Basically, I don't go out of my way to go to the theatre, symphony, or concerts unless it's a free ticket or I tag along with someone. Tonight I got a friend's free ticket to the Seattle Rep's opening night production of the John Patrick Shanley's prizewinning play Doubt.It was brilliant. The play is set in a the 60s in the Bronx, in a Catholic school. There are only four characters -- two nuns, the priest, and one parent. The other characters (students, parents, bishop, etc.) are just talked about so much that it seems like they're real.
There's an incident, an allegation, and then it just explodes in intrigue. Throughout the play, the audience doesn't really know what has really happened. The priest could be innocent. But then he's so good at convincing people he's innocent. The nun could be wrong. But she's so clever. Meanwhile, in the background, there are the Vatican II reforms and the Church trying to make itself more accessible. There's the whole hierarchy of the Catholic order, where gender dynamics are key and women are shut out of most decision-making roles. The boy whose welfare is in question is the first black student at the school -- so when his mother talks to the nun, there's an entirely different dynamic at play.
Witty dialogue, too. And bitingly ironic jokes.
The "doubt" is so ambiguous and yet so brilliant -- is Father Flynn's guilt in doubt? Sister Aloysius' motives? Her faith in the Church? It was an awesome play, and the Seattle Rep did a fine production of it.
And . . . on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, I watched Hitch the other day.
It was cute, if formulaic. It was also a tad misogynous: women don't give nice guys/geeks/dorks a chance, women who've been hurt before never trust men, even when the guys are well-intentioned. So Will Smith helps nice guys get the girl of their dreams (who is, of course, hot).But in movies that are the other way around (popular or hot guy gets geeky/dorky/weird girl) the girl is always secretly a bombshell, and just needs to put on heels and a dress for her to realize her true self. In movies like Hitch, guys like the Kevin James character just need to be given a chance on their own merits, and women in general are superficial, evil hypocrites for not doing so in the first place.
It's always the women that have to change. I hated Grease for that (and became a bitter, cynical 14-year-old). But I digress. Or maybe I'm just projecting. Either way, Hitch did have its funny moments. I usually try to have one comedy and one drama out on Netflix, and this was a decent happy-ending comedy.
8 comments:
Your posts were a major factor in us signing up for Netflix. We still supplement it with free rentals from the library, but you could write ad copy for Netflix.
Or get a referral bonus!
But they're pretty perfect for my wacky schedule and mood-swing viewing choices. I think I reorder my queue at least twice a week.
Netflix rocks! And I hated Grease for the same reasons ... but the songs will be with me forever. Not sure if that's a good thing or not.
Yeah, the songs are really catchy.
i'm going to weigh in as another grease-hater. i still get flak for it.
Not here, sistah! ;-) I still get flak, too, and only because everybody loves the songs. Then when I say the happy songs mask the offensive message that women need to change themselves to bag a man, I get branded as bitter.
Geez.
not only change themselves, but change themselves to be slutty and spandex wearing! she looked way worse than all the other pink ladies. GAH. don't get me started.
But hey, that's what Danny wanted...
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