10:35 am
Megan Bayliss
Mary was originally created to bring the middle classes to their senses. Mary's job as protagonist was to reflect the weak ethics of the stuffy middle class who chose not to look after their own children. Further, Mary highlighted middle class inability to provide emotional stability and child protection.
The lesson of the story was that the Nanny was superseded by parental development: the middle classes awake to their children's psychological needs and forever more parented appropriately.
But, Disney recreated Mary Poppins to make her a superstar, super singing and dancing, all time fantastic carer of children, animals and handsome suitors: a woman that the middle class Banks family just could not do without.
Mary's creator was Pamela Travers, a young Australian women. A survivor of childhood neglect at the hands of her middle class parents, this is the life story that developed a now immortalized Mary Poppins:
Born Helen Goff, in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia in 1899, the celebrated author of Mary Poppins was the daughter of a bank manager who drank himself to death by the time Helen was seven. Helen's histrionic mother, Margaret, dithered on for a few more years before also giving up on life and attempting suicide in a local river.
On a thundery night, Margaret Goff announced to her three children that she was off to kill herself. Helen, the oldest (age 10) was terrified. She was left, alone, to settle her younger siblings and she coped by putting them to bed, all three together, on the lounge room floor. In an effort to divert their attention from frantic thoughts around their mother's impending violent death, Helen made up fantasy stories about magical flying horses in faraway lands that would ride them all to safety.
Although Margaret returned, unsuccessful in her suicide attempt, Helen withdrew from
the hurt caused by her family and instead found solace in the strength of a spinster aunt.
Helen's dysfunctional family predicament haunted her for the rest of her life. She was never able to rid herself of images concerning the appalling fate of children whose parents were unable to care for them.
At 21 years of age, Helen changed her name to Pamela L. Travers. At age 25, she moved to London to make a new life as a writer. She never married, wore trousers when she wanted, had an affair with an older married man and eventually entered into a long-term relationship with another woman. Ever desperate to protect children, at age 40, a single parent, she adopted and raised an Irish orphan.
It was Walt Disney who rewrote Mary Poppins as a screen play (1964) and the forever ingrained personification of Mary Poppins as the all rounded protector of
children. Disney's movie made Mary Poppins synonymous with love and magic, whereas Pamela had meant for Mary to be synonymous with neglect and rejection.
It is reported that Pamela sat through the Disney screening of her beloved Mary Poppins with tears rolling down her cheeks. Disney had made Mary into everything that she was not. Disney had failed to heed the protection of children through the symbolic development of a nasty and controlling Nanny interested only in her own needs.
Pamela L. Travers died a broken woman in 1996, aged 96.
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9 Response to "The trauma behind magical Mary"
I never knew the story behind Mary Poppins. I am flabbergasted. (also thrilled she is a Queenslander). Her desperate attempt to protect children, shredded before her eyes. How devasting. I see the link now, (rips blind fold off), between life events and writing. I get it. But am so pissed off, that once again, some big knob, twisted the words to make $$.
Excellent writing and thanks for sharing.
http://thelittledunpony.blogspot.com/2010/06/kakadu-poppins.html
Another PL Travers fact - she refused to acknowledge that she was Australian or had ever lived here - apparently her passport noted her as being a "Citizen of the Commonwealth" under nationality.
Tasmania has some claim to her too - maybe she lived there for a while.
And I should have added - great photo and I like the style of this piece :-)
WOW! This was so well written and interesting! This reads like it should be an article somewhere. You really made this sound so interesting and at the same time informative!
I heard the woman who played the character of Mary Poppins was actually a bitch and not nearly as nice as the role she played on screen. Not sure how true that is, though.
Left you a blog award:
http://rebecca-hamilton.com/?p=473
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