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She might be manic, but I’m not convinced this isn’t some obscure comedy bit from some obscure local comedy sketch show.
I agree, felt like o was watching a skit
Tbh, a lot of interviews from the 80s and 90s feel like a skit, but they’re often real and serious.
Not this one, though. I was sent down a rabbit hole which ended up on a amazon page for a collection of the films of George Haggerty, the man who wrote and directed 'Malltime' which aired in the UK on a show called 'Equinox'.
From the little I could scrape up it seems like this George Haggerty was a bit of a maverick film maker who enjoyed blurring the lines between reality and fiction.
I did some research on this too and someone mentioned although this was for a UK show, it was shot in Los Angeles in 1987. In another comment on this thread, someone says they believe it is Cathy Jones, who is a sketch comedy actress from Canada. Cathy was in a Canadian sketch comedy show, but it wasn't until a couple years after this shot so it's totally plausible she was doing some work in LA as a 32 year old. I really think the biggest tell in this mall walker video is that the singing is actually kinda good. Good enough that it would be someone who does singing as part of their act.
I've also found multiple clips of Cathy singing. I'm pretty convinced this is her, though I don't have 100% proof. Here's a montage of some of her characters, but all of this would have been shot years/decades after the mall walker segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhxyNP7dSd0
This has to be satire . She’s brilliant.
Pretty sure this is Cathy Jones from the Canadian comedy series CodCo, and This Hour has 22 Minutes.
This would be a character she would play, but it's definitely not her.
I wouldn't say "definitely not her". I'm generally very good with faces. I just looked up Cathy Jones and from the photos I can find, I can't conclude one way or the other. Problem is, I can't find any photos from her in the 1980s. From what I gather, this was from a British show shot in 1987, but the mall scene was filmed in Los Angeles. Cathy Jones would have been 32 in 1987 and I'm not sure if she was working in LA at the time. From Cathy's wiki she doesn't really have anything relevant until 1992, but it's totally possible she was trying to find work in 1987 and recorded this bit in LA.
I think the real tell in this video is when she starts singing. That's actually surprisingly good singing. I tried to find video of Cathy Jones singing... unfortunately this would be recorded 30 years later: https://youtu.be/5IJPU_0qhMs ... This one also would be decades later: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugeYGVtSffA
Someone just reach out to Cathy and ask.
Edit: Going through old episodes of CODCO which would have been shot within a few years of this bit... yeah, I'm pretty sure u/kermitdhermit is right and the mall walker is Cathy Jones: https://youtu.be/hB61gJyztvc?t=29
I was thinking of her immediately when I saw this as well. I thought it was a 22 min skit. Definitely matches her voice/accent and comedic energy apart from also looking a lot like her.
It’s from an old British science show that ran in the 80s/90s called Equinox
It makes me wonder what the science aspect was for this episode. Do you happen to know? I tried looking it up but didn't find much
Yeah I don’t know. There is very little information online about this particular episode. Mall walking to exercise was really big among the elderly back then, so it probably has to do with people trying to stay fit.
I just noticed it said it's a fictional documentary. So I'm guessing the science wasn't actual science and it's just a skit
Having nearly been trampled by mall walkers one time, I can see this being legit.
The facial expressions and speaking tics just seem so specific and real.
I was thinking something similar though.
they actually seem super exaggerated and comedic to me.
I grew up with a kid like this, although he was less articulate.
And I met him again recently and this lady sounds exactly like the adult version of the kid, just with a different subject matter.
The thing that people unconsciously notice, and is a sign of something being off, is being able to see sclera above the pupils.
Last time this was posted in 2017 it was in fact a comedy skit
I used to work in a mall. There were dozens of mall walkers every morning. Many of them regulars, and many formed good friendships through it. It seemed awesome to me! This was 2012-2020.
My grandfather was a mall walker. He did it everyday for 20 years until the last year of his life. He made friends through it and would meet them there everyday. One of the people he met was a widow who was a decade older than him, so he offered to pick up her groceries for her once a week to help her out.
She ended up passing away a few years later and my grandpa and grandma were surprised to get notified he had received something in her will. She had gifted him a million dollar lakefront property. She wrote “Thank you for the walks and the talks and caring to help me when my children wouldn’t”.
A lot of those mall walkers who are older have nothing to do and it’s their best part of their day!
What an FU to her kids! Wow.
Fuck them kids.
