You know how Corrie fans and the media alike tend to refer to various characters as "the new...." whoever? For instance, several characters have been touted as new Elsie Tanners including Denise Osbourne and, currently, Carla Connor. A number of couples have been likened to Stan and Hilda Ogden or Jack and Vera Duckworth, especially if they're scrappy, with gossipy women and feckless fellas.
Eddie and Anna Windass were likened to Jack and Vera, as well, back when they first arrived. With talk of Blanche's ghost haunting the street and watching Anna turn on faithful Roy for his attack on Gary, I'm starting to see a lot of Vera coming out in Anna. Perhaps Vera's ghost is haunting Anna Windass? Seriously, though, Vera was a much loved character but if you think back, Vera could be a right nasty cow, taking against people she's known for years in an instant and thinking her husband, Jack or her son, Terry, could do not wrong, even when, deep down, she knows both of them were a screw up.
Sound familiar? I think the worst of Vera is living in Anna, especially these days. Anna and Vera both had big hearts but they could/can also turn on anyone indiscriminately, at the drop of a hat, especially if they're defending their loved ones, whether they deserve defending or not. Vera was allowed to castigate poor, feckless Jack or shout at her beloved son but if anyone outside the doors of Number 9 did then it was war. That's what you do, right? Support your family through thick and thin. There might be a harsh word for your loved one that's disappointed you or even worse, betrayed you, but in public, it's us against the world.I guess in some respects, that's a good thing. You want to know you can count on your family being there when you screw up. It's different if your loved ones are wearing blinders, ignoring the worst things you do, things you really aren't sorry for like many of the things Terry Duckworth has done over the years.
Deirdre Barlow is famous for this where Tracy is concerned. She's calling Tracy on her stuff a bit more these days but if push came to shove, she'd back Tracy all the way. The difference is that Deirdre isn't as likely to turn on a friend, either. Gary isn't a man that does things out of malice, he just has a volatile temper and a very strong impulse gene.
Anna has become vicious and spiteful towards Roy since this whole incident happened. Be angry, but understand where Roy came from. Carla knows. Roy has punished himself far more than any long arm of the law could and Gary himself takes all the blame. What I want to see is Gary call his mother on the carpet for her lousy attitude.When Anna's life crashes down around her (again), and it will, she'll expect Roy to be there for her as if nothing happened. The sad thing is, he will be because he's decent and Anna's got a very short memory.
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Gary doesn't do things out of malice? I think trying to rob a friend and hoping to get away with it by letting Roy believe is pure malice.Vera did see the light about Terry whereas I doubt Anna ever will about Gary who's more concerned about Alya then the horrible way his mother is treating Roy because of him and his lack of responbility.
ReplyDeleteVera could be hard but there was also comedy and pathos in her character, too. Carla's become a more rounded character since the writers gave her a dry wit. Anna's humourless. And, sorry, but I don't feel any pity for her. She suffers from the martyr syndrome. Faced with a choice of sleeping with her family's aggressor or calling his bluff and letting her son face a therapeutic spell in prison (maybe), she slept with Phelan and made things 10 times worse. Why bother getting your PTDS son much needed counselling when all he needs is his mother's love and a good fry-up?
ReplyDeleteVera also had good mates. Which female outside the clan would ask Anna to go to bingo? If the writers wanted to make Anna a first class idiot, then I'd say that they've done a great job. But I'm sure that we're meant to sympathise with her, that she's trying her best etc. Now, this says more about me than Anna but if I met someone like her, I'd give her a very wide berth. Likewise Anna's character whenever she's on-screen.
I really don't see the character of Anna has anything going for her.She lacks any comedy potential and is just a moany old fish wife. She is blind to all her families faults. The difference between her and Vera is that we cared about the character of Vera even when she was blind to Terrys faults. I couldnt give a fig about Anna so her drama is wasted- Micky
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of the previous comments, and would love to see Anna get a good calling out (or two or three) for her hateful treatment of Roy. Loved the scene where she was giving Rita the stink eye in the Cabin, when Rita made it clear she was on Roy's side. Rita didn't back down, and was hard as nails in her stare back while Mary flustered her words. Anna backed down and left without engaging Rita further with a shrill harping, which is very unlike her in scenes like these. Rita gets on my last nerve sometimes, but with Tina and Dennis gone I'm reminded why I like her character.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I was pleasantly surprised when Anna first went to visit Roy after the break-in. She was definitely sympathetic to Roy (getting him the glass of water brought back memories of her washing out Haley's glass last year), and was concerned about him and willing to excuse his attack on Gary with "He provoked you though". Given her predisposition to excuse or refuse to acknowledge poor behaviour on her family's part, I thought that said a lot about her attachment to and relationship with Roy.
