Such was my Corrie-fuelled excitement the other night that I almost foamed at the mouth. The cause of this rather disgusting moment was Emily's mere mention of Gamma Garments. Gamma Garments! With those two words, the former Miss Nugent whisked us back to better, simpler times. However, this being Weatherfield 2012, it was tinged with darkness. Oh yes, Mistress Bishop was regailing a captive audience with goings on in November 1963 and specifically, the night President Kennedy was murdered. Suddenly I knew what was coming next. With bated breath, I awaited Emily's revelation that she knew who had pulled the trigger that fateful night. It was of course, Carla Connor . . .
Well, it might as well have been. Old trout pout seems to be both bringer and bearer of most of the world's evils. She's the four horseman of the apocalypse, the Taliban and Rose West rolled into one. Or that's how it seems. Multiple dead husbands, lovers and workers lay at her fashionably turned out feet. Bloodied whisky bottles and slapped children abound. Carla Connor, let evil be thy name.
Of course, she didn't kill Frank. For that would be one heinous crime too many. The woman has suffered enough. If they hollow her out any more, Simon will have somewhere new to store his toys. I don't think Michelle did it either. With an ego the size of hers, she wouldn't have been able to keep her trap shut for long. No, Michelle would have turned the murder into a mini-musical, starring herself of course and by now would have been tap-dancing across the cobbles, top hat and cane in hand, bellowing out "It was me!It was me", à la Ethel Merman.
Neither was it the increasingly underused and meaningless Kevin, a character who seems soley to exist in order to screech like a rodent and then exit stage left. Which probably leaves us with loopy Anne or Jenny Plot-Device, the latter of whom seems to have fallen off the face of the earth.
Please though, not Carla. The woman is more sinned against that sinning and needs a break. Like a moth to the flame though, within weeks she will be clattering up the factory steps, barking out orders in her red wine and twenty-a-day cackle. Fingers crossed that her next victim is Michelle though . . .
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15 comments:
Loved this blog! Sorry to all the Carla fans who enjoy her feisty return, but this is exactly what I mean about her being 2 dimensional. Of course, she's great as a Dynasty clone and the street-wise gal - but that's it. Carla (or is it Alison's acting)can't do vulnerable the way Leanne can. Carla has absolutely no redeeming qualities. She has been through some awful stuff, I agree, but I care about her as much as I would about a rather vile woman in the office.
I agree. I just cannot draw on any sympathy or empathy for Carla. Zip. Nil. Nada.
~JB in Canada
Of course Carla, Peter, Sally, Kevin or the other "suspects" didnt kill Frank. People are deluded into trying to think that. It will be Anne or his girlfriend Jenny, as thats Corrie's style, hyping things up and then BAM, a fail and disappointment.
Examples, remember the four best loved characters to perish in the tram crash? Oh right, Evil Molly, Boring deadwood Ashley, nutty Charlotte who was just introduced to be killed off, and then a taxi driver, one we didnt even see or notice being killed. Yeah, if they are best loved, want to see what the useless characters are.
And who can forget Tony Gordon Siege Week, 2 major deaths! Well Tony himself, and then his cellmate who was only brought in briefly for that storyline. This is why Corrie have got to stop these storylines, its a waste of time for viewers to sit through it just for obvious results.
I like Carla, or at least I did. There is just too much of her recently, the producers need to give her a break after this storyline, she's been pretty full on for a year now.
I don't think they expect you to feel sorry for Carla - at every initial move, she's had a hand in her own fate. So no 'tragedy' has befallen her that has not had it's roots of her own making.
Perhaps, therefore it's envy you're supposed to feel. Envy at how she survives calamity after calamity. Not that she doesn't deserve to survive, she's a character with a strong core of self-centeredness which isn't always appealing when stacked up against the hurt emotions of the wronged Leanne's of the world. Carla doesn't do hurt as such. She does 'survive'. And for that, I suspect, she attracts envy and the opprobrium of some who really want to see her come apart completely, as they might do themselves if faced with similar overwhelming odds. But Carla doesn't. She survives and comes through it all, and doesn't feel grateful to anyone for that fact. She won't thank Michelle for her unwavering support, she might say it at some point, but that would only be due to her pragmatic sense of managing people to keep them on side, not her humanity.
