The Snapper is a 1993 Irish television film directed by Stephen Frears and tells the story of Sharon Curley, an alcoholic 20-year-old who gets pregnant in the late ’80s. She lives with her working-class parents and five siblings, who all have to acclimate to this strange, taboo news. Her father, specifically, makes it his duty to educate himself on the ‘female experience’ and all the technical details of pregnancy that are entirely unexpected.
The strangest part of The Snapper’s cinematic legacy is how it is considered a hallmark of daytime Christmas-season television across Ireland. Why is a film about illegitimate children so popular in a notably Catholic country during this Christian holiday? This film has nothing to do with Christmas or the holiday season whatsoever, though it seems to have an odd grip on public consciousness. While the film presents a dysfunctional working-class family in an overcrowded home, they nonetheless have a kind of loyalty to one another and subsequently to their oldest and marginally most dysfunctional child. With this film’s uniquely Irish humor, the evolution of the conventional Irish male breadwinner is challenged as Sharon’s father is forced to reckon with his daughter’s unique coming of age story. Although the Curley family is highly dysfunctional, it is plain to see that they all love and care for one another very deeply. They do everything in their power to protect their vulnerable daughter. The Curley family is also recognizable. Sharon works at a local grocery store, her mother knits and watches daytime television religiously, and her father takes her rowdy siblings to football practice. While Sharon has drunken hallucinations of judgmental elderly neighbors sneaking into the bedroom she shares with her sister to mock and degrade her ever-changing jean size, she eventually learns not to care what other people think about her.
Despite presenting some more lacking commentary on the issue of feminine representation, sexual assault, and substance abuse, The Snapper offers an honest story of regular people contending with taboos through comedy. Although the film isn’t necessarily light-hearted, it has captured a country’s hearts enough to be shown during the holiday season. This phenomenon is fascinating. How on Earth has a Catholic country, known for its more conservative restrictions on abortion and feminine health, enthusiastically embraced such a messy story about a socially illicit pregnancy during one of their holiest of days?
In some ways, The Snapper is simply a story about a family thrust into a period of uncertainty, forced to find new ways to unite together and protect Sharon from much of the public eye. Sharon is entirely dependent on her family, even in her previous life as a grocery-teller by day and party girl by night. She is forced to connect with them more than ever before, despite living with them and still sharing a room with her kid sister. Perhaps an exciting exercise for those who aren’t Irish is to check out The Snapper for themselves in association with the seasons. With a simple, almost gimmicky pretense, the film nonetheless remains incredibly endearing and brimming with genuine, sentimental tenderness.
While Sharon’s predicament is undesirable, she keeps her head up, and her silly, slightly rebellious attitude shines through during her pregnancy. Despite being tied down by newfound responsibilities, she becomes more comfortable in her own skin. The name she chooses for her child becomes a means of regaining autonomy over her body while simply not giving a f*** about what her gossipy neighbors think. The Snapper is a unique, brilliant film and an Irish cultural touchstone worth watching this winter break.
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