But then she heard Roy's own version of events, which he explained in the very worst light because he felt so bad about it (although knowing Roy and the context, she still should have shown more understanding). All Gary adds to that explanation is "I deserved what I got" (what a martyr, in her eyes). The only other witness, Sinead, is firmly of the opinion now that Roy is a monster, despite having nothing but good things to say about him before.
Given that, I can understand Anna having mixed feelings. But the way she's reacted is so over the top that it's hard to find it believable, when she first came from a place of understanding for Roy.
Maybe it's not Anna I'm frustrated with, but the writers. Anna had a chance for personal growth here, and was showing a spark of it at first. Then they just shoved her back into that harpy pigeonhole again.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. The writers often leave important bits of information that might help clear the air between characters. Roy should have told Anna "I didn't know it was Gary". She knew he'd been harassed by those punks. Roy's reaction to a break in makes perfect sense. If he had seen it was Gary I believe he would have stopped hitting him.
DeleteDon't get me wrong, I'm not defending Anna. I felt her over the top change over against Roy was similar to the type of thing Vera used to do. ANd No, I don't think Gary tried to rob Roy out of malice. He was desperate and the opportunity was there, vis a vis the keys in hand. He didn't do it because he didn't like Roy. He knows he did wrong and admits it freely and sincerely which is a lot more than Terry Duckworth would have done.
ReplyDeleteI think Gail has become a lot like Ivy but of course Ivy wouldn't be marrying for the umpteenth time.
ReplyDeleteAnna becoming Vera? only if she claims to be of royal blood. One of Vera's funniest lines was when she referred to the Prince of Wales as "cousin Charles".
Anon. (from Canada)
Let it be Owen's last redeeming act to read Anna the riot act about how she's treated Roy, her blind obsession with Gary and her utter stupidity in giving herself to Phelan. Then let him leave the Street a free man.
ReplyDeleteFor the amount of time Anna's been there, it's notable that (apart from Roy, and that relationship is now gone) she doesn't really have any friends outside the family. She seems to antagonize everyone she comes across. Even Owen, someone whose dark side is never that far away, was pally with Jason for a time, and he can go into the pub and chat pleasantly with whoever is there. Anna always seems to be glaring daggers at people.
ReplyDeleteHow very dare you compare Anna Windass to a Corrie icon like Vera Duckworth! Vera had a lot to put up with but was comical and likeable. Anna Windass is frankly a nasty piece of work, responsible for Joe Mcintrye's demise over the kitchen they refused to pay for, they tried to change her character into an earth mother. But this character was ruined when she slept with Phelan and her treatment of poor Roy when he is at his most vulnerable when he has always been a good friend to her, makes her character untenable in the Frosty opinion. A moany frumpy ungrateful and quite unpleasant woman with a sour face and annoying sing song voice. Time for her to go with Katy and Own
ReplyDeleteAnna should remember that Roy didn't attack Gary, he attacked an intruder, he didn't know who the intruder was. Under the circumstances she should be eternally grateful that she still has a job.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comparison. That could be exactly what the writers are going for even if they're not doing a very good job of it.
ReplyDeleteLike you said, Roy will probably be there for Anna over the next few months when her life goes pair shaped again. I certainly won't enjoy watching Roy support her, though. Not after the way she has treated him. She has rejected his apology, she continually spits her spiteful comments at him and worst of all, even after everything she knows Roy went through AND even though he has always been there for her and her family, she won't even give him a chance to make amends.
I would love Carla to put Anna in her place or at least remind Anna that they both were then when this man lost his wife.
Frosty, as I wrote, I find Anna is channelling the worst of Vera, who really could be a nasty piece of work at times. I do agree that Vera overall was a much better character and someone else above mentioned that Vera also had good mates where Anna doesn't really seem to, aside from Owen's girls and Roy whom she has now turned upon. She had Hayley but of course that's done, now.
ReplyDeleteTvor,For what it's worth,I still believe that Gary's attempt to rob the café was out of malice and pre-mediated.Gary thought Roy was meeting Carla at the Rovers and armed with his mother's keys thought it would be a simple robbery and knowing full well that Roy was being harassed by hoodlums,the police would simply assume it was them. Yet that detail about Gary taking his mother's keys to the café is forgotten so Gary can be portrayed as the martyr in his mother's and Alya's eyes at Roy's expense.
ReplyDeleteAnon 16:14, I believe you are misunderstanding the word "malice", which implies having vindictive feelings towards someone (my dictionary's definition). Gary had no vindictive feelings towards Roy, just a desperate need for money and an opportunity to obtain it via Anna's keys.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,Gary also knew that Roy was the target of hoodlums and assumed Roy would think it was them,that's why I thought what he did was out of malice..If Gary was successful in his robbery attempt,those boys would've been falsely arrested for robbery while Gary would be sitting pretty with money in his pocket.
ReplyDeleteFumpy fishwife Anna makes me feel sick. I can't stand her miserable face and big gob. I wish they would kill her off.
ReplyDelete