu. That's a more ethical way of watching the show, actually. I'm not going going to watch it now, though, because it's hard to jump/skim through Hulu. But in case, anyone wanting to watch the episode in it's entirety, here it is.
I may watch it someday. I'm still using random.org to pick which Hulu show I'm going to watch. My new show is
Slide. It's about teenagers in Brisbane. I haven't started watching it yet. If I have time, I may watch an episode later.
I really love Hulu, by the way. It's my favorite company right now. I wish I could use it more in my posts instead of linking to illegally uploaded programming on YouTube. It's just hard to skim because of the commercial breaks.
In 2008, Cropper was in the American movie
Fool's Gold. This is the movie starring Matthew McConaughey and and Kate Hudson. I kind of remember hearing about it.
Cropper played Hudson's attorney. What did she do? Why did she need an attorney? I don't know, and I can't say I care. I'm getting tired, evidenced by the fact that I just twice misspelled Cropper's name...first as Copper and then as Crooper.
The movie was
filmed in Queensland, so Cropper didn't have to leave the country to be in the movie.
Oh wait. Some scenes were filmed in the Bahamas. I'm betting, though, that those scenes didn't involve Cropper.
I think that's Cropper at :15, and maybe that's her at :34. She's speaking American.
It doesn't look like my type of movie, but Queensland looks quite beautiful.
Lord Wiki says the film was originally going to be filmed in the Caribbean. but then they decided on Australia because they worried about hurricane season. I guess Australia wasn't having their cyclone season.
Holy shit! Two crew members were stung by Irukandji jellyfish! This scared the actors, so then some of the water scenes were filmed in the Bahamas. I don't blame them. I'd be scared too.
I guess it's a fairy tale type thing? I'm not sure.
2010 is when Cropper started appearing on
Offspring. According to IMDb, she was on every episode. I can't say I remember her missing from an episode, so I'll have to agree with IMDb.
While on Offspring, Cropper appeared in some other things.
She appeared in season three of
Satisfaction. I'm not going to read much about the episodes, because I'd like to try to avoid spoilers. But here's
a link to the episode on Hulu.
Cropper was in four episodes of
The Pacific. This is that war miniseries. I think it's American, but filmed in Australia.
Cropper plays the mother of someone named Sledge.
Oh! Sledge is the character played by the Jurassic Park kid.
I'm going to move on. I can't learn much about Momma Sledge without looking at Lord Wiki's cousin's site; but I hate t
hat site, because it's so slow. I don't remember it being so bad in the past. Maybe they added more advertising? Or maybe it's the same, but I had more patience in the past.
Actually, right now it's not so bad. It probably depends on what advertisement is currently showing.
Cropper was in another project with Don Hany. It's a short film called
Suburbia. I'm bookmarking it to watch later.
She was in another short movie in 2013 called
Welcome to Iron Knob. I can't find the whole film online, but here's
a trailer.
Cropper licks a cookie/biscuit at :17. It's not a Tim Tam.
Cropper was in one episode of
Redfern Now. I mention that even, though, I don't watch that show, and I usually skip one time appearances in TV shows I don't watch. But the thing is...I WANT to watch it. I hope Hulu will have it soon.
Well, I think I'm going to stop with the filmography now.
I need to take a break and get a snack. Then I'll come back and do some other Linda Cropper-related stuff.
I'm back.
There's an interview with Cropper on a blog called
Save Our Soles. They say they're about celebrating the feet soles of actresses.
What??!!!
I'm going to look at my feet sole.
There's a yellow tinge. Is that dirt, or do I have some kind of liver problem?
Or maybe it's the lighting.
I get that the title of the blog is a joke, but are the interviews jokes as well? I mean I'm guessing they are humorous interviews, but are they real? Did they really talk to Linda Cropper? Or did they imagine they were talking to her? And if they imagined they were talking to her, did they talk to her face or her feet?
I guess I'll imagine the interview is real. Though I apologize in advance if I'm passing on false information.
I think it's real.
Probably.
Cropper says she was born in 1949 in Sydney. She's the same age as my parents.