Dad?
Yeah, they still got the millions in the bank and the other 2 properties she owned. My grandparents never had a clue she was as loaded as she was. She had moved out of her big house and lived in a retirement community.
Her kids were still pissed about the lake house even though they made bank from it. When she passed they hadn’t bothered speaking to her for years. Who knows what the real story is though.
Brb about to go form long-lasting friendships and bonds with old mall walkers.
they will get you eat all the chow mein and orange julius just to get you fat just to slow you down.
Win-win
Jokes on them I love both of those things.
Your grandpa sounds like an absolute homie, cool story :)
It's also a win win situation. The mall benefits from people just being in the mall because the crowds bring more attention and more customers.
Most of the mall walkers my mall had came in before the stores opened for the day to beat the foot traffic.
I remember when malls were like that. Then they decided that teenagers were super predator shoplifting menaces to society, so they installed Mosquito devices to keep young people away. The company that made them claimed only teenagers could hear the noise, but it was actually extremely annoying to anyone under 35 who hasn't burned out their eardrums yet. Also they closed stuff young people would like, such as the arcade, the toy store, the food court, Spencer's, Hot Topic, and so on. And Sears died, so the mall lost the business of anyone looking to buy tools. So all the other stores went out of business and now the mall is full of mildew and the local school board stores their microfiche there and that's about it.
Also cars in the parking lot looks good. A massive empty parking lot tells people “This place sucks, don’t even bother.”
The Mall of America still opens two hours earlier than the stores open. My mom does a long walk with her sister once a weekend, and in winter or shitty weather, they'll go to the mall. They say there are still a good number of mall walkers.
I lived in Bangkok and Hong Kong at various points and it was so fucking hot and humid in both places that mall walking was the thing to do. The malls in both places were absolutely massive, they were air conditioned and in the shade, if you wanted a good walk for a while it was honestly the best option.
Exactly how it was in Florida when I was a kid. It was hot and humid by 8am.
My grandma's friends would go walk the mall, then all meet up for McDonald's coffee and breakfast
Yup pretty much why mall-core will always be strong in SEA countries. Save electricity on AC, just hang out in the mall.
I live in Australia and we own a bus company. It’s not unusual for the oldies to buy a bus ticket and travel on a bus for hours as it does loops of the town. We don’t mind as sometimes it’s their only way to escape the heat and we wouldn’t dream of charging them a fare for each loop. Heat can be deadly to elderly people.
Yep I worked in a Teavana in the mall and had to open. There would always be about 10-15 folks in the mornings doing their rounds .
i havent thought of that place in years. have they survived.
No Starbucks acquired them while I was still working for them (in 2012 I think?). That was cool because we were Starbucks partners for a while and got all the perks of being a Starbucks employee. and then in 2017 they shut down all Teavana locations. I think they still use Teavana blends of tea in Starbucks teas though but it’s not branded as Teavana anymore. If you liked Teavana check out DavidsTEA. Super comparable.
its weird when companies buy other companies and just do nothing with them or drive them into the ground by doing stupid stuff. i never knew they sold tea i thought just pots and stuff. or my memory sucks.
In the 90's my mom used to work at a Target that was attached to a mall. She worked at the cafe and all the mall walkers would go there as soon as they opened to get a cup of coffee for 25 cents. Then they'd go walking for a bit and come back and sit down to rest and talk before going back to walk. They'd do this every single morning until about noon. Over the years the group started dwindling down as they passed away. 🙁 They were always so nice and my mom loved seeing and chatting to them every morning.
Then during covid they closed the cafe to use it for online order storage so that was sad. (I miss the popcorn)
I've been loving all the stories you guys have been posting! But damn this one hit me the hardest.
Such a simple thing can bring so much pleasure to peoples lives. Enjoy it while you can, just the simple routine of getting coffee and walking with friends.
I went to my mall for the first time in like a decade, I was killing time before a doctor appointment and the mall walkers outnumbered the shoppers. To be fair it was Tuesday at 10 am
It’s sad that mall-walkers can’t just walk around their neighborhoods and meet their neighbors, but given the horror that is most of suburbia it’s a cute workaround I guess
It doesn't snow or rain in the mall, it's never too hot or too cold, squirrels don't throw nuts at you, nobody lets dogs run around - mall walking has lots of advantages.
Sure, as an option it’s fine. People don’t mall walk because they’re choosing it over other places they can walk with friends. They do it because it’s the only place they can walk with friends.
