Little House on the Prairie Forum Home  Calendar  Chat Room  FAQ  Search  Register  Log in       Little House on the Prairie :: Little House on the Prairie :: Episode Reviews  Whisper Country     Author Message teenwerewolf New Pioneer Joined : 01 Apr 2007 Posts : 20 Subject: Whisper Country   Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:10 am Melissa Sue Anderson said in an interview that she felt she was over the top in this episode, and I'm afraid I have to agree this wasn't one of her best performances, especially in the final scene - I thought she was way too melodramatic. I was also curious whether people thought this episode was realistic. Unfortunately in those times I'm not sure how easy it would have been for a teenage girl to be that assertive and stand up for what she believed in; this wasn't exactly the 1960's.   Vanesa Walnut Grove Resident Joined : 01 Dec 2006 Posts : 1182 Subject: Re: Whisper Country   Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:47 am Well. I always loved it, and I still think she've done a wonderful acting job there. The whole epie WAS melodramatic, yes. But I think we can't blame Melissa Sue Anderson for it. Maybe the writers??? Vanesa. _________________   Vanesa Walnut Grove Resident Joined : 01 Dec 2006 Posts : 1182 Subject: Re: Whisper Country   Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:55 am teenwerewolf wrote: Melissa Sue Anderson said in an interview that she felt she was over the top in this episode, and I'm afraid I have to agree this wasn't one of her best performances, especially in the final scene - I thought she was way too melodramatic. I was also curious whether people thought this episode was realistic. Unfortunately in those times I'm not sure how easy it would have been for a teenage girl to be that assertive and stand up for what she believed in; this wasn't exactly the 1960's. In those times, women were REALLY strong. People have a fake idea of women being weak and less strong than today. I think exactly the opposite. My great-great granny, who fighted the indians on the frontier and saw her husband killed in front of her eyes, havin a lot of children to educate, knows a lot better what she wanted than those girls (and boys) from todays who doesn't know what they should do of their existences. My great-great granny was a typical woman of her times, with a strong will and strong convictions. If you read Laura Ingalls Wilder's life (the real one. not the one from the show ) you can't help to ask to yourself how a so young girl could go through all that suffering, including a son's death and a burning up of her house. A young girl from today would have a nervous break down. Vanesa. _________________   teenwerewolf New Pioneer Joined : 01 Apr 2007 Posts : 20 Subject: Re: Whisper Country   Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:29 am Vanesa wrote: Well. I always loved it, and I still think she've done a wonderful acting job there. The whole epie WAS melodramatic, yes. But I think we can't blame Melissa Sue Anderson for it. Maybe the writers??? Vanesa. Yes it was partly the writing, but I still say it was partly her delivery as well. I thought she got carried away by shouting at the top of her lungs when she was saying that she'd send that boy home again if he continued to misbehave, and when she asked Ms. Peal if she was trying to scare her by raising the bible in the air (chewing the scenery I think it's called). Actually I thought she was pretty fakey throughout that whole final scene. However, this scene is saved by the beautiful hymn they sang. which is sort of this episode's trademark: http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Cottage/3192/Jesus.html I certainly didn't mean that women were ever weak at any point in history. I was just wondering if society at that time would have made it difficult for a woman (especially a young girl) to speak out so boldly. Last edited by teenwerewolf on Fri Apr 18, 2008 4:12 pm; edited 2 times in total   Carol Adventure Seeker Joined : 03 Sep 2006 Posts : 3493 Location : The Seaside Character Name: Kate Thorvald Subject: Re: Whisper Country   Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:04 pm I too saw the interview where Melissa Sue said herself that she didn't like that scene and that she thought she was way to bold to act the way she did. That's too bad because I actually LOVED that scene and the way she acted. Hey, she HAD to raise her voice at Ms. Peal like that... the whole town was acting crazy with their beliefs and did everything Ms. Peal told them to do... they were not thinking by themselves... they were controlled by Ms. Peal and so someone with an assertive loud voice was the only one who would awaken the people. In general it may be true that women were quieter.... but that doesn't mean every single woman was.... there WERE women who stood out from the rest.... _________________   teenwerewolf New Pioneer Joined : 01 Apr 2007 Posts : 20 Subject: Re: Whisper Country   Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:25 pm Well, one thing I should have said: I wasn't sure how easy it would be for any young person (male or female) to talk back to their elders like that. Last edited by teenwerewolf on Fri Apr 18, 2008 2:12 pm; edited 1 time in total   bethandmanly Town Business Owner Age : 39 Joined : 20 Sep 2006 Posts : 1608 Location : In a book Subject: Re: Whisper Country   Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:53 pm I, too, always liked this episode. We've seen that part of Mary a few times before--like when she approached Ma about Chris (The Handyman) being in love with her. She's always the respectful, well behaved daughter, so it is good to see her step outside of that comfort zone. While, I doubt what happened in Whisper County is realistic, it did make for a great episode. _________________ All my life, I wanted to be like you - Laura to Ma in The Last Farewell   Vanesa Walnut Grove Resident Joined : 01 Dec 2006 Posts : 1182 Subject: Re: Whisper Country   Sun Apr 20, 2008 7:39 pm Yes. You are right. It's hard to a young person to talk back to an elderly person, even today.But the fact is that this "elderly person" was not a normal one. I always disliked Mrs. Peel way of acting, as if she was the community owner. She seemed pretty hysterical. I think her character was more out of time than Mary's one. She was scaring. As for young people talking back to elder persons I have a lot of examples to give, but I will give only two: 1- Young Napoleon (he could talk back to his professors at Brienne Institute) 2- Madame Roland. A French Revolutionist. ( She always talked back to elderly persons...and not always having the right on her side...LOL) Vanesa. _________________   sweetheart Ingalls Friend for Life Age : 25 Joined : 15 Feb 2007 Posts : 2936 Location : canada Subject: Re: Whisper Country   Tue Jun 24, 2008 5:10 pm Ms. Peal was a really mean person!....I don't blame mary for doing what she did, i mean that took sure a lot of guts to do that...i mean i could of never done that! Sometimes u really gotta do that stand up for your self!...   Whisper Country     Page 1 of 1 Permissions of this forum: You cannot reply to topics in this forum Little House on the Prairie :: Little House on the Prairie :: Episode Reviews Little House on the Prairie :: Little House on the Prairie :: Episode Reviews Free forums | © phpbb | Free forum support | Statistics | Report an abuse | Free blog