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Clip description
Released from prison the day before, Karen (Shai Pittman) wakes up in a motel room to the sound of the cleaners at the door. Feeling sick from the night before, Karen quickly dresses and lets them into the room. As she looks at the cleaners she realises one of them is her mother, Lois (Marcia Langton). Lois, seeing the room and unimpressed with her daughter’s state, slaps Karen on the side of the face. Karen grabs her things and leaves. Lois sits on the bed, sighs and says, ’That was my daughter’.
Curator’s notes
A strong dose of tough love is always painful. This scene portrays the tensions between mother and daughter and although Lois, Karen’s mother, may appear aggressive and uncaring, the slap is a wake-up call to her daughter. Scorned by her mother and ashamed of her actions, Karen walks through the city gathering her resolve as she goes. The lyrics to the song on the accompanying soundtrack – ’I’ll be a warrior’, ’I’ll make you want me’ – suggest Karen wants to make it in the world and earn her mother’s love.