This person looks to be demonstrating characteristics of mild autism. To people calling this poor lady crazy, she’s just living her best life in one of the best places to be in the late 80’s… the mall.
She definitely seems on the spectrum, I thought Aspergers almost immediately. I oddly found this kind of inspiring. Like, she's just out there doing something she loves, being good to herself, as she said.
Aspergers is just Autism fyi
Garçon means boy
I love you honey bunny
A schooner is a sailboat
They acknowledged that in their comment
The point is aspergers doesn't exist. It isn't an independent thing. It is just autism and is no longer used.
They use things like "High Functioning Autism"
Where?
Aspergers is not something all people with Autism have. Asperger's is part of the spectrum, but not the entire spectrum.
EDIT: Yes I know it is no longer a term they use when they diagnose someone. I'm referring to WHEN it was used. A lot of people on the spectrum who were diagnosed with Asperger's (not that long ago) will still say they have Asperger's. I would know, I'm on the spectrum and I have friend's and family on the spectrum.
And As far as I'm concerned, it should STILL be a thing because too many people don't understand what a spectrum is and they think everyone with autism is like Rain man, or Temple Grandin, or someone who is non verbal and can barely function and they don't understand what a broad range it covers. We aren't all the same, it should be more clear, and we shouldn't all be lumped together because it's a detriment imo/
No, it has been retired. It is now simply diagnosed as a low level Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is not phenomenologically separate.
No, Asbergers no longer exists as a diagnosis. Some people who were diagnosed with it before may still identify with it, but it's just autism.
Tomato, tomato, Aspergers, autism.
Not at all. Not everyone with Autism has Asperger's.
I think she's lovely. And very funny. It's time to whip out this classic https://youtu.be/3UFLYdxvgQw?si=So3bue9xnD4rsoPJ
Oh is this not a bit?
This is actually her SNL audition tape
More than mild.
Kind if sad that she is being called "crazy" by so many people...
Edit: Have an autistic family member. My point around using the term crazy is that it has a lot of negative connotations, and can be very hurtful for people dealing with all different kinds of mental an emotional health issues.
Would never use this term to describe someone with actual mental or emotional health issues.
Maybe those that have red pulled themselves into thr conspiracy theory rabbit hole tho...
When is the word “crazy” allowed to be used? When someone acts like they have a mental disorder but without actually having one?
This just seems kind of like the exact time to use the word.
Say you’re a habitual mall walker and this person starts showing up singing her song and trying to talk to you on a regular basis, effectively ruining your experience of your activity. As she approaches unblinkingly and singing “velveree velvera”, you’re going to think “great, here comes that crazy lady again”
The more we learn, the less things seem crazy.
We still have a lot to learn about the autism spectrum, but we know a lot more about it now than people did in the 80s. This lady is nice, happy, healthy, and enthusiastic. She’s enjoying herself and getting more regular exercise than most people today get.
Nice, happy, healthy, enthusiastic, and crazy.
Why is this word so taboo all of a sudden? As if knowing why someone is crazy makes them not?
https://youtu.be/CG5RkDkP1MA?si=N1Uhkux3lCTOi4Jh
I never use the word crazy. I know how it feels to be called that when I felt so alone and misunderstood.
We tend not to use that word. 'Tis ableist, my guy.
How do you all walk without tripping over things when you deny the reality you are attempting to navigate?
I mean it’s all subjective but crazy to me is when someone shows a pattern of behaviour that diverges from their normals. Like if someone gets so angry they start behaving in a manner that they never would. But you’re right, where to draw the line is tricky, I don’t think we should get so hung up on it.
Your definition of “crazy” is my definition of “erratic.” “Crazy” is either foolish, dangerous, or unpredictable behavior, and if you embody these traits, you can also be called “crazy.” And you can be crazy all your life.
Thank you for your diagnosis Dr. Peenpeenpeen
She's in LA in 1987. There may be some substances involved here.
Nah this just looks like autism to me.
I feel you, but I had some aunts on fenfen back in the day and that cracked out uncomfortable energy looks very familiar.
It just looks like an acting skit to me....
I can think shes fucking bonkers. And recognize she's hilarious. Without putting her down.
Lady happy as hell.
That’s exactly what I thought while watching it. Seems like mall walking is her special interest.
I was thinking trauma.
I was thinking acting.