Melody Jones - Celeste Dodwell

[Jamey-Maria]

She's a teenager with a very big chip on her shoulders. She's not a bad person, the fact that she was grateful to Nicole initially proved that- she's just very easily lead and in a place where she needs self validation beyond that of friends (boys) to make up for fact that she's still hurt over Geoff.

She's bahaving like a prat, yes, she's obsessive, yes and she can get extremely annoying, yes. What teenager doesn't go through some sort of similar phase let alone one that has gone through as much as she has. Her mother isn't an excuse, Axel isn't an excuse but it gives some of reasoning behind why she's finally been pushed to breaking point. Years of repression had to come to a head sometime.

I have faith that when they're done trashing her character while trying to paint Nicole as a saint in comparison (who I also love) that I'll like her again. No one in SummerBay is beyond redemption.

[John]

Just edited this out of my Aus Discussion post, because it was getting off-topic:

Melody has always been a selfish attention-seeker. Geoff didn't want to be with Melody, but she stalked him until he told her to back off - loudly, because she wouldn't listen any other way - at which point she played the victim because in her mind they were boyfriend and girlfriend. How was it Geoff's fault if Melody is aggressively delusional?

She's being the same way with him again now that he's with Nicole, trying to blame him and Nicole for her problems.

When Geoff was with Melody, Christine had an AVO taken out on him, but Melody still insisted that they see each other. She simply didn't care that he could get arrested, as long as she got what she wanted. Then there was Axel... we'll never know what happened there... What we do know is that when he died, Melody made it all about her. No "I'm sorry that Axel died. I didn't like him, but he didn't deserve that." No. She was just paranoid that something bad would happen to HER because she somehow reordered the universe in order for him to die...

Now she's wantonly abusing Miles' trust in her, as well as Jai's relationship with Miles, in order to get her own way.

If anyone is evil here, it's her. She was right the first time

I think you're right! Melody is evil. I'm interested in why rather than blame. For me that as the interest in the character. In some ways it is the unattractive characters that interest me. I like to see them deal with life and I also like to see the way that other characters in the show deal with them. I don't like "plain sailing". To me the interest in characters is how they deal with the frailties of character that they have.

[Cal]

I'd like to give her a few slaps myself. It's just unfortunate that Melody has to go through all these phases at once. I preferred fun Melody. This Melody isn't right... and her drunk walking makes me cringe.

Matthew is a dweeb. He's seriously creepy. And I hope Nicole does something about it because she has the courage and, forgive me for saying it, balls to tell a guy to back off.

Melody isn't the name I'd associate with a rebel.

[Little Princess]

I'll start my very long rant saying that my dislike for Melody started that time she gave Geoff a peck on his cheek while giving him that self-made card and she then turned to face a few girls there and said that infamous '...Oh, grow up! Just because you don't have a boyfriend...'

She then continued to stalk Geoff to the point that he was forced to say it out loud in public that she was NOT his girlfriend. Yeah, granted, he could have handled the whole thing better but, come on, the girl was sticking to him like a bloody leech.

Anyway, then Nicole arrived and Geoff choose to start paying attention to Melody in my opinion because Geoff saw Melody as a much safer and trouble-free option and, for a little while, I did think that Melody and Geoff made a cute enough couple.

That was till the psycho-mother showed up and ruined everything. This time I found that Melody didn't really do much to improve the situation and she annoyed me beyond words when she all but asked Geoff to risk getting a criminal record by violating the AVO.

Then there was the whole clinic-stint and that's another moment when I could even think of feeling slightly sorry for her but she yet again ruined everything by proclaiming that it

had been her prayers which had managed to get Axel killed:

only someone with an ego big enough to need its own postcode would say something like that; essentially, she thinks she's important enough for GOD to do whatever she asks Him to....it renders me speechless really. XD

And what to say about when she

found Nicole and Geoff kissing on Irene's couch? 'How long has this been going on behind MY back?'

OMG, newsflash Melody: Geoff is a free agent and doesn't have to report anything to you...but hey, for the second time she fancied herself to be his girlfriend when he had NEVER hinted that they were back together...

Then we had the Halloween stunt when

she tricked Geoff to kiss her and, standing right in front of his GIRLFRIEND Nicole, our dear Melody had the guts to tell her that 'I don't need to explain myself to you...' All I'm going to say to that is that Melody was lucky Nicole didn't react to that the way I would have: by slapping her hard across the face.

Now, I know what all Melody-lovers out there will say: she's had a very controlled and sheltered upbringing and she's not equipped to handle the bad stuff from real life and yadda, yadda, yadda....to that I'll just say this: Annie Campbell had it a lot worse than Melody yet she isn't going

around kissing other people's boyfriends, dressing like a slut and using an incident with some poor dead bloke as an excuse for her misbehaviour.

