Joe Pitt is a conflicted and guilt ridden man struggling to overcome the rules he thinks he supposed to live by and the expectations of everyone in his life. In the play, Angels in America by Tony Kushner, I found every character unique and intriguing for their own individual qualities. Each person brought a new voice to the struggle of everyday life and survival. But, Joe Pitt. . . he was different. We actually watched him grow and begin to change into a different man.
We learn early in the play that Joe is quick to deny his homosexuality. In his initial exchange in the bathroom with Louis (scene 6), he is referenced by Louis as a gay Republican. Joe was quick to say, “Not gay. I’m not gay.” (p.35) Then he makes a small recant by inferring through questions to Louis whether he perceives him as gay. This moment is significant because we learn this is a man that denies what he knows about himself.
His inner conflict is presented again (scene 8) when Harper, his wife, confronts him and asks him if he is gay. It is obvious that he wants to be honest, but can’t bring himself to come out and say it. For the first time, he tells the audience why, “Does it make any difference? That I might be one thing deep within, no matter how wrong or ugly that thing is, so long as I have fought, with everything I have, to kill it. What do you want from me? What do you want from me, Harper? More than that? For God’s sake, there’s nothing left, I’m a shell. There’s nothing left to kill. As long as my behavior is what I know it has to be. Decent. Correct. That alone in the eyes of God.” . . . . . “All I will say is that I am a very good man who has worked very hard to become good and you want to destroy that. You want to destroy me, but I am not going to let you do that.” Joe was raised a Mormon and truly believes that his homosexuality makes him a bad person. That somehow he can’t be a good person, loved by God if he is gay. He even goes so far as to compare his struggle with a biblical image from his childhood where an angel wrestles with Jacob. (p.55)
Joe’s struggle and reflection into himself leads to a growth in honesty with the people around him. This continues at a rapid pace after Harper confronts him, and builds as the play progresses. When Joe meets up with Louis in front of the Justice Building, he is chugging Pepto-Bismol and admits during their conversation, “I can’t be this anymore. I need. . . a change, I should just. . .” Louis replies, “Sometimes, even if it scares you to death, you have to be willing to break the law. Know what I mean?” And Joe admits, “Yes.” (p.79). He is beginning to see realize that he needs to be willing to rise above his fear.
This propels him to further expose himself by calling his mother and revealing he is homosexual. Still obviously conflicted by what this means, he tells her in a way that exhibits a plea for acceptance and to be loved. (p.82) By the end of the play, Joe has discussed with Harper a separation and initiates a sexual relationship with Louis. While I don’t believe that Joe had wrestled all his demons and overcome his fear that God and his mother and all the other people in his life wouldn’t love him, it is clear that out of all of the characters in the play, he was the one that grew, learned and developed.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
The first rule of fight club. . . .
As soon as I finished reading and put down Fight Club, my husband walked over and picked it up. The first words out of his mouth, “How was it compared to the movie?” My honest response, “So much better-you should read it!” He and I must have sat through the movie version of Fight Club at least a dozen times since it was released. We saw it in the theater and own it on VHS and DVD. I have often teased him that it is such a “guys” movie because of the escalating violence. I had always appreciated it for its intelligence, not knowing or understanding, his attraction to the story. At least, not until I read the book.
As in most cases, the movie can not possibly provide the insight and inner thoughts of the characters in the way that a book can. Movies do not allow for the level of detail that a book provides. While I do believe that the movie version was done very well, I do think that a few of the scenes cut and/or modified would have been beneficial for the audience to experience. If only for the story to send all of the messages that it intends.
One of the most important scenes that was eliminated completely from the movie is where the Narrator is on the bus on his way to work and he is confronted with the knowledge that he has blown up and murdered his boss. "I am the Pit of Joe's Stomach. It's my desk. I know my boss is dead."(p.185) It is at this moment he sees how he had given himself to Tyler. He had provided permission for Tyler to create the mayhem and murder that had ensued. The Narrator begins to make the deeper connection of Tyler's purpose. "I wanted out of my job. I was giving Tyler permission. Be my guest. Kill my boss."(p.187) This whole scene gives the reader a stronger feeling to the rising panic within him regarding Tyler and the reality that he has no control over what he has started.
His helplessness is further compounded when it is followed by another key scene where the Narrator is attacked on the bus by the other passengers and the police that board it. Their "homework" is to castrate him for trying to unravel the chaos that he allowed Tyler to create. Tyler knowing this would be something he would try to do, has advised the men to castrate him. "Picture the best part of yourself frozen in a sandwich bag at the Paper Street Soap Company." (p.188) This single statement get to the heart of the message. After all, men tend to correlate the masculinity to their anatomy.