Cropper is asked about choosing roles. She says,
I don't usually mind what role I play. As long as it's not too...unusual.
Too unusual? Would that include someone with yellowish feet soles that has pet crickets chirping away as she writes an overly long blog post?
Cropper says she had a lot of fun filming
Cyclone Tracy. I bet the people in the real cyclone had a little less fun. It seems kind of cold to admit to having fun with that. But I understand. You can have fun doing the whole acting and film thing while still having the expected sad thoughts about the real disaster.
Cropper says she prefers doing TV stuff over movie stuff. And she's never been very interested in doing the Hollywood thing.
Cropper has visited Egypt. The blogger asked her this, because the blogger herself is from Egypt.
Cropper doesn't smoke, but she used to. I wonder when she quit.
Now we're getting to the feet stuff. The blogger compliments Cropper's feet and Cropper says they're usually cleaned before shooting.
Are there shots of Cropper's feet in
Offspring?
How often do we get close-ups of feet in TV and movies?
Cropper prefers to not have her nails painted, but will do so if requested.
I like toenail polish but am usually too lazy to polish them. I'll probably do something in a few weeks though, so I can wear flip flops (thongs) without shame.
My feet are really ugly.
Cropper's favorite color is red. Her favorite type of footwear is high heels.
I'm one of those losers who can't manage to walk in high heels.
Cropper is asked how she feels about foot fetishes. She says,
I think it's a little weird. I don't usually take a liking to peoples feet.
Excuse me! Is that her definition of weird—something that doesn't apply to her. So if she doesn't like feet, it means it's weird to like feet?
I'm getting the idea that Cropper isn't a fan of the unusual. She doesn't want to play characters that are too unusual, and foot fetishes are weird.
Though she does say a LITTLE weird, and maybe she's one of those people (like me) who doesn't see weird as an insult.
But in the context, it kind of sounds like an insult.
I have a feeling Cropper wouldn't like me. I'd be too weird and unusual for her. Though I don't have a foot fetish.
And I still don't know if that was a real interview.
Either way, though...I had fun reading it.
Here's another
interview with Cropper. This one is on a traveling website.
She had a really good time in NYC—stayed near Central Park. She saw Aretha Franklin on stage, and that made her cry because she's a huge fan of Aretha Franklin.
She once stayed at a very fancy hotel in London. It included call buttons for the maid and butler; though Cropper never used them.
Cropper is asked what she needs for a perfect holiday. She says,
Good weather is always a big plus and not getting sick.
I agree with her on that. I get really nervous about us getting sick on vacation. We've had pretty good fortune so far (KNOCK ON WOOD) but I always worry our good luck is about to run out.
On our last trip to Disney World, Jack started having cold symptoms. I worried it was going to be one of those things that wiped us out for most of the vacation, but fortunately he was quickly okay.
I'm trying to remember if we ever got sick in Australia.
I remember one night where I felt like I was coming down with someone. But the next day I was totally fine. That actually happens to me a lot. I think that's called I'm-less-healthy-at-night. I'm starting to believe I'm a reverse vampire.
See...but now that I've mentioned this good health, and even though I knocked on wood...I feel we're going to be cursed on our next trip with some kind of horrible illness. Our toilets will clog with vomit, which will be double awful for me because I have a phobia of vomit.
Cropper says she has a St. Christopher medal that is special to her, and this is the one thing she always takes on trips. I'd be confused if someone asked me that question—what do I always take on trips. Because there's a lot of things. Like shoes, underpants, my wallet, my laptop.....
Cropper is asked to give travel advice. I think she kind of contradicts herself. She says,
Don't take too much stuff with you; you can always get it there. I had to buy a suitcase once as mine fell apart. No biggie, suitcases are easy to find, right? Not in Lima, Peru, it would appear.
So, you can always find what you left behind...but then she gives an example of it being difficult. Well, at least it wasn't impossible. She goes on to say that she did eventually find a suitcase. And no, she didn't not bring a suitcase. Hers broke.
I think it depends on where you go.