Before it's even mentioned, when Annie got massively drunk and accused Aden of assaulting her, she ended up owning up and she actually apologised to him for getting him in trouble. Somehow I can't see Melody apologising to everyone she's hurt in the past, if she did that I could consider taking her off my 'dislike list' but judging by what the spoilers announce for the upcoming episodes, methinks that her name will be at the top of it for a long while...

Edited November 13, 2008 by Little Princess

[John]

I'll start my very long rant saying that my dislike for Melody started that time she gave Geoff a peck on his cheek while giving him that self-made card and she then turned to face a few girls there and said that infamous '...Oh, grow up! Just because you don't have a boyfriend...'

She then continued to stalk Geoff to the point that he was forced to say it out loud in public that she was NOT his girlfriend. Yeah, granted, he could have handled the whole thing better but, come on, the girl was sticking to him like a bloody leech.

Anyway, then Nicole arrived and Geoff choose to start paying attention to Melody in my opinion because Geoff saw Melody as a much safer and trouble-free option and, for a little while, I did think that Melody and Geoff made a cute enough couple.

That was till the psycho-mother showed up and ruined everything. This time I found that Melody didn't really do much to improve the situation and she annoyed me beyond words when she all but asked Geoff to risk getting a criminal record by violating the AVO.

Then there was the whole clinic-stint and that's another moment when I could even think of feeling slightly sorry for her but she yet again ruined everything by proclaiming that it

had been her prayers which had managed to get Axel killed:

only someone with an ego big enough to need its own postcode would say something like that; essentially, she thinks she's important enough for GOD to do whatever she asks Him to....it renders me speechless really. XD

And what to say about when she

found Nicole and Geoff kissing on Irene's couch? 'How long has this been going on behind MY back?'

OMG, newsflash Melody: Geoff is a free agent and doesn't have to report anything to you...but hey, for the second time she fancied herself to be his girlfriend when he had NEVER hinted that they were back together...

Then we had the Halloween stunt when

she tricked Geoff to kiss her and, standing right in front of his GIRLFRIEND Nicole, our dear Melody had the guts to tell her that 'I don't need to explain myself to you...' All I'm going to say to that is that Melody was lucky Nicole didn't react to that the way I would have: by slapping her hard across the face.

Now, I know what all Melody-lovers out there will say: she's had a very controlled and sheltered upbringing and she's not equipped to handle the bad stuff from real life and yadda, yadda, yadda....to that I'll just say this: Annie Campbell had it a lot worse than Melody yet she isn't going

around kissing other people's boyfriends, dressing like a slut and using an incident with some poor dead bloke as an excuse for her misbehaviour.

Before it's even mentioned, when Annie got massively drunk and accused Aden of assaulting her, she ended up owning up and she actually apologised to him for getting him in trouble. Somehow I can't see Melody apologising to everyone she's hurt in the past, if she did that I could consider taking her off my 'dislike list' but judging by what the spoilers announce for the upcoming episodes, methinks that her name will be at the top of it for a long while...

I never could resist a dare!!

You seem to be suggesting that Melody knows how to behave in a socially acceptable, caring way but is deliberately and with malicious intent behaving badly. Therefore she is not entitled to any sympathy, care or help but should be the subject of some sort of "retribution".

What I and some others are saying is that she is indeed behaving badly and treating other including her friends badly but that she doesn't have the social skills to consistently to behave differently. Further no amount of "hate or retribution" will help her to behave any differently. She needs to learn how to behave differently and perhaps her friends can help her to do this if she doesn't drive them all away.

[karter]

I read this on another forum regarding Aden but it also seems to fit here, whatever has happened to Melody, no matter how traumatic or painfull, it is a reason for her behaviour, not an excuse. Just like Aden, she should have to face the consequences of her actions, but it seems like everyone in the bay (excluding Nicole and last night Ruby.) Are treating her like a china doll and letting her get away with what she is doing, using Melody's admittedly horrible background as an excuse for her antics (She even tried it herself with Mr Bartlett). IMO Melody needs to face consequences and fast, just like everyone else would regardless of their backgrounds. She can't expect to get away with things because of her past. Feel sympatetic for her by all means but don't let it justify some of the things she has done.

My opinion is vastly uneducated, so i hope i didn't offend anyone.

[Little Princess]

john003au, that's precisely what I'm saying: Melody isn't the delicate china doll everyone thinks she is (thanks for the expression karter!) and the more they'll try to excuse her wrongdoing by being sympathetic and understanding, the more damage they'll do. I'm 100% with Nicole when she suggested that they need to let her crash on her own so that she learns things the hard way. Also, whereas it's true that she's hasn't had to make any decision on her own and taking into consideration that she is been raised a catholic, she knows very well what's right and what's not for anyone who's studied the Bible as much as she has, must have a very solid moral base.