And that's managing people - not manipulating them.
She's too strong a self-willed woman for you to feel sorrow or pity for. Doesn't automatically mean she's a poor representation of the type. So I don't subscribe to this: Carla bad, ergo the actress that depicts her: bad too.
I love watching her get knocked down time and time again only to pick herself back up, splash on some lippy and hold her head high.
She is an imperfect character but that is what makes her so fascinating to watch. She is a strong and mostly selfish woman, and when she falls in love she falls hard and this is ultimately the route to many of her problems.
Yes, I dig Carla too and Alison King. The close ups and the Botox fighting frown have been keeping me on the edge of my seat too. I'M SERIOUS about this. TWICE i've almost seen a wrikle form. Man, even her chemical compounds can survive.
Brilliant!
Great blog Clinkers. As Frosty has said before Alison King portrays her very well but you cannot really like or feel any empathy with Carla despite what "she has been through". She is unlikeable and unpleasant and dare I say it, looked really ugly in the scenes yesterday.
Also agree with Mr Johnson that this Corrie "hype" over storys that end up a damp squib are becoming rather wearysome now.
I think that Carla is fantastic as a character. I think you do have empathy with her because of what she's been through, and she blamed herself at the end of Thursday's episode. She's very human.
And I think the actress a gorgeous looking woman too.
The way she shreaked at poor Anne who had lost a son and a husband quite recently showed what a cow she is, and what was all that balony about Simon being a child having to be brought up on his own, she didnt think about that when she was jumping into bed with his dad and wrecking his marrage. She is a selfish cow pure and simple.
Yep, that sums it up nicely, Russell. Selfish, self-centred cow. Let's not forget Liam and Maria COULD've been happy, but noooo ... Carla wanted him. And he ended up dead.
Black widow spider? A lot of dead men around her.
~JB in Canada
I don't get the Carla hate, I like her and I do find myself with a lot of empathy for her.
Great character, great actress.
I don't get the Carla hate, either. For goodness' sake, should all the characters on Corrie be as dull and pointless as Maria? I, for one, don't blame Liam AT ALL for having ditched Miss Totally Bland & Boring for the exciting, sexy Carla (yes, he died, but Carla didn't kill him - Tony ''Psycho'' Gordon did. And he almost succeeded in killing Carla, as well!) Is Carla selfish and vain? Hell, yes. Is she evil? No, I don't think so - she does have a heart (we've seen it in her dealings with the Underworld staff, among other instances) and IS vulnerable. We aren't privy (so far) to her childhood and early life - possibly (probably) there is some pain there, which made her tough and defensive. The writers should probably shine a light on what makes Carla Carla). As for people bashing her for breaking up Peter and Maria - geez, did she hold a gun to Peter's head to force him to be with her? Peter was married - Carla wasn't - he's far more at fault than she is! Carla did try to suppress her attraction to Peter for some time - but passion won out in the end - as it should be in any self-respecting soap! Even if they aren't well suited for a long term commitment, you have to admit they sizzle together in terms of physical/sexual chemistry (I never saw that between Peter and Leanne). And speaking of Leanne, I guess some of you have forgotten that when Leanne was a hooker, Carla's husband Paul was one of her clients. Now, if I was Carla, I'd take great satisfaction in exacting some revenge, even if it was years later. Go Carla! She's a survivor, and I hope she stays on the street and finally finds some happiness! And Alison King is doing a fantastic job of portraying her! Go Alison!
Love her or hate her, she sure provokes a reaction. Surely that's what makes her a successful character? Ps. She's not bad on the eye either.
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