If we go to NYC, it really doesn't matter if you forget something. You can find and buy anything there, probably at a fairly decent price. But when we go to Disney World? If you don't have a car and you're stuck on property, you MIGHT find what you need, but it's going to be way overpriced.
And I think the same thing would happen on a cruise.
Also...even if you can find what you need, do you want to spend your holiday searching for it?
I think it depends on what you're wanting to do on your holiday. If you love shopping, then forgetting to pack pajamas, is probably a good thing. If you didn't want to shop on your holiday, then it's a pain in the ass.
Cropper is asked about her worse holiday. She says it was in Tuscany, and it was her birthday. She and her friend had a fight. But then they worked things out, and they're still friends.
Yeah. That goes along with what I believe. With holidays, it doesn't really matter where you are. It's about who you're with and whether or not you're getting along well.
Though we haven't had bad luck (knock on wood again) with illness, we've had some pretty awful interpersonal dramas on our trips. There were fights in Australia that left me feeling depressed and worthless.
When I was a teen, my family would have HUGE fights when traveling.
Cropper is like me in that she doesn't like crowds when traveling, and she tries not to travel during peak times.
Jack and I play Would You Rather a lot. This week he asked me if I'd rather go to Disney World when it's very hot but not so crowded; or when the weather is very pleasant, but it's super crowded. I had a hard time deciding, and now I don't remember what I concluded. But I did point out that in reality, it's the super crowded time that's also the very hot and humid time.
Now that I think more about it, though, that's not exactly true. Christmas is the most crowded time, and the weather is probably perfect then. So maybe if I had to choose between Disney World at Christmas or Disney World in May.....
I don't know.
I might go for Christmas, but not attempt to go on any rides....just go for the suffocating atmosphere. Though I don't like crowds, I'd probably like the holiday spirit of the whole thing.
OR...If I went to Disney World in May, maybe we'd just spend most of the time at the water parks, and/or go on water rides. Plus, there's a lot of air conditioning there.
The Sydney Morning Herald has
an article about Cropper. It's about a play she was in called
Ghosts. It's an Ibsen thing.
She's also played Lady Macbeth on stage.
Cropper waxes poetic about Ibsen, saying he created meaty roles for women. She says this as a comparison to Shakespeare who wrote meaty roles for men.
But wasn't Lady Macbeth a pretty meaty role?
Or maybe not?
I don't know.
Cropper says when she first graduated from NIDA, she planned to be in only classical roles on stage. But then she realized there wasn't going to be enough work if she limited herself to that.
She reminds me of a preschool director I worked for in Fort Worth. She only liked classical...at least when it came to music.
I can't understand when people limit themselves like that. Yes, classical music is beautiful, but there's a lot of beauty in other stuff as well.
I wonder if Cropper has grown to respect her non-classical work. Or when she was working on
Offspring, was she secretly thinking,
This is crap. I wish I was doing Ibsen or Shakespeare.
I think I'm going to go ahead and watch
Suburbia, and then quit this post. I'm tired.
I'm watching....
Cropper is talking to some other woman...or listening mostly to the other woman. The other women is talking about Christmas food. Don Hany is watching them talk.
It seems Hany is the romantic partner of the other woman. If I'm understanding things right, he also knows Cropper. She and the girl are working together, and Hany asked Cropper how it went. So...maybe the other girl is Hany's lover and he used his connections to get her a a job with Cropper.
Now the movie has stopped playing for some reason.
Will I be left in suspense? Or will it start working again?
It's working now.
Hany hears a noise.
He's going to check it out.
I don't think it's a horror movie, so there probably won't be a zombie around the corner.
I think it's drama, though, so Hany will probably find something sad.
Hany found a car with people rushing away. Now there's a baby crying.
Yikes. Now there are gunshots.
Hany talked about hearing something before. Maybe that's what he heard, and I missed it?
Haney is running around the neighborhood investigating and helping. I'm wondering if that's more heroic or foolish.
It seems to me it might be better to hide and call the police.
Hany did call the police, but out in the open where he could have gotten shot. I'd probably want to get away from the shooting sounds and then call.