For this reason, I simply refuse to believe that she doesn't know she's would cause a huge amount of pain when

she kissed Geoff in front of Nicole and when she revealed to her that it had been her interference which had made Nicole lose the school captaincy.

She did both things fully aware that it would make Nicole suffer. Just as she knows that

getting drunk and lying to Miles

is wrong but she's all proud saying that

since she's been a good girl up to now, she can get away with murder...

I think that this is a clear enough sign that she knows very well that what she's doing is wrong.

Bottom line, maybe you guys are right and Melody is actually a nice person who's just super confused about her own identity but, right now, she's behaving with such a high level of malice that I find it very hard to believe the writers will manage to turn her into a likeable character anytime soon. This all said, I don't expect to have anyone agreeing with me, it's a very personal opinion of mine and it should be taken as such.

[sunshine girl]

Okay, I don't want to start an argument either but, honestly, comparing Aden's childhood with Melody's is hardly fair. Yes, Melody had a psycho of a mother who was overprotective and unwilling to accept that her daughter had a mind of her own but Aden lost his mum and was sexually abused throughout many, many years by his grandfather while his father was too drunk to do anything about it. I think that in terms of having a traumatic childhood, Aden beats Melody by A LOT.

Like I always say: you'll only get help if you help yourself first. Melody isn't doing herself any favours so she shouldn't expect people to be sympathetic with her. A clear example is what we saw in today's eppy preview: Nicole practically saved her from getting raped (yet again, doesn't she ever learn??) and, instead of being grateful, she's having a go at her...if that isn't being a selfish cow, I don't know what it is...

It isn’t a competition as to who has had the worst childhood nor should you treat it as such, and no Melody isn't being a selfish cow. I do feel that there is a fundamental misunderstanding here as to the nature of Melody’s difficulties.

Psychologically/psychiatrically speaking Aden is far better equipped to deal with what has happened to him than Melody is in relation to what has happened to them and that is the crux of the matter. Unfortunately it is not being as well written and as well illustrated as I had hoped that it might be.

Consider this. Aden, from what we know, spent his early life cared for by both parents in what by all accounts was a secure loving family. He was nurtured and loved. His father did not go off the rails until his mother died, and the abuse which he suffered occurred when he was around 6 or 7. This means that he was given some good parenting in his formative years. We also know from what we have observed that he has the ability to accept help and has some basic personality and some sense of who he is. Whilst what happened to him is horrendous, he had some life skills and some resilience which has enabled him to survive it. This also suggests that the parenting he received when younger was good enough.

Melody on the other hand has, since the day she was born, had every single aspect of her life controlled by her mother. What she eats, what she wears, what she thinks, where she goes, what she reads, what she likes, her friends, what she watches on TV, so much so that she may have had no idea herself what she really likes, thinks or feels. It is often the case when young people like Melody are separated from a controlling parent and are given basic choices about things like food, or clothes that they are unable to say what they like or dislike as they have mentally blocked out what they don’t like having told “yes you like it” all of their lives. Melody has no sense of self and no sense of self worth. She has no idea of who she is; her mother has effectively assaulted her psyche her entire life leaving her totally ill equipped to deal with anything in life. So when faced with something she reacts defensively as she as seen others do, not because she is selfish, but because she has no sense of self. In the great scheme of things the assault by Axel was not as great as that perpetrated by Aden’s Grandfather, but the effects may have been far more damaging; this was not of course Axel's fault, but if blame must be apportioned it was Christine’s fault as she has left her daughter totally without the skills to deal with even the everyday things in life, let alone a teenage boy over stepping the mark at a party. It is not what happens to you in life so much as how you deal it, and your child hood and the parenting you receive equips you to deal with life.

Psychiatrically speaking Melody has been far more damaged over time than Aden; it is just that people react far more emotively to issues like sexual abuse as they struggle to understand how someone can assault someone’s personality. Melody is rejecting help and not seeing the counsellor at this stage as she is rejecting anything which she sees as controlling, and that will continue for a while until she realises that she needs to obtain some control of the current chaos which is her life. Nicole is actually quite perceptive when she says Melody needs to learn from her mistakes, as indeed she does, but her friends also need to be there to provide a safety net and ensure that she does not fall too far into the mire.

I am hoping that they will make this clearer from now on as I am sure that what they are trying to show is that Melody is actually not a spoiled selfish cow but a young woman in acute crisis. She deserves compassion and understanding and to not be dismissed. There are Melody’s in every school, all of them misunderstood.

