Blog Five. Wit. 22-33. "I Am Learning To Suffer."

"You may remark that my vocabulary has taken a turn for the Anglo-Saxon.  God, I'm going to barf my brains out." (32)

Take a look at this scene from the 2001 HBO adaptation.

Now I'm not the biggest fan of Emma Thompson as Vivian Bearing—she's too British, not bigger-than-life enough in the way I see Vivian in my mind—and as with many plays, I'm not sure it benefits from being "opened up," so that it is indeed in a real hospital, rather than the hospital in Vivian's mind. But you might disagree. But this clip gives you the sense of one way of viewing the play and Vivian.

1.  We began talking about Vivian yesterday—some of you said on the last blog you liked her, some of you said she was a bit off-putting, and one of you (hmm, I wonder who...) said they abhored her (though that position has since changed).  One can say she is cerebral, intelligent, arrogant, conceited, immodest, tough, brave, insecure, controlling. She is not an ogre, a monster, not even unlikable (though some may disagree). She is, I think, very human: a complex organism. She certainly is not warm, cuddly, modest, and soft. The play could have won our sympathy for Vivian very quickly if she were warm, cuddly, modest, and soft (movies so often do that when they give us a dying character). So why make her so prickly? Why risk alienating the audience from her? And she can be alienating—that's not an unreasonable response.

2. We are now into the treatment for Vivian's cancer. What's your reaction to it, as it is presented specifically in Jason Posner?

3. What moment or line in the reading particularly jumped out at you—and why?

As always, 200 words—take a little time answering.  I do want to hear more tomorrow from Stuart and others about what he said at the end of class yesterday, how (and I'm paraphrasing from memory) ovarian cancer makes sense for Vivian since she doesn't need her uterus anymore.  I could be paraphrasing incorrectly.  But it was a provocative comment, and there was some buzz at the end of class.  I like provocation and buzz.  So if Stuart is willing to, I'd like him to say again what he said and for us to talk about it in the context of how it applies to any theme(s) in the play.

See you guys tomorrow.

Blog Four. Wit. Through 22. "Life, Death...I See. It's a Metaphysical Conceit. It's Wit!"

"...I'll go back to the library and rewrite the paper.
E.M. It is not wit...It is truth. The paper is not the point."
VIVIAN. It isn't?
E.M. Vivian. You're a bright young woman. Use your intelligence. Don't go back to the library. Go out. Enjoy yourself with your friends. Hmm? (15)

Atlantan Margaret Edson's only play to date (and based on this profile in the NY Times, probably her last play) was much acclaimed when it was first produced in New York 1998. Since, it was revived to great reviews in 2012, starring Cynthia Nixon of Sex and The City fame. Clark Cloyd told me of taking one of his classes when he was at Lovett to an Atlanta production that stunned him in ways he hadn't expected. I haven't taught this in many years, mainly because I don't think I did it well back then. I had to grow up some. We'll see if that's happened. This is maybe not the way you might have thought we would begin the reading in the class—a play about the last days of a middle-aged English professor (I'm not giving anything away: Vivian lets us know right away:"It's not my intention to give away the plot; but I think I die in the end" [6]). But I thought let's start at the end and work our way backwards. What did the wise one once say? There are two certainties in life—death and taxes? I haven't yet found a text about taxes, though no doubt one exists.

So:

1. Reaction to the first twenty pages? What jumped at you, struck you, in particular in these pages? In fact, what line or lines jumped out at you and why?

2. The narrative voice of this is novel, to say the least. Vivian Bearing is our host: there is no fourth wall as she addresses us, acknowledges her role in the action, and says right off the bat, "They've give me less than two hours" and "then: curtain" (6-7). Maybe this is a cute device—though soon you'll see there's little that's very cute in the play. So what do you think? Why this approach? And to what effect?

3. Vivian Bearing: how would you describe her, characterize her? Is she likeable? Something else?

Write a couple hundred words answer these three questions. And take a look at the scene from the Mike Nichols/Emma Thompson film from 2001 of Vivian and her mentor E.M. Ashford:

See you all tomorrow.

Blog Two. Do The Right Thing. "As Much As You Say N------- This And N------- That, All Your Favorite People Are 'N-------s.'"

Here is one of the most famous and controversial scenes in the film—the "racist rant," preceded by the fascinating conversation between Mookie and Pino. Pino's favorite basketball, movie, and—secretly—music stars are all black.  But..."They're Black, but not really Black.  They're more than Black.  It's different."  Which slides into Mookie, Pino, Stevie, Sonny, and Officer Long revealing their deep seated racial and ethnic prejudices to the audience.  It's not realism: but it's real.  Lee would do something similar in 25th Hour, which we will watch in the spring. It never fails to make me sit up and gape.

"Mookie, if I love you, I love you.  But if I hate you..." Radio Raheem.

PINO. I'm sick of niggers. It's like I come to work, it's "Planet of the Apes." I don't like being around them. They're animals.
SAL. Why do you have so much hate in you?
PINO. Why? You want to know why? My friends laugh at me all the time, laugh right in my face, tell me, "Go to Bed-Sty. Go feed the Moulies."
SAL. Do your friends put money in your pocket? Pay your rent? Food on your plate? They're not your friends. If they were, they wouldn't laugh at you.
PINO. Pop, what can I say? I don't wanna be here. they don't want us here. We should stay in our own neighborhood, stay in Bensonhurst. And the niggers should stay in theirs...
SAL. I've never had trouble with these people...Yeah, sure, some of them don't like us, but most of them do. I mean, for Chrissake, Pino, they grew up on my food. I'm very proud of that...What I'm trying to say, is Sal's Famous Pizzaeria is here to stay."