A woman stopped him and asked for help because her husband was shot. With that, I think it was brave and nice that he helped. But before that, he was following the sounds of the gunshots—trying to figure out what was happening. Is that a wise thing to do if you're not the police and you're not armed?
Now Hany has found Cropper. She was one of the people shot.
Though this movie takes place in Australia....I imagine it's what some Australians imagine every day life is like in America.
I'm thinking about Don Hany's character here. If I was on the street being shot at or if someone I loved was shot, I'd be very grateful to him. He's the kind of guy who just jumps into danger. It's very brave. But I'd be unhappy if he was my husband. I'd be mad that he risked his life like that. It would almost feel like he had a death wish.
No. I wouldn't be impressed with Tim if he ran down the street towards the gunfire he was hearing. And I'd feel like an awful mother if l risked my own life to follow the sound. However, if the police catch the shooters, and then people are needed to help out, that's a different story. Or let's say someone is already in a building where shooting is happening. If they stayed to help instead of fleeing, that's a pretty nice thing.
I just feel Hany could have walked in the opposite direction WHILE calling the police.
The credits say the movie is based on a true story—something that happened in Burleigh Heads.
Besides portrayed a true event, what was the point of the movie? To depress and scare people?
Were we supposed to question Hany's actions? Or is that just me—because I'm cowardly and not so sacrificing. Maybe most people watch that film and immediately conclude that Hany (or is character, really) is heroic.
Here's
an article, from 1991, about a shooting in Burleigh Heads. The guy shot people from his balcony and then walked down the street and fired at people in their cars.
Odd...the article was from an American newspaper. I can't find any Australian articles about it.
This
website has some writings about
Suburbia. Maybe it will give me some insight.
The movie is based on the director's own experience. On his own street, there was a shooting and he saw someone die in front of him.
Oh...you know what. I think the street was Burleigh Heads. So when the credits say the movie is based on a true story, it's a story that the director actually lived through. Wow.
I wonder if filming the movie was therapeutic for the director. I imagine it was painful, but was it painful in a good way? Well, not good...but helpful?
I like what one of the commenters says on the website.
I think the news media could learn a lesson from this film---if mass people saw the horror of gun violence from this lens---instead of all the attention and sensationalism pointed at those who killed--perhaps we would be making decisions that would really save future lives. I'm sorry for the experience that led to this film and am glad you found a way so thoughtfully represent it.
I'm thinking about the recent plane disaster. Much more attention was given to the co-pilot who killed everyone than the victims themselves. I'm not sure it would make me feel better to concentrate on the victims and the crash. But what about for future potential killers? For those who do it for attention—to achieve fame and/or notoriety, the media might be doing a huge disservice to all of us. They might be encouraging more people to become mass-killers.
I wonder about this film, though. Does it have benefits? Will it make people think twice about going on a shooting spree, because they saw how horrific it appears on film. Or would they be too heartless and just think,
oh that's cool. Look at all that blood.
But not all shooters are cruel and heartless. Some are very lonely and desperate. So maybe seeing all the blood and death WOULD be a deterrent to them.
Maybe the movie doesn't need to have a point or a purpose. Maybe it's just about a director wanting to use art to deal with and share his experience.
Back to the whole running into danger thing.....
I'm thinking it would also depend on whether you knew and loved the people in danger.
Maybe the neighborhood was filled with Hany's good friends. Then again....the woman who asked Hany to help her husband referred to her husband as
my husband. If they were friends, she'd say something like.
Please! You have to help George! He's been shot.
If I was taking a walk in our lake house neighborhood and heard shooting coming from the lake house;, I think it's very likely that I'd run into the lake house...even if that meant getting myself killed. My family is in there. I'd want to help them and be with them. But if I was taking a walk in the neighborhood and heard shooting at a house that was NOT our lake house, I'd be running away from there to the safety of our lake house. Then I'd call the police. Of course, this is all what I'd imagine I'd do. We can never know what we'd do, when faced with trauma, unless we're actually in the situation.
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