It is also important to note the way that Palahniuk describes these two scenes and the thoughts that raced through the Narrator’s mind which created a sense of urgency, fear and lack of control that the story needed. After all, one of the main points of the story is that men feel that they have lost their masculinity and their raw animal instinct in the machine of society. Here we learn about the regret of a man that found it again, only to lose the stomach for it.
Another key message that is also entwined in these scenes relates to the other men. The "followers". They become the blind faithful because they believe in Fight Club? Or is it because it gives them a feeling of belonging to something more then the emasculating life they live? Unfortunately, they only substitute their feeling of powerlessness to become mindless soldiers that blindly listened to and did what Tyler wanted. They weren’t thinking for themselves, but merely buying into someone or something else because of their own issues with who they had become.
I honestly believe that even as a woman, this story is something that can be easily identified with. Who hasn’t had a crisis of character and felt as if they were two people in one? A million times I have been confronted with a question of conscience, fighting myself as to what I should do and who I should be. Am I good with a little bit of evil? Or am I evil with moments where I am good? Is the life that I lead all that there is for me? Do I surround myself with things that the world has told me I need, but that I would never have wanted otherwise? I believe like the Narrator, we have all suffered at one time or another a feeling of inadequacy or an overwhelming sense that we do not measure up. Or maybe we aren't living the path that was meant for us. It can be so tempting to tear it all down-to take the highest building and burn it (metaphorically). That is why this book is so meaningful. And, why it is an instant classic where people to this day will say, "The first rule of fight club. . . ." and we all know what they mean.
As in most cases, the movie can not possibly provide the insight and inner thoughts of the characters in the way that a book can. Movies do not allow for the level of detail that a book provides. While I do believe that the movie version was done very well, I do think that a few of the scenes cut and/or modified would have been beneficial for the audience to experience. If only for the story to send all of the messages that it intends.
One of the most important scenes that was eliminated completely from the movie is where the Narrator is on the bus on his way to work and he is confronted with the knowledge that he has blown up and murdered his boss. "I am the Pit of Joe's Stomach. It's my desk. I know my boss is dead."(p.185) It is at this moment he sees how he had given himself to Tyler. He had provided permission for Tyler to create the mayhem and murder that had ensued. The Narrator begins to make the deeper connection of Tyler's purpose. "I wanted out of my job. I was giving Tyler permission. Be my guest. Kill my boss."(p.187) This whole scene gives the reader a stronger feeling to the rising panic within him regarding Tyler and the reality that he has no control over what he has started.
His helplessness is further compounded when it is followed by another key scene where the Narrator is attacked on the bus by the other passengers and the police that board it. Their "homework" is to castrate him for trying to unravel the chaos that he allowed Tyler to create. Tyler knowing this would be something he would try to do, has advised the men to castrate him. "Picture the best part of yourself frozen in a sandwich bag at the Paper Street Soap Company." (p.188) This single statement get to the heart of the message. After all, men tend to correlate the masculinity to their anatomy.
It is also important to note the way that Palahniuk describes these two scenes and the thoughts that raced through the Narrator’s mind which created a sense of urgency, fear and lack of control that the story needed. After all, one of the main points of the story is that men feel that they have lost their masculinity and their raw animal instinct in the machine of society. Here we learn about the regret of a man that found it again, only to lose the stomach for it.
Another key message that is also entwined in these scenes relates to the other men. The "followers". They become the blind faithful because they believe in Fight Club? Or is it because it gives them a feeling of belonging to something more then the emasculating life they live? Unfortunately, they only substitute their feeling of powerlessness to become mindless soldiers that blindly listened to and did what Tyler wanted. They weren’t thinking for themselves, but merely buying into someone or something else because of their own issues with who they had become.
I honestly believe that even as a woman, this story is something that can be easily identified with. Who hasn’t had a crisis of character and felt as if they were two people in one? A million times I have been confronted with a question of conscience, fighting myself as to what I should do and who I should be. Am I good with a little bit of evil? Or am I evil with moments where I am good? Is the life that I lead all that there is for me? Do I surround myself with things that the world has told me I need, but that I would never have wanted otherwise? I believe like the Narrator, we have all suffered at one time or another a feeling of inadequacy or an overwhelming sense that we do not measure up. Or maybe we aren't living the path that was meant for us. It can be so tempting to tear it all down-to take the highest building and burn it (metaphorically). That is why this book is so meaningful. And, why it is an instant classic where people to this day will say, "The first rule of fight club. . . ." and we all know what they mean.
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