Kaylia and Jennifer talk about this Australian “gothic” novel turned Australian melodrama movie. We ask the burning questions: How many characters is too many characters? Does it count as LGBTQ representation when it’s a secret? Where is the church? How much tragedy can one dressmaker take? How do you fix this novel? Yes, we have answers to all of these and more. Happy listening!

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The Dressmaker is a “Gothic novel” written by the Australian author Rosalie Ham, and is Ham’s debut novel It was first published in 2000. The story is set in a 1950s fictional Australian country town, Dungatar, and explores love, hate and haute couture.

The Dressmaker is a 2015 Australian revenge comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, based on the 2000 novel of the same name by Rosalie Ham. It stars Kate Winslet as a femme fatale in the title role of the dressmaker, Myrtle “Tilly” Dunnage, who returns to a small Australian town to take care of her ailing, mentally unstable mother.

This Pages and Popcorn Podcast episode was produced by Kaylia Metcalfe and featured “Pages and Popcorn Podcast Theme” / M.D. Arms

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Show Notes / Sources

Chocolat

Rosalie Ham Interview

Sorghum… what is it?

The “Women in Refrigerators” Trope 

15 Dickens Characters With Really Silly Names

Adrian Monk

Macbeth

A Simple Favor…. Proof that sometimes the movie is far, FAR, better than the book. 

To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar

The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Muriel’s Wedding

What’s up with Mrs. Havisham and her wedding dress?  In Great Expectations,(Dickens) Havisham is an elderly woman who has been wearing her deteriorating gown for decades as if frozen in time after being jilted at the altar.

And… just for fun… that Friends clip of the gals in wedding dresses… 

Moira Rose and her iconic looks

And… ummm… here is that Scrotum Meme I made… 

Other Sources

http://esvc000019.wic044u.server-web.com/extracts/Ham_interview.htm?fbclid=IwAR0eekwZXOewCTeZxAJMkavBjbmYdC7uf54vGYStmfgItUGaxetUR9ouGzI 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dressmaker_(Ham_novel)

http://www.compulsivereader.com/2015/08/28/a-review-of-the-dressmaker-by-rosalie-ham/#:~:text=The%20Dressmaker%20is%20a%20clever,%2C%20mean%2Dspirited%20microcosms%20everywhere.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dressmaker_(2015_film)

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-dressmaker-2016

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/finalcut/the-dressmaker/6896560?fbclid=IwAR0eekwZXOewCTeZxAJMkavBjbmYdC7uf54vGYStmfgItUGaxetUR9ouGzI

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-23/dressmaker-director-jocelyn-moorhouse-talks-about-film/6875302?fbclid=IwAR0P7K_OE6SMKF8jX6T-geTxeeV2rmSQZhM8IJPO_n-ffgltVgT58BQZN98