We grouse a lot about storylines in
which the residents of the Street turn on someone they've known
forever, suddenly willing to believe – out of nowhere - that they
are capable of criminal behaviour. Take, for instance, Tyrone (the
gentle lout, who, in light of Kirsty's accusations, becomes, in
almost everyone's eyes, a closet wife-beater) or Peter (the alcoholic
bigamist who, despite his known flaws, probably does not deserve to
be tarred as a murderer, at least not until he's been proven guilty).
This phenomenon, of residents, so
ready to undergo anmnesia and forget the things they used to know
about a neighbour, has always been a staple of the show, going back
to its roots.
No one would – or could – fault
Ena Sharples of a crime, correct? being the moral backbone of the
street? Except they did. They turned on her as swiftly, with the
same pack mentality, back in 1966.
For those who don't remember, here was
the setup:
Ena and Minnie went to a supermarket
outside of the Street, got confused by the high-speed, high-tech
check-out system, and left the store not realizing the cashier had
failed to charge them for 2 tins of salmon. Next thing, Ena is being
charged with shoplifting. News gets back to The Rovers before the
end of the commercial break.
Annie Walker, addressing her husband
Jack, is the first to point out that Ena Sharples, having held a high
and mighty attitude for all of these years, is not precisely
deserving of sympathy: “I never said, Jack, that she wasn't human.
She has many failings. She was capable of a lot of interference.
Caused a great deal of hurt in her time. I know. I myself have
been the object of her speculations.”
Jack Walker, for what it's worth,
tries to support Ena, reminding his wife of Ena's strengths: “[S]he was always a leader. If ever
there was a battle to be fought, she was there in vanguard.”
Hilda Ogden, being Hilda, is part of
the exchange, eager to cash in on new gossip and an opportunity to
denigrate others: “You never had to send a replacement. Just shout
her name and kids would scatter.”
If you would like to revisit the video, here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEDzrOCGynA
What I'm trying to say is that all of
these characters – Annie, Hilda, Ena – entered the pantheon of
Corrie legends long ago, yet, if you go back in time, not one of them
was unilaterally moral. Hilda would put anyone down if she thought
it could elevate her own status, Annie was ready to bear witness
against a regular customer, and Ena garnered no sympathy from the
neighbours, precisely because she was, at root, no different from
them.... capable of ill-timed pettiness and Bible-thumping when the
occasion least called for it.
So I don't think Coronation Street is
a moral place – nor in my opinion should it be judged on that
basis. It originated in the mind of Tony Warren, a young gay man
growing up amongst stale rules and moralizing biddies, who was
clearly fascinated with the contradictions played out among people he
knew-- a small working class enclave, as generous as they were
stingy, as wise as they were ignorant, as charitable as they were
mean.
In other words, the Street transcended
morality. It was simply real.
