One who will stand between her community and her thieving son at all times, pleading his innocence. She will do anything for her son, and right now, Scandal!’s Gloria, played by Marjorie Langa, is being tested daily. Her son, Kgosi (Given Stuurman), is the mastermind behind break-ins in their community and he even stole a TV from his family.
Kgosi together with his friend, Kabza (Buhle Nhlapo), are terrorising the community by using hyenas’ tails to get people to fall into a deep sleep while the two of them clean out their houses. After he’s caught for his crimes, his mom insists he’s an angel and is being framed by jealous neighbours.
PARENTING STYLE
Gloria is overcompensating for not being part of her son’s life at some point, Marjorie says, and now this has led to him being a spoilt brat.
“She would do anything for her children even lie so she can be seen by her community as a perfect parent.
“She is in denial about Kgosi because she does not want to believe that her perfect boy could commit the crimes he is accused of. In fact, in her mind because Kgosi was very involved in the Community Policing Forum, even making suggestions about how the crooks could be caught, the community should be grateful for all his efforts and not make him the villain.
“In one of the scenes she visits him in prison and asks him to look her in the eye and tell the truth. He lied but what she wanted to believe. Also, she thinks her son would never lie to her after everything they had been through together,” she says.
Marjorie believes Gloria suffers from bazothini abantu (what will people say) syndrome.
“Gloria would do anything just to keep appearances. They can have no food to eat as long as they look good to impress the people around.
“The problem she is faced with now is that she has seen the video but still chooses to say her son is being framed because if she admits that her son is a criminal, she will have to deal with the fact that there’s a flaw in her parenting skills.
“If she could raise a criminal, then clearly she is not the perfect parent, something I believe does not even exist. She is battling an internal tugof- war. “She also thinks that if she agrees with everyone that it is indeed Kgosi in the video, then it will be almost like she is betraying him somehow.” She says there are many parents like Gloria who enable their children and defend them to the bitter end, even if they are wrong.
DIFFERENT APPROACH
Marjorie herself is a mother and she says it is something she takes very seriously.
“I understand that Gloria loves her son, but if I were in her shoes I would handle things differently. Yes, understandably I would be disappointed in my child’s actions, but I would make sure they face the consequences of their actions, even going to jail. I would try to convince them to plead guilty,” she says.
She is a mother of three children aged 18, 17 and 10. Her eldest two children are her ex-husband’s late brother’s kids. She says that they took them in when the brother died. Even after the divorce, eight years ago, she has continued raising them as her own. She has been with them since they were seven and eight years old.
“I love my children, but they know I am strict. I do not promote nonsense. The girl has always been easier than the two boys even though she is the eldest. There are certain behaviours that I allow because I want to monitor them. I even have sex education talks with them because I want to control the information that they have because I do not want them to be influenced incorrectly. I always try to be as involved as I can in their lives while still allowing them to grow and make their own mistakes, so they can learn from them,” she says.
PLAYING GLORIA
Marjorie enjoys playing Gloria and as much as she says she knows many Glorias, she could never be friends with her. She has played the role since 2011. “Sheesh, yhu, angangehlula (I would not be able to handle her). Gloria is a lot. Every community and most families and households have a Gloria, but I could never be friends with her. She is too pompous for my liking. I do not mind knowing her but being friends with her would be too much. With that said, though, I must hasten to say that there are some of her characteristics I admire.
She is always happy and positive. She never lets anyone get her down. If anyone were to tell her that she is fat hoping to hurt her, Gloria would tell that person she is fat because she has food at home and her fridge is full – unlike them. She is a glass-halffull- kind-of girl and I like that about her,” Marjorie laughs. “She is very flamboyant and even though she goes about it the wrong way sometimes, she means well in the way she is raising her children.”
A SERIOUS RELATIONSHIP
While she is mum about the details, Marjorie confirms there is a man in her life. When she talks about him, she blushes and smiles so much that you cannot even see her eyes. They don’t have a label for their relationship.
“We are not official, we do not even know if we want to make it official. What we do know is that we do not want to put ourselves in a box and we enjoy being together. I must say, he ticks all the boxes for me. God willing, I think he is someone I could be with. He is an amazing man, he is also an incredible gentleman. I have even told my friends that I have fallen for him. This is the first serious relationship I am willing to open myself up for since my divorce. He makes me very happy.”
MOVE!
