We are discussing empathy in class today and I think a real standout example of a fluid and demeaning story arc is in Christos Tsiolkas’ novel and tv adaptation of The Slap. The blurb for the novel states:

At a suburban barbecue, a man slaps a child who is not his own.
This event has a shocking ricochet effect on a group of people, mostly friends, who are directly or indirectly influenced by the slap.

The novel is told through each character’s perspective, as 8 key characters are given a chapter to further the narrative. Not to give spoilers, but the story begins in a suburban barbecue in Northcote, where we can already see the party of adults pushing social strains, with polite arguments between strangers and pressures on the friend group. As the night continues the tension in the party grows, and so does the attitude of the children attending. After a game of backyard cricket goes wrong, a member of the party slaps a disobedient child. The child was not his own.

From this we see a total division between the families involved, those on the side of the slapper, and those defending the child. However the more we see from each character’s perspective, the less we can empathise with anyone involved. The man who committed the act is found out to be a domestic abuser with a history of violence. The mother of the child, who subsequently sues the man, is portrayed as a manipulative attention seeker. However none ever asks the child if he is okay, or if he wants retribution.

This is a great example of a shifting protagonist, a varied story arc. It’s a story that makes you question your own morals, and by the end, the people you originally persecuted are the ones you are rooting for.

The Slap can be watched on Stan or ABC iView.