The ultimate irony of 'The Slap'....
OK, I've watched the first four episodes of this mini-series... and I think that it's perhaps the ultimate irony of "The Slap" that, of all the people assembled at Hector's BBQ, it's Harry that delivers the blow against Hugo.
Harry, who swaggers through life acting as if the entire world owes him something... Harry, who evaluates the people around him entirely on the basis of what they can do for him.... Harry, who expects his nearest and dearest to be subservient to his every whim.... Harry, who throws tantrums and resorts to threats and emotional blackmail whenever things don't go his way....
In short, Harry, who behaves like a spoilt brat most of the time, is the one who loses his cool when it comes to dealing with an actual spoilt child.
Of all the people assembled at the party, Harry's personality strikes me as being the closest to Hugo's - Harry is the kind of man that I would imagine Hugo growing up to become, given his upbringing.
Am I alone in thinking this way?
In watching Harry's episode, and seeing the way in which Harry interacts with his wife, colleagues and family, all I could think about was how Harry's behaviour reminded me of Hugo's behaviour at the party... particularly the way in which they both resort to threats of violence and emotional blackmail when their wants are challenged. Certainly, there's a childish quality to the way in which Harry fantasises about blowing away Rosie whilst playing first person shooters.
It also strikes me that Harry and Rosie have more in common than either would like to admit. It seems to me that both of them are people who never really grew up, and are both stuck in the mindset of children.... many have remarked what a manchild Hector is, but he has at least enough adult maturity to realise when he's making a mistake, even if he's too weak a person to stop himself... whereas Harry's decision making is governed by the same narcissistic priorities of a child, it's all about him (haven't seen Rosie's episode yet, so I don't know if she reveals hidden depths there, but her decision making also seems to be as much a product of childish narcissism as concern for her son).