The middle part of the film lightens up a little, doesn't it? Buggin Out's quixotic attempt to spur a boycott of Sal's; the tender scene between Da Mayor and Mother Sister on her stoop; the look on both Mookie and Pino's face as Jade is chatted up by Sal. And there's Mookie and Pino and the rants.  Hate what Pino says; but at least we begin to understand what makes him so angry. Then there are the three scenes with Radio Raheem: the famous love-hate moment, an homage to the classic 1955 film Night of The Hunter; and the scenes with the Koreans and Sal. Radio looms large in the film: a young man of few words but with loud music. He evokes different reponses from different people: a little boy runs alongside him at one point, clearly emulating him; he is well-liked by the other young black people on the street, Mookie in particular; the Korean couple are intimidated by him; and Sal...well, Sal doesn't like his music in his pizzeria, to say the least. (Did you notice how Sal angrily tosses the pizza slices Radio ordered in the oven? Very different than the way he lovingly put together Jade's sandwich.)

So:

1. What moment or scene particularly jumped out at you, or stayed with you, from today's viewing? And why?

2. Radio Raheem and Sal: the two physically largest figures in the movie. What is your reaction to both of them? How would you characterize each of them—what makes them who they are as individuals?

3. The scene I quote above between Sal and Pino. I think it is one of the saddest and tenderest in the film. You can disagree with me. But I do ask: what is your reaction to it? Sal asks an important question of his son—"Why do you have so much hate in you?" Pino answers: but there's more to the reason than what he says. So assuming that's a legitimate statement, why might he be so full of hate, along with what he tells his father?

Your response is due Sunday night by 10, but doing it while the fiom is still fresh in your mind might not be a bad idea.   I'm not expecting you to spend an hour on this (though some students did last year): but 25-30 minutes is not asking too much, particularly since this is your only homework in the class at this moment. It takes me an hour usually to write a post question. Feel free to comment on what others in the class write; agree, disagree, use it as a starting or ending point to what you're writing.

Finally: here's Mookie and Radio Raheem and the story of love and hate.  See you all on Monday.

Blog One. Do The Right Thing. "Free? What The Hell You Talking About? There's No Free Here."

"I gotta get paid." Mookie

"I'm gonna kill somebody today." Sal

BUGGIN' OUT. Sal, how come you ain't got no brothers up on the wall here?
SAL. You want brothers up on the Wall of Fame, you open up your own business, then you can do what you wanna do. You can put your brothers and uncles and nieces and nephews, your stepfather, your stepmother, whoever you want. My pizzeria, American Italians up on the wall.
BUGGIN' OUT. Sal, that might be fine, you own this, but rarely do I see any American Italians eating in here. All I've ever seen is Black folks. So since we spend much money here, we do have some say.
SAL. You looking for trouble? Are you a troublemaker, is that what you are?


OFFICER LONG. Keep this hydrant off. You want to swim, go to Coney Island.
CHARLIE. [Da Mayor's] leaving? What about me?
OFFICER PONTE. I suggest you get in your car quick, before these people start to strip it clean.




SAL.  That guy's your friend, right. If I'm wrong tell me. He your friend?
MOOKIE.  He's my friend.
SAL.  If he don't behave, I don't want him in here anymore.  He's out.
MOOKIE.  I can't do nothin' with him.
PINO.  You talk some brother talk to him.
MOOKIE.  Brother talk? Look, people are free to do whahtever the hell they want.
SAL.  Free? What the hell you talking about? Free? There's no free here. No freedom. I'm the boss. You want freedom? There's, that's free. Take an order, and take it out.

I've seen this film at least 12 times—I saw it when it came out in 1989—and so I can recite dialogue before the characters say it.  I still find this an amazing work, more so considering Spike Lee was all of 32 when he made it. It's a movie that is so alive and vibrant, from the credit sequence with Rosie Perez literally in our face and Public Enemy's "Fight The Power" blasting, to the bright colors worn by the young people to the blood red wall behind the corner men. The movie just explodes off the screen (blu-ray was tailor made for this film). At the same time, we're not allowed to feel comfortable and settled: there's so much seething emotion in the characters, so much anger and hate and suspicion and distrust. If this is America as United Nations, it's a UN riven by discord. I know what's going to happen—and every time I see it, I find myself wishing it will end up differently. 

So:

1. Reaction to what you saw today? Like? Dislike? Some other response? What scene or moment particularly jumped at you and why?

2. Spike Lee makes his characters complicated. Mookie is our "hero," so to speak, but arguably there is nothing heroic about him. Buggin' Out fancies himself a revolutionary—"boycott Sal's!"—but is what he wants going to affect any of the real issues facing this poor community? Which character did you either find yourself most drawn to—or must distanced or repulsed by? And why?

3. Do The Right Thing is about....
Finish the statement, and explain your answer.

Write a couple hundred words for these three questions. Follow grammatical conventions. Not a tweet, guys. Have this done by 8:30 tomorrow morning.

Here's the original trailer.

See you all tomorrow.