If it's Sunday ... Sharp Objects is on my mind

Is Amma really Adora’s daughter? Or is Camille her real mother?

To be honest, Sharp Objects is on my mind every day. I’m a member of the Sharp Objects facebook group and like a lot of you, we have all kinds of theories.

One of the most intriguing is that Camille (Amy Adams), not Adora (Patricia Clarkson) is actually the mother of Amma (Eliza Scanlen). Amma, of course, is the sly, little thing that Adora dresses like a child with pretty little dresses and bows in her hair. At home she plays with her dollhouse—a replica of the mansion—but out in public, she skates around in what she calls her civvies. Short shorts and skimpy tops, the way most young teenage girls do. 

My fellow posters on the FB group, including Jamie Cox (below), note there are hints Camille is actually Amma’s mother vis a vis when Camille is asked by the victim’s brother if she herself has ever gotten over the loss—referring to the loss of her sister Marion—Camille responds "of a child?" and he corrects her, saying No, the loss of a sister. 
  Jamie Cox

Jamie and 3,336 others joined Sharp Objects Official Group within the last two weeks. Give them a warm welcome into your community! When the brother at the bar asks Camille “did you ever get over losing her?” Camille’s first response was “a child?” And then the brother says, “no a sister”. Anyone catch that?? This ☝🏼might be pretty spot on. I never thought about that!

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Sounds like a Freudian slip, right? I like the theory of Camille being Amma’s mother because mathematically it works out if Camille were sexually assaulted in that creepy cabin—which the show alludes to—her daughter would be about Amma’s age. It’s easy to imagine Camille being sent away to have the baby, another time when Adora is terrified she will be judged by the town based on Camille’s behavior. And for Camille, this is just another instance her mother wishes she would disappear, VANISH as the word she has etched on her skin commands. I can see how this is a major possibility except for the fact that Camille surely, would treat Amma differently if that were the case. Wouldn’t she? Instead of shrinking from Amma’s affection, wouldn’t she crave—even as damaged as she is—the connection to her own daughter?

Eliza Scanlen (Amma) and Amy Adams (Camille) in Sharp Objects

Admittedly Camille does show maternal instincts regarding Amma. 

Like Camille (Amma’s 1/2 sister? her mother?) Amma already shows a proclivity for drinking, stealing vodka from the quik-stop. When Camille catches her, she gives her the money to buy the soda she pretends to believe Amma is buying and warns her to ‘be careful with the vodka.’ That alcoholic tendency is in the genes. Camille also tells Amma to be home before dark. Motherly advice from time immemorial. She watches her, follows her. Like a journalist? Sure, but also like a mother hen.

Many of us wonder, when the Sheriff tells Adora she has two daughters, one who is dangerous, one who is in danger, just which daughter is in danger. Many of us believe it’s Camille. 

What to expect in HBO’s Sharp Objects Episode 5

Episode 5 Preview

While I wouldn’t say the young actress playing Amma is stealing the show from the magnificent Amy Adams, Eliza Scanlen is most definitely making a major impact. The 19 year old Australian actor is a chameleon,  clearly at the start of a solid career. 

The actor, known for the Australian series Home and Away has been cast in the newly announced Little Women from Greta Gerwig, in which she’ll play Beth alongside some pretty Big Women in the movie biz: Meryl Streep, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Stone and the rising star Florence Pugh. 


Little Women: Read All About It