I copied this post form Aus discussion because I think it explains why Melody needs to be cut some slack. She does not have the tools to deal with life in the way some of you seem to think, and to describe her actions as malicious I find amazing. She isn't malicious she is just a mass of confused and chaotic feelings and is lashing out because she does not know what else to do. It stuns me to see so many young people with such black and white views willing to write her off and reject her and to show not one iota of compassion and understanding, such coldness and rigidity of thought is alarming me.

[Little Princess]

Okay, I'm going to waste just one more post to say this for the last time: Melody, contrary to what an unbelievable amount of people think, is not a defenceless little creature unable to fend for herself. It makes me laugh when I read that she doesn't have the 'tools to deal with life'.

Let me ennumerate just a few of the 'tools' she has:

The BIBLE: if you've ever had this book in your hands and have taken a bit of time to read it and hopefully understand it, you will know just how many freaking lessons in life it contains. It was written in a way so that even illiterate people could come up with the right conclusions and could apply them to everyday life. Melody, as smart person she is probably has HEAPS of knowledge in what's considered right and wrong and what it takes to make it through life. Jesus was nice enough to make sure we knew how to be good people, regardless of the parents we found ourselves with.

Her FRIENDS: contrary to real social outcasts, Melody actually has a number of people of her age who care about her enough to support her and be there for her and even get her out of trouble when she needs it. Considering how she's been behaving with them lately, it's nothing short of a miracle she DOES have friends, and it says a lot about how good friends they really are. She's very, very lucky.

Her FAMILY (i.e. Miles & Co): Melody, after 'divorcing' her parents, more of that later, was exeptionally fortunate finding someone like Miles, Alf and Kirsty who are prepared to look out for her and to provide the guidance she needs and who are patient enough to put up with her tantrums and, as Kirsty put it, let her test the boundries in a way that not even real parents would do for her. Again, she's very lucky for that.

Now, regarding her parents, what does alarm me a lot is the fact that no one is commenting on how she decided not to have anything else to do with them. They might have been as far from perfect as it gets but they ARE her parents, they gave birth to her and she should never forget that.

I think that this says a lot about how Melody isn't the Miss Goody-Goody she wants us to believe and is nowhere near as forgiving a person as, for instance, Aden and Nicole have showed us to be. Need I remind anyone that Aden, even after trying to get him killed actually went to visit his father one more time and even said to Belle that he still loves him? And how Nicole, who lived her childhood trying and failing to get her mum's affection, forgave and told her that she loves her? After leaving the clinic Melody never gave her mother a single chance to start from scratch, she simply gave up on both her and her poor father who, other than lacking spine, seemed rather harmless to me...

But hey, if I ever came across someone like Melody in real life, I'm sure as hell that I wouldn't treat her any differently than I treat everyone else because the last thing troubled people need or want is to be made feel even weirder by getting any sort of special treatment. People like Melody, Aden, Jai and the rest are craving for normality and that's what I'd give them...oh cruel me.

[Corey]

You are not cruel. I just don't think you are getting it. The bible thing is a red herring, though I think I understand where you are coming from, however, the point is Melody was told she believed in god and all that but inside she actually has not got a clue what she believes or thinks even so the bible doesn't actually mean anything nor can it teach her anything as she cant internalize it as she hasn't got the mechanisms to do that. Annie and Geoff were different because they did have a normal family with their parents before they died and can actually think for themselves a bit. Melody may be clinging onto the bible as a safety blanket but have no idea what it means, when she does know she may choose to continue going to church, or she may not we don't know. You can make someone learn something of by heart for example but you cant make then understand it if they haven't got the tools as it has been described. People learn their times tables at school but not all of them know how to do multiplication if they have not learned. Also the fact that Melody is now living with Miles is not suddenly going to make her learn all those things about being with people and how to be herself, and she doesn't even know what gratitude is, it's not a feeling she understands, she can't even put a name to any of the millions of confusing feelings she has I reckon; it takes years, decades even, to undo damage like that.

A few years ago back in the day a girl at my school had a Mum like Melody and when she was taken into care she completely went to pieces, she was suicidal and she did not know what to do, she could not even decide what shoes to put on, if you asked her if she like pasta she would not know and the panic on her face was sooooo awful. She tried to cover it up by being all aggressive sometimes or copying some extreme behaviors from the kids like Mathew in school. A lot of people reacted as if she was silly attention seeking little cow but I remember the look on her face one day before she tried to kill herself and for her the world was total chaos and all she felt was fear and panic. You can't reach out and accept help if you have never had a normal adult child relationship, and Melody has never that.

You don't have to like Melody, its difficult to like her when she doesn't even know who she is herself, so how the heck are we supposed to know who she is? She is such a mess that is not a lot to like sometimes. But I think maybe a little more understanding of why she is like she is a good thing. Compassion costs nothing.